So far I have looked at my Efm native lenses (lenses that are made for the smaller mirrorless M mount system of Canon Cameras.
One of the main attractions for me and possibly for many of you reading this is the flexibility Canon gave us by creating and producing the Efs to Efm lens adaptor. I remember when these first appeared they were around £100, but seemed in 2020 to have dropped to a decent £50, secondhand of course.
I use a Viltrox Efs to Efm adaptor, which I bought new for around £30 when I bought my Eos M in October 2019. There are other makes around, Meiki, and some Chinese options. Personally I have never had any issues with the Viltrox adaptor, and would recommend it if your on a limited budget.
So what would the Efs 18-135mm stm be like on my Eos M and M5. I had previously used it as a workhorse kit lens on my now past 70D. A perfect;y balanced affair, and gave outstanding images.
Because the Efs lenses flange are bigger and deeper than the M mounts(which are smaller and shallower on account of no mirror being in the way), you have to put the extension adaptor on the back of the Efs lens before attaching it to the camera, or even putting it on the camera before attaching the lens.
The 18-135mm stm is one of Canons “Silent stepping motor” lenses. Quite often, at the beginning before I got used to it on the 70d, I would have to check it was actually working. It is totally silent.
Coming in at 515g or half a kilo and a bit, its totally plastic body seems a bit heavy? Well this one comes with a metal mount, and a good piece of glass. So of course it’s going to be heavier than say, Canons Efm 18-150mm stm which comes in at 300g. (which I don’t own yet). So I was a interested to see how it would feel balance wise.
Taking it out first with my Eos M (which was the only mirrorless I had at the time), I found that it was indeed front heavy, as I thought it would be. Equally it made a nice handful with which to carry the M around on, I.e instead of holding the M , which has no real grip, either at the front , or he back, I would carry the 18-135mm lens in my hand with the camera attached and of course with my Para-cord wrist strap for extra safety. Then it became/becomes a whole different way of working, and much more comfortable. There’s no getting away from it, it is big on the M, especially when extended out to it’s fullest 135mm. But it still takes amazingly sharp images, just as long as you can hold the Eos M steady, or be using a very fast shutter speed. It really tasks your “holding your camera properly” abilities. I personally like it as I usually hold my camera and lens whilst shooting.
Now on the M5 it becomes a much better balanced lens. I think as I mentioned before, the lack of holding points on the Eos M make it difficult to manage. Not so on the M5, you don’t find yourself wrestling with the zoom whilst trying not to drop or keep your camera level. Again the images were fab. No sharpness fall off, quick snap focus, in spite of there being an adaptor between the two bits of equipment. There was no looseness or disconnect between the lens and the body and actually feels like it was made to pair with the M5.
Am I ready to give it up for the more compact 18-150mm stm? not yet, losing 25mm might not sound like much, but in the real World its quite a drop in focal length. As this is such a great Travel lens and covers such a useful range I think its a great addition to the M range of cameras as a versatile lens. With a 67mm filter thread on the front, it falls still into the “affordable filter” range. Again though no swapping them out with the smaller Efm lens, without step up rings.
Images are added below this post with their focal lengths to illustrate the lenses ability Taken with the Eos M
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