It’s an ultra-wide zoom lens designed for full-frame cameras like the Canon EOS R8 Practically identical design to the RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM A £1,249 list price – we’ll confirm US and Australia pricing asap
Canon has unveiled its latest ultra-wide angle zoom lens for it’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, the RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM, and I got a proper feel for it during a hands-on session hosted by Canon ahead of its launch.
It features a bright maximum F2.8 aperture across its entire 16-28mm range, and is a much more compact and affordable option for enthusiasts than Canon’s pro RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM lens . Consider the 16-28mm a sensible match for Canon’s beginner and mid-range full-frame cameras instead, such as the EOS R8 .
Design-wise, the 16-28mm 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 lens is around 10 percent heavier.
The new lens is seemingly part of a move by Canon to deliver more accessible fast aperture zooms that fit better with 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-series lens.
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Alongside the RF 28-70mm F2.8 lens – the two lenses are clearly designed to pair up. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Attached to the EOS R8 (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
The maximum F2.8 aperture is available whatever focal length you set the lens to. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
The right fit for enthusiasts
Despite its lower price tag, the 16-28mm still feels reassuringly solid – the rugged lens is made in Japan and features a secure metal lens mount. You get a customizable control ring, 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 features in-body image stabilization, such as the EOS R6 Mark II , you get up to 8 stops of stabilization, although the cheaper EOS R8 isn’t blessed with that feature, and for which the lens offers 5.5 stops of stabilization alone.
I tested the 16-28mm lens with an EOS R8 and the pair is a perfect match, as is the EOS R6 Mark II which is only a little bit bigger.
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It’s official – the 16-28mm is made in Japan. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
The physical controls include a control ring, zoom ring, AF / MF switch plus optical stabilizer switch. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
The lens packs away smaller with the zoom ring rotated to the off position (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
At 16mm the lens is physically at its longest. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Zoom to 28mm and the lens barrel retracts a little. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
I didn’t get too many opportunities to take pictures with the new lens during my brief hands-on, but I have taken enough sample images captured in raw and JPEG format to get a good enough idea of the lens’ optical qualities and deficiencies.
For example, at the extreme wide angle 16mm setting and with the lens aperture wide open at F2.8, raw files demonstrate severe curvilinear distortion and vignetting. Look at the corresponding JPEG, which was captured simultaneously, and you can see just how much lens correction is being applied to get you clean JPEGs out of the camera (check out the gallery of sample images below).
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An unprocessed raw file with the lens set to 16mm and F2.8. You can see severe vignetting in the corners and barrel distortion (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
That exact same photo but the processed JPEG version. See how much the camera has done to correct all those distortions. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Here I’m shooting a selfie at 28mm and F2.8. Barrel distortion is less obvious, although light fall off is. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
And here’s the same photo but the processed JPEG. The detail in sharply focused areas; my eyes, stubble and clothing, is super sharp (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Again, another uncorrected raw file with the lens set to 16mm and F2.8 (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
And here’s the processed JPEG. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
28mm F2.8, unedited raw file. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Once again, the JPEG version of the image with 28mm F2.8 lens settings. Much cleaner. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
The detail in this JPEG image, shot at 16mm, is super sharp everywhere in the frame. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
This image was taken with the lens set to 28mm and the aperture to f/8. Optically this is the optimum settings for the lens and overall the image quality majorly impresses. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Those lens distortions really are quite severe, but when you look at the JPEG output, all is forgiven – even with such heavy processing taking place to correct curvilinear distortion and vignetting, detail is consistently sharp from the center to the very edges and corners of the frame, while light fall off in the corners is mostly dealt with.
I’ll go out on a limb and suggest the target audience for this lens will be less concerned with these lens distortions, so long as it’s possible to get the end results you like, and my first impressions are that you can certainly do that – I’ve grabbed some sharp selfies and urban landscapes, with decent control over depth of field, plus enjoyed the extra wide perspective that makes vlogging a whole lot easier.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)
A worthy addition to the Canon RF-mount family?
I expect most photographers and filmmakers will mostly use the 16-28mm lens’ extreme ends of its zoom range; 16mm and 28mm. The former is particularly handy for video work thanks to its ultra wide perspective, while it’s a versatile range for landscape and architecture photography.
That zoom range is hardly extensive, however, and I’m not sure if it’s a lens that particularly excites me, even if it does make a sensible pairing with the RF 28-70mm F2.8 for enthusiasts.
It is much cheaper than a comparable L-series lens, but I’d hardly call a £1,249 lens cheap. Also, why not just pick up the RF 16mm F2.8 STM and the RF 28mm F2.8 prime lenses instead? These are Canon’s smallest lenses for full-frame cameras and the pair combined costs half the price of the 16-28mm F2.8.
As capable as the 16-28mm appears to be on my first impressions – it’s a super sharp lens with versatile maximum aperture – I’m simply not convinced how much extra it brings to the RF-mount table, and if there’s enough of a case for it for most people.
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