Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM
Fast, ultra-wide zoom lenses have long been staples for advanced and professional photographers. The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L is a recent example, building upon Canon’s legacy of 16-35mm f/2.8 glass for their DSLR system. [22] Canon is the first company to sell a 15-35mm f/2.8 lens, and although 16-35mm f/2.8 lenses have been around for years, the difference between 15mm and 16mm is noticeable. [22] This impressive range of focal lengths makes the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L one of the most versatile ultra-wide zooms today, at least on paper.
The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 has a complex 16-element design that takes advantage of the short flange distance of Canon’s RF mirrorless system to maximize the lens’s optical performance. [22] Unlike many ultra-wide zoom lenses, the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L also has the ability to take standard screw-in filters thanks to the 82mm filter thread on the front of the lens. [22] The lens is fully weather sealed, befitting a high-end optic in Canon’s L series. [22] In everything from the complex optical design to the fluorine-coated front element and weather sealing, these are high-end specifications.
While the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L is a big commitment for most photographers due to the $2399 price, this isn’t out of line with the competition. [22] Like most modern lenses, the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L is made of high-quality plastic that feels very sturdy and reassuring to use. [22] While it’s not a small lens, Canon has kept the size manageable, and it’s not a burden to carry for a full day of photography. [22]
The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L handles exactly as you would expect of a high-end, ultra-wide zoom. It has a dedicated control ring alongside the usual zoom and focus rings, plus an AF-MF switch and a switch to control image stabilization. [22] The zoom ring is large and well-dampened, making it a really enjoyable and efficient lens to use. [22] Finally, this lens’s inclusion of image stabilization is a nice advantage, especially because wide-angle lenses often struggle to perfectly stabilize the image, and any help is welcome. The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L performed very well when shooting handheld at slow shutter speeds.
There’s a lot to like about the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L. It’s sharp, well-built, and handles like a professional lens should. Chromatic aberration, distortion, and flare are kept to impressively low levels, even best-in-class. Although the price and weight are on the high side, neither is out of line compared to the competition. Canon has delivered a lens that is impressive almost anywhere you look. [21] The one big downside with this lens is vignetting. The Canon RF 15- 35mm f/2.8 L has extremely high vignetting, with well over 3 stops of corner darkening when shooting at 15mm and f/2.8. Although stopping down or zooming in improves this performance, it’s little consolation.
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
In what could be considered one of the best deals for Canon APS-C shooters, the new Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM ultra wide-angle zoom lens is small,
lightweight, very affordable and, as it turns out, quite the solid performer. [24] Based on test results, the new budget-friendly Canon 10-18mm lens is going to give
the older 10-22mm lens a run for its money.
Despite the appearance of a rather basic lens with a very affordable price tag, the Canon 10-18mm lens is an extremely sharp lens — even wide-open and at its widest focal length. [24] All in all, this is an impressive lens in terms of sharpness at all focal lengths, and even more so given its amazing price. [24] Thanks to its STM motor, rear focusing system, high-speed CPU and an improved autofocus algorithm, the Canon 10-18mm lens focuses incredibly fast and very quietly.
For $299, the Canon 10-18mm lens wasn’t going to be a premium, rugged, all-metal, weather-sealed lens. Typical of most EF-S lenses, it is indeed constructed almost entirely out of polycarbonate plastic, including the lens mount in this case. [24] However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Avoiding metal construction, Canon saved a lot of weight, which makes it a great companion lens with smaller DSLRs such as the T5i and SL1. [24] The small size and weight also make it an easy lens to carry around when traveling.
With various other options from other manufacturers, as well as another entry from Canon, APS-C shooters are certainly not without options for ultra wide-angle zoom lenses. The latest entry into this category — the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM — is the best bang for your buck for this type of lens. Extremely sharp with excellent AF performance, the $299 Canon 10-18mm is a steal
Best Telephoto Lenses
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens has been one of the most highly anticipated lenses in the past 5 years, offering a very sought-after focal length range among wildlife and bird photographers. [30] Especially when coupled with a 1.6x crop factor, such as the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, the effective focal range becomes 160mm-560mm, providing an impressive reach at a lightweight for bird photography.
