In what is perhaps one of the most interesting lens announcements we may see this year, Canon has announced late June availability for a 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. Canon has paid particular attention to making the aperture operate smoothly and quietly making this perfect for video. At f/2.8 it’s fast enough for low-light situations but here’s the really interesting fact I haven’t seen many people talking about. It has a close focus distance of 0.3 meters. That’s CLOSE. Canon claims it is sharp across the frame.

The lens uses a 52mm filter and does NOT ship with a lens hood.

The “STM” lenses mean that the lens offers quiet, smooth and continuous autofocus during video operation. The circular aperture formed by 7 diaphragm blades combined with the wide aperture can give you beautiful bokeh. At 40mm efl of 64mm when used on a camera with an APS-C sensor. It also works as a 40mm lens on full-frame cameras.

As usual, we’ll have to test the lens to see if it’s all that Canon says it is, but it’s very affordable, small and lightweight and could signal a big change in future lens design from one of the largest lens manufacturers in the world.

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