Review: Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM

Friday 5 June 2020, 16:32 by Michelle Peeters | 8,252 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Canon Netherlands gave me the chance to test the Canon EOS R. This included the RF 24-105mm, RF 24-240mm and RF 15-35mm lenses, as well as the control ring mount, so I could also attach my own lenses.

In this article, my findings on the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens.

The Canon RF 15-35 mm f/2.8 L IS USM is the full-frame wide-angle zoom lens that demanding users of the R system have been eagerly waiting for.

Specifications

- RF mount lens / full-frame format
- Constant f/2.8 maximum aperture
- Three aspherical elements
- Two ultra-low dispersion elements
- Fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements, making it water and dust resistant
- Nano USM AF system
- Optical image stabiliser, 5 stops
- Customisable control ring
- Rounded aperture with 9 aperture blades
- Weight: 900 grams
- Price: 2,499 euros at CameraNU.nl

Image stabilisation and a wider range

The lens has one millimetre more range than the Canon EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L USM III. It also has image stabilisation, which is a first for an f/2.8 wide-angle zoom lens from Canon.

The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM is a remarkable lens. Partly because it has one millimetre more range at the wide-angle end than its DSLR counterpart, the Canon EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L USM III. That may not seem like much, but one millimetre more or less at the super-wide-angle end makes quite a difference.

But the most striking aspect of the Canon RF 15-35 mm f/2.8 L IS USM is the image stabilisation. This is Canon's first fast wide-angle zoom lens to have it built in.

Versatile: fast, stabilised, screw-in filters

Until this lens arrived, you always had to choose between an f/2.8 version without image stabilisation or an f/4 version with it. That is no longer necessary. You can also use regular screw-in filters on this lens. This makes the 15-35 mm a very versatile wide-angle zoom.

This is especially useful for landscape photographers, as it allows you to work with, for example, polarising or graduated grey filters. Videographers will also appreciate this option, as it is now easier to work with ND filters.

Solid, no play, smooth

This Canon RF 15-35mm lens is solidly built too. Canon has a lot of experience building lenses, and you can feel that immediately when you pick up the 15-35 mm. There is no play at all and everything turns beautifully smoothly. This feels familiar to me as a Canon user.

The lens is not exactly small and is even 50 grams heavier than the version for Canon EOS DSLRs. Compared with almost all super-wide-angle zooms for DSLRs with a focal length shorter than 16 mm, the Canon RF 15-35 mm f/2.8 L IS USM is lighter. Canon's EF 8-15mm super-wide-angle lens is the only exception.

High quality but large and heavy

But if you compare it, for example, with the new Sigma 14-24 mm f/2.8 DG DN for Sony and Panasonic, the Canon is heavier at 900 grams. This is a lens you buy for its quality and versatility. If you switched to a mirrorless Canon EOS R because of its size and low weight, this may not be the ideal wide-angle lens.

The lens has a programmable ring at the front. You can use it to set the aperture, shutter speed or exposure compensation, for example. This brings the total number of rings to three.

Behind the Lens Control Ring is the focus ring and the broad, curved zoom ring. The rings all have different textures and shapes. But they are close together, and it takes some getting used to avoid accidentally changing your exposure when you actually want to adjust your focus a little.

It has a 9-bladed aperture and contains 16 lens elements with Canon's SWC and Air Sphere Coating. The front element also has an additional treatment to stop moisture and dirt sticking to it so easily. It also has a Nano-USM focus motor, which provides fast and accurate focusing that is virtually silent.

Excellent sharpness, hardly any distortion

The lens performs excellently in terms of sharpness. I only tested it on the Canon EOS R, with a 30-megapixel sensor and a low-pass, or anti-alias, filter. It provides very even sharpness across the entire range and can probably also handle sensors with more pixels.

This lens is not completely free of distortion either. In the RAW files, you can see some barrel and pincushion distortion between 15 and 28mm. But it is hardly noticeable and it is easy to correct the files in post-processing.

Fortunately, with the EOS R system you no longer have to choose between a fast or a stabilised wide-angle zoom. This lens has both. The stabilisation works well too. Canon claims 5 stops, which makes the lens even more useful in low light.

Conclusion

The Canon RF 15-35 mm f/2.8 L IS USM is an excellent super-wide-angle zoom for the R system. It offers a wide zoom range, a fast aperture, image stabilisation and the option to use screw-in filters. The image quality is very good too.

The Canon EOS R is currently Canon's best mirrorless camera, and it does not really do justice to this beautiful lens. With its compact size, low weight and anti-alias filter, the Canon EOS R is not the high-end body that perfectly matches the Canon RF 15-35 mm f/2.8 L IS USM.

But when you look at the types of lenses Canon has already released in the RF series, it is only a matter of time before a camera appears that does justice to this little gem. Perhaps the Canon EOS R5?

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