- It is an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens designed for full-frame cameras like the Canon EOS R8.
- Virtually identical design to the RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM
- A list price of £1,249; We will confirm pricing in the US and Australia as soon as possible.
Canon has unveiled its latest ultra-wide-angle zoom lens for its full-frame mirrorless cameras, the RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM, and I caught on during a hands-on session hosted by Canon ahead of its launch.
It features a bright F2.8 maximum aperture across its 16-28mm range and is a much more compact and affordable option for enthusiasts than Canon’s professional RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM lens. Consider the 16-28mm a sensible match for Canon’s entry-level and mid-range full-frame cameras, like the EOS R8.
Design-wise, the 16-28mm lens is a perfect match with the RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens: the pair share the same control layout and are almost identical in size, even if the 28-70mm measures about 10 percent heavier.
The new lens is apparently part of a move by Canon to offer more affordable fast-aperture zooms that are better suited to Canon’s smaller mirrorless bodies – the 16-28mm weighs just 15.7oz/445g and costs £1,249. , that’s much less than the comparable pro L. -Standard lens.
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The perfect option for enthusiasts
Despite its lower price, the 16-28mm still feels reassuringly solid: the sturdy lens is made in Japan and features a secure metal mount. You get a customizable control ring, an autofocus/manual focus switch plus an optical stabilizer switch, and that’s the extent of the external controls.
When paired with a Canon camera that has built-in image stabilization, such as the EOS R6 Mark II, you get up to 8 stops of stabilization, although the cheaper EOS R8 doesn’t have that feature, for which the lens offers 5. 5 stabilization stops only.
I tested the 16-28mm lens with an EOS R8 and the pair matches perfectly, as does the EOS R6 Mark II, which is only slightly larger.
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I didn’t have many opportunities to shoot with the new lens during my brief hands-on, but I took enough sample images captured in raw and JPEG formats to get a good enough idea of the lens’s optical qualities and shortcomings.
For example, at the 16mm extreme wide-angle setting and with the lens aperture wide open at F2.8, the raw files demonstrate severe curvilinear distortion and vignetting. Look at the corresponding JPEG, which was captured simultaneously, and you can see how much lens correction is applied to get clean JPEGs out of the camera (see sample image gallery below).
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Those lens distortions are actually quite severe, but when you look at the JPEG output, all is forgiven: even with such intense processing to correct for curvilinear distortion and vignetting, details are consistently sharp from the center to the edges and corners of the image. frame, while the light fall in the corners is mainly taken care of.
I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the target audience for this lens will be less concerned about these lens distortions as long as it’s possible to get the end results you want, and my first impression is that it certainly can. I took some sharp selfies and cityscapes, with decent control over depth of field, plus I enjoyed the extra wide perspective that makes vlogging much easier.
A valuable addition to Canon’s RF mount family?
I expect most photographers and filmmakers to primarily use the ends of their 16-28mm lens zoom range; 16mm and 28mm. The former is particularly useful for video work thanks to its ultra-wide perspective, while it is a versatile range for landscape and architectural photography.
That zoom range isn’t extensive, however, and I’m not sure it’s a lens I’m particularly excited about, even if it makes a sensible pairing with the RF 28-70mm F2.8 for enthusiasts.
It’s much cheaper than a comparable L-series lens, but I’d hardly call a £1,249 lens cheap. Also, why not choose the RF 16mm F2.8 STM and RF 28mm F2.8 prime lenses? These are Canon’s smallest lenses for full-frame cameras and the combined pair is half the price of the 16-28mm F2.8.
As capable as the 16-28mm appears to be from my first impressions (it’s a super-sharp lens with a versatile maximum aperture), I’m just not convinced how much extra it brings to the RF mount table, and whether there’s enough case . for most people.
