Canon EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens

      Photo Review 8.8
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      In summary

      The EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM fills an important gap in Canon’s EF-M lens line-up, being the longest tele lens available for EOS M cameras to date. As such, it can be used for shooting sports and wildlife, with portraiture fitting in for the shorter focal lengths.

      It’s a nice complement to the  EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM  kit zoom, which we reviewed in November 2012 and is comparatively compact. Its overall weight of 260 grams makes it easy to carry and it will fit into a jacket or trouser pocket, which makes it ideal for travellers.

      Unfortunately, while it’s two thirds of an f-stop faster than the 18-55mm lens at 55mm, the maximum aperture of f/6.3 at 200mm is pretty slow so you’ll need the integrated stabiliser when taking handheld shots in dim lighting.

       

      Full review

      Canon’s EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM telephoto zoom lens was first announced in June 2014 as a companion for the Canon EOS M camera that was released roughly two years previously. Designed to complement the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens released with the original camera, it encompasses a focal length range equivalent to 88-320mm in 35mm format. It’s a bit slower than the equivalent lenses for Canon’s DSLR cameras but significantly smaller and lighter.  

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      Side view of the EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens without lens hood and end caps. (Source: Canon.)

      The optical design of this lens comprises 17 elements in 11 groups and includes one aspherical element and one Ultra Low Dispersion (UD) to control chromatic aberrations and distortions throughout the zoom range. Seven diaphragm blades close to produce a circular aperture.  

      Autofocusing is driven by a stepping motor, which is relatively fast and very quiet, enabling this lens to be used for shooting movies. A five-element group controls optical zooming and the front element doesn’t rotate while focusing or zooming.  

      Canon claims the built-in stabiliser can provide up to 3.5 stops of camera shake compensation, which you’ll need when shooting in low light levels. Full-time manual focus (AF+MF) is available via a setting on the camera’s arrow pad.

      No lens diagram has been published for this lens and Canon makes no mention of special coatings to suppress flare and ghosting, either in the printed materials is supplies with the lens or on its international websites.

      Who’s it For?
      The EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM fills an important gap in Canon’s EF-M lens line-up, being the longest tele lens available for EOS M cameras to date. As such, it can be used for shooting sports and wildlife, with portraiture fitting in for the shorter focal lengths.

      It’s a nice complement to the  EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM  kit zoom, which we reviewed in November 2012 and is comparatively compact. Its overall weight of 260 grams makes it easy to carry and it will fit into a jacket or trouser pocket, which makes it ideal for travellers.

      Unfortunately, while it’s two thirds of an f-stop faster than the 18-55mm lens at 55mm, the maximum aperture of f/6.3 at 200mm is pretty slow so you’ll need the integrated stabiliser when taking handheld shots in dim lighting.

      Build and Ergonomics
       Being built entirely from plastic, this lens is very light for a telephoto zoom lens. But  the plastic barrel and mount make the lens feel somewhat cheap, although for its type the build quality is a bit above average. It’s not weather sealed so care must be taken to protect it from moisture and dust.

      Most of the lens barrel is taken up by the zoom ring, which is 52 mm wide, with a 30 mm wide band of texturing around its leading edge to provide a secure grip. Behind the grip is an untextured area that carries focal length markings for the 55mm, 70mm, 100mm, 135mm and 200 mm positions, stamped around its trailing edge. These are lined up against a short white line on the non-moving section of the barrel.

      Zooming in from 55mm to 200mm extends the inner barrel linearly by about 40 mm. The zoom ring turns smoothly with hard stops at each end of its range and as you zoom the maximum and minimum apertures change to the values shown in the table below.

      Focal length

      Max. aperture

      Min. aperture

      55mm

      f/4.5

      f/22

      70mm

      f/5.0

      f/22

      100mm

      f/5.0

      f/25

      135mm

      f/5.6

      f/29

      200mm

      f/6.3

      f/32

      Immediately in front of the zoom ring is the focusing ring, which is 15 mm wide. A 4 mm wide band of texturing around its leading edge provides the only grip surface. This ring turns freely when the camera is switched off and also in manual focus mode. It provides little in the way of tactile feedback when the power is on.

      The STM drive is quiet enough to use while recording movies. Unlike the larger EF lenses, there are no external switches for engaging manual focus or image stabilisation. Both functions have to be switched on and off via the camera’s menu.  

      The plastic lens mount is a disappointment, even though it keeps the asking price for this lens low. The lens is supplied with front and end caps and an optional ET-54B lens hood is available separately for between AU$21 and AU$46 (the latter on E-Bay) so it pays to shop around.

      Performance
       Our Imatest tests showed the review lens to be capable of meeting expectations for the EOS M5’s 24-megapixel sensor at several focal length settings. We were unable to measure the 200mm focal length due to a lack of space in our testing set-up but managed to measure the remaining four focal lengths.

      Some edge and corner softening was seen at wider apertures, although not nearly as much as we found with the EF-M 15-45mm STM lens. The graph below shows the resolutions we measured at the focal lengths we were able to test.

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      By default, the EOS M5 camera we used for our tests applies internal corrections for peripheral illumination, chromatic aberration and diffraction to JPEG files. So we had to disable them to evaluate optical performance.

