OpticalLimits tests the dual lenses of the 18-55 and 55-200 for the EF-M mount

OpticalLimits formerly called photozone.de, decided to dust off their copies of the EF-M 18-55 and EF-M 55-200 and tested them both out at the same time.

While Canon has stopped shipping the 18-55 included in with new EOS-M kits. It's still pretty readily available via ebay and the used market, as the M thorugh M3 shipped with the 18-55mm lens.

You may have felt my rather -say- reluctant vibrations regarding the Canon EOS M system at the beginning of this review (despite a long history as Canon user). However, my reservations don't really apply to the Canon EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 STM IS. Sure, its specs aren't hot on paper but it is a solid offering especially considering the fact that it is a kit lens.

Their review on the 55-200 surprised me. I have that lens on my M5 and always found it to be a very credible performer, and turns into a pretty good performer once you run the results through DPP's DLO.

Usually, Canon gets it right but not this time. The Canon EF-S 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 STM IS is a bit ... meh. It is very sharp at 55mm but the middle range and long end are substandard. This is accompanied by noticeable lateral CAs at 200mm although they don't reach extreme levels. The vignetting is generally high at max. aperture. On the upside, image distortions are low.

At a glance the EF-M 18-55;