One of the most notable improvements of this lens is its ability to autofocus at f/8 when coupled with a 1.4x Extender III while in use with the latest Canon camera bodies. [30] The combination of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM with the Canon EOS 7D Mark II and 1.4x extender leverages an impressive 224- 784mm effective focal range.
Given its attractive price (for a high-end pro lens) and overall performance, this lens is expected to become very popular and fit within many bird photographers’ budgets. The image quality is top-notch, with excellent contrast and definition, making it a serious choice for professional bird and wildlife photographers.
The lens’s robust construction allows the use of extenders while maintaining good image quality, significantly increasing the focal range.
Another noticeable improvement is the autofocus speed, which approaches that of higher-end and more expensive prime lenses. [30] The fast autofocus speed,
combined with the ability to use extenders, opens up new possibilities for bird photographers. [30]
While the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS II USM has a slightly better image quality, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM’s significantly lighter weight is a clear advantage for many photographers.
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM is the first-ever telephoto zoom lens designed for the RF mount and one of the highly anticipated f/2.8 fixed aperture zoom trinity lenses. Landscape photographer Takashi Karaki found it surprisingly compact and lightweight, a significant advantage for shooting in mountains and forests where traveling light is essential.
The 70-200mm focal length range is perfect for landscape images that decisively capture elements from nearby to far away, and the f/2.8 maximum aperture bokeh
across the entire focal length range makes the lens extremely useful. [31] The electronic floating focus control system enables a closest focusing distance of 70cm
(compared to 120cm on the EF counterpart), allowing for macro-like images with a 0.23x maximum magnification.
The lens performs well in low-light conditions, such as highlands at dawn, Japanese susuki grass fields, and trains traveling through forests of autumn foliage, with minimal signs of camera shake. [31] The Subwavelength Structure Coating (SWC) ensures a significant reduction in ghosting and flaring in backlit shots.
The output images are truly sharp, depicting outlines of trees, leaves, and birds flying in the sky at dawn with clean lines and fine detail. The unique depth-of field from a fast telephoto zoom lens adds to the fun of creating images.
The lens supports the Dual Sensing IS (image stabilization) system, which uses information from the gyro sensors in the lens and the image sensor in the camera body to achieve up to five stops of image stabilization, increasing reliability for handheld shooting. There are also three IS modes, an improvement over the two modes on its EF-mount counterpart.
While the 70-200mm focal length may not be the first choice for capturing wildlife, there are benefits to using this type of lens. Most 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses are incredibly sharp, focus quickly and accurately, and have great overall image quality. The f/2.8 aperture allows for subject isolation and the incorporation of more background for environmental shots.
The Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 RF is the lightest and most compact full-frame 70-200mm f/2.8 lens on the market (when the tripod collar is removed). On both the R7 and R3, it focuses incredibly fast, likely one of the fastest focusing lenses available. Focus accuracy is also high throughout testing.
This lens is rock-stable on the R3 and R7, easily getting sharp, repeatable shots down to 1/20th of a second handheld. [32] It is an extraordinary performer in lowlight conditions.
In terms of image quality, the 70-200mm f/2.8 RF is a stunner, with excellent sharpness across the frame, minimal vignetting, and great out-of-focus areas.
Nailing the focus (which the Canon bodies excel at) rewards you with images that show outstanding amounts of detail and life-like quality.
Best Macro Lenses
Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM
If you’re a Canon mirrorless user, you should consider the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS, which offers good optics for a decent price, plus the image stabilization can be useful for handheld macro photography. The biggest drawback to this lens is the lack of true macro magnifications, but the 1:2 magnification ratio will still get you close enough to capture lots of hidden details.
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro focuses accurately and consistently, even in stringent lab conditions. However, it was found that the lens had more issues with hunting for focus compared to most other Canon RF lenses. In low light, especially if capturing both near and far subjects, the lens would sometimes take a while to find focus or give up entirely.