      Lateral chromatic aberration remained within the negligible zone for all the apertures and focal lengths we were able to test. In the graph of our results below, the red line marks the border between negligible and low CA.

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       Vignetting was quite noticeable at the widest apertures for all focal lengths. As usual, stopping the lens down by even one f-stop made it much less noticeable and, since this flow can be corrected automatically through the Lens aberration correction settings in the camera’s shooting menu, we don’t see it as a serious problem.

      Rectilinear distortion is another problem fixed by in-camera corrections. With them disabled, we found very slight barrel distortion at 55mm and slight pincushion distortion at 200mm but not much in between.

      Autofocusing was a mixed bag. With static subjects, the lens was able to lock onto subjects quickly and accurately. Unfortunately, the ability of the AF system to track rapid movements was very poor and we were unable to obtain any really sharp shots of fast-moving subjects.

      The lens was quite flare resistant for a cheaper kit lens. Even when a bright light source was within the frame we found no ghosting artefacts and very little in the way of veiling flare. Contrast remained relatively high in backlit shots.

      The built-in stabilisation (IS) system was surprisingly effective. With careful handling we were able to hand-hold the camera and lens at shutter speeds as slow as 1/5  second with the 200mm focal length and get more than half of the shots acceptably sharp.

      The bokeh produced by this lens was nothing to write home about but, provided the background lighting was even, smooth out-of-focus areas could be recorded at wide aperture settings, particularly at the longer focal lengths. However, there was a tendency to produce outlining with bright highlights, an example of which is shown among the sample images below.

      Conclusion
       Despite being relatively slow at its longer focal lengths, the EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens is small and light and relatively inexpensive. It delivers good centre sharpness but suffers from edge softness. Its stabilisation system is also quite effective, a necessary feature when the maximum aperture at 200mm is f/6.3.

      Problems like vignetting and distortion are easily corrected, either with in-camera settings or when shots are edited. The plastic mount remains a disappointment, particularly as this is Canon’s only dedicated EF-M lens with decent telephoto coverage.

      Canon lists this lens at AU$479 in its online store but you can easily save around AU$50 by shopping around. It’s not worth importing this lens as most off-shore re-sellers have it listed at US$349, which works out at a fraction less than Canon’s local RRP at current conversion rates. When you add in the costs of shipping and insurance, you’ll pay more to import this lens, even at the lowest rates with a wait of up to three weeks for delivery.  

       

      SPECS

       Picture angle: 15 degrees 40 minutes to 4 degrees 20 minutes
       Minimum aperture: f/22-f/32
       Lens construction: 17 elements in 11 groups (including 1 aspherical and 1 UD element)
       Lens mounts: Canon EF-M
       Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
       Focus drive: Stepping motor (STM)
       Stabilisation: Yes, 3.5 EV of correction
       Minimum focus: 100 cm
       Maximum magnification: 0.21x (at 200mm)
       Filter size:   52 mm
       Dimensions (Diameter x L): 60.9 x 86.5 mm
       Weight:  260 grams
       Standard Accessories: Lens front and end caps

       Distributor: Canon Australia; 1800 021 167; www.canon.com.au.

       

      TESTS

       Based on JPEG files taken with the Canon EOS M5 camera.

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      SAMPLES

       

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       Vignetting at 55mm f/4.5.
       

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       Vignetting at 100mm f/5.
       

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       Vignetting at 200mm f/6.3.
       

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       Rectilinear distortion at 55mm.
       

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       Rectilinear distortion at   100mm.
       

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       Rectilinear distortion at 200mm.
       

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      55mm focal length; ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/7.1.
       

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      200mm focal length; ISO 1000, 1/160 second at f/7.1.
       

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      Close-up at 55mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/3.5.
       

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      Close-up at 200mm focal length; ISO 125, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
       

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      Bokeh at 200mm focal length; ISO 125, 1/60 second at f/6.3. Note the outlined highlight (circled in red).
       

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      135mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/500 second at f/8.
       

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       Crop from the above image showing no obvious coloured fringing.
       

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      Strong backlighting at 55mm; ISO 100, 1/2500 second at f/6.3.
       

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      Strong backlighting at 100mm; ISO 100, 1/4000 second at f/6.3.
       

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      Strong backlighting at 200mm; ISO 100, 1/4000 second at f/6.3.
       

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      55mm focal length; ISO 125, 1/80 second at f/8.
       

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      108mm focal length; ISO 1250, 1/160 second at f/7.1.
       

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      200mm focal length; ISO 160, 1/320 second at f/8.
       

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      55mm focal length; ISO 320, 1/80 second at f/6.3.
       

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      200mm focal length; ISO 1600, 1/160 second at f/9.
       

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      61mm focal length; ISO 800, 1/100 second at f/5.6.
       

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      110mm focal length; ISO 400, 1/100 second at f/8.
       

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      100mm focal length; ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/8.

       

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      Hand-held stabilisation test;200mm focal length; ISO 800, 1/5 second at f/6.3.

      Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Canon EOS M5 camera.

       

      Rating

      RRP: AU$479; US$350

       

      • Build: 8.5
      • Handling: 8.6
      • Image quality: 8.9
      • Versatility: 8.7

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