With a price tag of $299, the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 lens is the second most affordable full-frame lens that the company offers. Should you spend your money on something more pricey, or does this lens offer good value for what you’ve paid for it?
When I decided to upgrade from Canon DSLRs to the Canon EOS R5, one of the most important factors that went into my decision was how well the new camera would work with the extensive lens collection that I had built up over the course of many years. Even though many of them were manufactured for DSLR mounts, they were still of good quality, and I did not want to spend any further money on rebuilding my lens collection if it could be avoided.
I was able to spare myself the price of having to begin my lens collection all over again with an RF mount lens collection thanks to the Canon Mount Adapter, which works flawlessly to let me to use my lenses with the EF mount on the mirrorless RF body. Having said that, I have purchased a few lenses with a cheaper RF mount along the road, one of which being the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 lens.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s move on to this fantastic video by Dustin Abbott, in which he gives a comprehensive overview of the lens in a span of only three minutes. He analyses the benefits of the lens as well as any potential drawbacks that may be associated with it, and then he provides an unbiased opinion about whether or not he believes the lens offers true value for the money.
I’ve discovered that the lens has some difficulties with vignetting and barrel distortion, so I was really pleased to see him address these concerns and share his perspectives on the matter. Because I’ve discovered that the majority of the problems can be fixed very quickly and simply in post-production, the lens is now my go-to option for the majority of the landscape photography that I do. I’m curious to hear your comments on this lens.
Canon RF 16mm f/2.8
Features
- Canon’s first ultra wide-angle, fixed focal length RF lens
- High image quality and bright, fixed f/2.8 maximum aperture
- A stepping motor (gear-type STM) that provides smooth and quiet continuous AF during video recording
- Supremely lightweight and compact, for an ultra-wide lens for full-frame cameras
- Minimum focusing distance of 5.11 inches and maximum magnification of 0.26x