It’s worth noting that the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro is not a true macro lens that can reach life-size magnification (AKA 1:1 or 1x magnification). Even so, the lens can
focus to half life-size, or 1:2 magnification (2x), which is still excellent for a 35mm prime. [3] Keep all that in mind before you start to think of it as a substitute for a
longer macro lens.
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro is a sharp lens, with the one (unsurprising) weakness being corner performance wide open. [3] For some additional context, within Canon’s own lineup, here’s how the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro compares to the high-end RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L at 35mm: As we have seen many times before at Photography Life, even a high-end zoom often falls short of basic prime lenses in maximum sharpness. While these two lenses are very competitive in corner and midframe performance, the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L never reaches the high central sharpness that the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro achieves at f/2.8 and f/4.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
For the longest time, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens was on the “want” list. Oddly, when it was finally bought, it didn’t get used frequently, and it sat in the cupboard, just gathering dust, for a couple of years. But that didn’t last. These days, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro is an absolute favorite lens.
Sharpness, image quality, color, and versatility – the Canon 100mm Macro has it all! When this lens is used, it knows that it’ll pick up absolutely every detail, assuming a sufficiently fast shutter speed is used and the focus is nailed exactly. In other words, when this lens is sharp, it’s crystal clear.
This lens has a richness to the colors that is appreciated – it gives the best color reproduction of any lens. Also when shot at its widest maximum aperture of f/2.8,
the soft background blur is wonderfully creamy!
Finally, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L is designed as a macro lens (and it offers a 1:1 magnification ratio). Given the macro focus, its versatility is impressive. The lens is
used for an array of genres: macro photography, food photography, flower photography, and still-life photography.
Working with natural light in a home studio sometimes means the light is not always abundant. And even when the light is bright, it often needs to be filtered quite heavily so highlights on parts of the food being photographed (such as whipped cream or icing) don’t blow out. It’s been found that working in slightly less-thanideal light conditions is where this lens really comes into its own. The 100mm f/2.8L’s maximum aperture captures a lot of light, and it’s able to maintain a reasonable shutter speed even in these low-light conditions.
Flower photography is what finally forced the Canon 100mm Macro lens out of storage and onto the camera! An interest in still-life photography had developed,
and compositions were being based around flowers as main subjects. As it turned out, this lens is spectacular for photographing flowers. Since you can focus so close, flowers offer many opportunities to be creative with this lens. You can shoot the whole flower, move in to shoot just a few petals, or highlight ultra-tiny details. The 100mm Macro’s lovely color and soft background bokeh are perfect for flower photography, and it’s enjoyable to use the lens with a wide maximum
aperture.
There is a whole world of things too small for our eyes to see naturally that suddenly become revealed when shooting with a macro lens. It is fascinating to uncover tiny details in everyday objects, and that’s yet another area where the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro performs beautifully. Creating abstracts using textures or just exploring the details on small items is possible with this 100mm Macro lens. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when you can get up close and personal. [6]
The key pros of the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens are:
Extremely sharp
Ultra-shallow depth of field
Bokeh is smooth
Beautiful color reproduction Decent image stabilization Compatible with Canon full-frame and APS-C DSLRs; can be used with Canon RF-mount cameras via an adapter
1:1 maximum magnification Comes with a lens hood and carry bag [6]
The main cons are:
Heavy and can be difficult to handhold
Expensive
300mm minimum focus distance means you have to get reasonably close to your subject for a life-size reproduction
Conclusion
Through this comprehensive exploration, we have journeyed across the varied landscape of Canon camera lenses, uncovering the gems within each category that
promise to elevate your photographic experience. From the sharp and versatile prime lenses to the expansive vistas captured by wide-angle lenses, and from the
intimate details revealed by macro lenses to the distant subjects brought near by telephoto and zoom lenses, Canon offers tools that cater to every photographer’s
needs. The highlighted lenses, such as the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM, and others, stand as testaments to Canon’s commitment to
quality and innovation, offering optimal performance across a spectrum of photographic scenarios
