StateOfPlay wrote in post #19457409
I am an enthusiastic amateur and have the R6 with the one RF lens so far, the 50mm f1.8. My other lenses are an EF kit lens and an EF fitting Sigma EF 150-600 and a 1.5 extender.
I have a budget of around £2000, and I am looking for a really good everyday lens that can be used for family gatherings, landscape, nature, and wanted to get some advice from the experienced folk on here as to what the best options are. I am looking at the Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM or maybe stretching a bit for the CANON RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM. I intend to keep this lens for many years, so I am looking for a lens that will still hold its own in 10 years time.
Cheers.
Lens choice is subjective and personal. For example, on a full frame camera like the R6 I would probably never use a 50mm lens. It's just not my favorite focal length on full frame. However, it's one of my favorites on APS-C, where it acts as a short telephoto and is great for portraiture. Another example, I would probably feel differently if I were a wedding photographer, shooting a lot of full length portraits, environmental portraits and small groups of people. Then a 50mm on full frame might be one of my more frequently used lenses. But I'm not a wedding photographer, either.
I also like having a lens in my bag that is capable of macro or at least close-up, and is preferably "dual purpose" such as the occasional portrait shot. Based on these factors. I might choose the RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM. It's able to do 1:2 on its own, plus can be pushed to even higher magnification with macro extension tubes (which Canon doesn't offer yet in RF mount... but some third party manufacturers like Viltrox do). Yes, there is a more premium RF 85mm f/1.2L USM, but I'd rather have the smaller, lighter, closer focusing f/2 lens. The RF 85mm f/2 has IS, which the f/1.2L lacks.
In comparison to the RF 85mm f/2's 0.50 magnification, the best the RF 24-105mm f/4L can do is 0.24X. The RF 24-70mm f/2.8L can do a little better with 0.30X. Of course, those can be used with macro extension tubes, too. (Maybe some day Canon will offer an RF lens like the EF 24-79mm f/4L IS USM that can do 0.70X on its own... but there isn't even a rumor of that happening any time soon.)
Instead of a 50mm lens, I prefer something a little wider on full frame. The RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM would be my choice. It's reasonably compact, image stabilized, not terribly expensive. It also has close up ability, though I rarely use a short focal length for that purpose. Supposedly there's an RF 35mm f/1.2L coming sometime in 2023, but it will undoubtedly be pretty large, heavy and expensive.
For general purpose, walk around shooting the RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM would be a good choice. Yes, it covers the 35mm and 85mm focal lengths, so some might not choose to have both.
There also is the much more affordable RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM... Not an L, not built as well, nor sealed as well for weather resistance, less quick focus with STM rather than USM.... But one heck of a lot less expensive!
In the UK these lenses appear to sell for:
- RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM..... £529
- RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM........ £649
- RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM.... £479
- RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM....... £1389
- RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM...... £2389
All prices from Jessop's web site, except as noted. I assume they include VAT (unlike our sales tax here in the US).
Some other RF lenses of"interest"... Personally I would like a wider lens, too. There are several ways to accomplish that, including zooms or primes. In my opinion, super wide lenses can be manual focus too, since they have so much depth of field when stopped down, you hardly need to turn the focus dial.
- RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM...... £719
- RF 16mm f/2.8 STM (£319) probably not on full frame, it's reportedly fairly soft in corners. (I might use on APS-C camera, where much is cropped away).
- Laowa 14mm f/4 FF RL for Canon RF manual focus, manual aperture, reasonably compact, affordable. Unable to find in UK $449 US at B&H Photo, New York city.
- Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D for Canon RF manual focus, manual aperture, large max aperture useful for astrophotography or other night use. $649 US at B&H.
- Laowa 15mm f/4.5R Zero-D Shift for Canon RF Mount manual focus, manual aperture, shift lens is useful for architectural photography. $1129 US at B&H.
- Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift for Canon RF manual focus, manual aperture, a less wide shift lens, useful for architectural photography. $1099 US at B&H.
- RF 14-35mm f/4 IS USM.......... £1749 (ouch!)
- RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM.... £2389 (OUCH!)
- RF 15-30mm F/4.5-6.3 IS STM... £669 (whew!)
Of course, there are other third party lenses besides the Laowa noted above. I just focused on those because I've been reading about them and seeing some quite favorable reviews. I hope to try some of them myself.
It sounds as if you've got the telephoto focal lengths covered. I might aspire to a future upgrade to the Canon RF 100-500mm.
You mention planning to keep whatever lens you choose for a long time. I wouldn't let that keep you from trying things. Particularly with the Canon RF lenses, you probably won't see much, if any, depreciation for a few years. If you find a lens doesn't fit your needs, you will likely have little trouble selling it at little loss.
