Is a ‘Holy Trinity’ of f/2.8 STM Zoom Lenses on the Horizon?

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#61
The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is the best selling full frame mirrorless zoom lens of all time. The RF 28-70 f/2.8 may also prove to be Canon's best selling full frame zoom. So a Canon RF 70-180 f/2.8 STM lens makes a lot of sense. It would complete the "trinity" and be a powerful way to attract plus retain customers to Canon. The Sony/Nikon mount version of the 70-180 f/2.8 currently cost $1,000/$1,250 USD respectively. If Canon could come in around $1,300 or $1,400 USD then it should be close enough to get the job done for Canon.
 
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#63
I'm absolutely sure there won't be a 70-200/2.8 STM as the 28-70 is not a 24-70 and the 16-28 is lightyears away of being a 15-35 or 16-35.
I can imagine a 80-150 or 70-150 or something like that.

I appreciate the trend of having an extra choice, the question is the compromise they offer VS L lenses.
For me it comes down to:
- IQ
- AF performance
- weight
- price

My big problem for many many years, is the unavailable IQ and AF performance without all the other unnecessary stuff. Most of the times I do not need weather sealing, iris ring, focus button, control ring, reduced focus breathing and all those bells and whistles. I'd say I don't even care about CA and corner sharpness as long as they are not terrible.
But since forever, if you want good IQ and AF perf, you have to pay and carry all that overhead.
...and in the APS-C world it has always been even worse, I had to use full-frame L lenses on D60-10D-20D-30D-40D - an attack on my wallet and my shoulders, yet half of the lenses were not used by the body when taking the photos. This has only changed due to switching to ff, not because Canon introduced proper APS-C lenses.
 
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#65
blackcoffee17 said:
Exactly! For example the RF 85 F2. Would have been the perfect lens. It's sharp, has great macro feature and F2 is plenty for most uses. But they had to (intentionally?) slow down the AF.
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Well, it's STM, it is what it is. The intentional was not putting USM into it. I wonder how much bigger/heavier it would have been with USM. Especially since it's not particularly light. Compared to EF 85/1.8 it's seriously bigger and heavier.
And yes, f/2 for 85mm is enough, IQ is decent, the macro capability is a nice bonus but STM is an issue. Just like with all STM lenses. 50/1.8 and 28/2.8 were killing me for the past 6 weeks during street photography where you often need to be quick.
 
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#66
riker said:
Well, it's STM, it is what it is. The intentional was not putting USM into it. I wonder how much bigger/heavier it would have been with USM. Especially since it's not particularly light. Compared to EF 85/1.8 it's seriously bigger and heavier.
And yes, f/2 for 85mm is enough, IQ is decent, the macro capability is a nice bonus but STM is an issue. Just like with all STM lenses. 50/1.8 and 28/2.8 were killing me for the past 6 weeks during street photography where you often need to be quick.
Click to expand...

They could have added nano-USM. They already used that in cheap lenses like the EF 18-135 or RF 100-400.
 
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#67
Exploreshootshare said:
Out of curiosity: were there any great deals on canon refurbished gear on Black Friday besides the 200-800mm? I checked several times and didn't see any. Did I just miss it or was nothing special going on?
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Speaking of the topic of this thread, the 28-70 2.8 was on Canon refurb sale for $750, so I’m excited that I’ll see how at least one of these ‘amateur’ trilogy lenses perform.
 
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#70
rombe3jr said:
The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is the best selling full frame mirrorless zoom lens of all time. The RF 28-70 f/2.8 may also prove to be Canon's best selling full frame zoom. So a Canon RF 70-180 f/2.8 STM lens makes a lot of sense. It would complete the "trinity" and be a powerful way to attract plus retain customers to Canon. The Sony/Nikon mount version of the 70-180 f/2.8 currently cost $1,000/$1,250 USD respectively. If Canon could come in around $1,300 or $1,400 USD then it should be close enough to get the job done for Canon.
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The Tamron 28-75/2.8 G2 is $899. It doesn't have IS but it does have Tamron's hyper-fast magnetic linear focusing.

Meanwhile the RF 28-70/2.8 IS STM is $1249, 39% more.

The Tamron 16-30/2.8 G2 is $929 while the Canon 16-28 is $1249. 34% more.

The Tamron 70-180/2.8 G2 with both IS and the magnetic linear focusing is $1099. 30% more would be $1399. 40% more would be $1540.

So, $1400-$1500 seems likely for a future Canon 70-180/2.8 IS STM lens.

My question is what is up with Canon still putting STM into new lens releses in 2025? It sucks. Tamron and Sigma have both moved to magnetic motors, surely Canon can too...?
 
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#71
illadvisedhammer said:
Speaking of the topic of this thread, the 28-70 2.8 was on Canon refurb sale for $750, so I’m excited that I’ll see how at least one of these ‘amateur’ trilogy lenses perform.
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My 28-70 STM performs as good or exceeds the EF 24-70 2.8 L II that I had; it's smaller and lighter (even without considering the adapter), sharper, AF is as fast, has IS, couldn't ask for more for less then 300€ difference in resale price of the EF.

Only downside is the control ring that doubles up as focus ring, so it's unclicked, so totally useless for photography as it moves as soon as you barely touch the lens and any setting you would use it for would be altered without notice. In the cheapo RF lenses (the ones with double duty ring) all rings should be clicked, too; no one is ever going to manual focus this lenses ever. I frankly don't recall ever taking a MF picture in the last 26 years with an AF camera/lens, but even if I would occasionally do, a clicked ring would be pretty fine, too, as I could use it for something else most of the time.
(gotta say tbh that even the clicked rings are too soft and easy to turn and move accidentally on RF, they should be MUCH more firm to be really usable)
 
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#72
neuroanatomist said:
There have been a bunch of lenses and bodies. They usually sell out within minutes (or faster). Best thing if you’re interested in something is to set an alert on CPW, and if you get a ping act immediately.
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Thx for the reply. I wasn't really looking to buy anything from the refurbished sale, but usually I do see the offers and I didn't this time. Next year, I'll probably spend thx in the states, so I might be chasing a deal in 2026. This year, I finally purchased the R8 as a small and handy second body. Since it was 999 € on Black Friday in Germany, I had to pull the trigge. It arrived yesterday :)
 
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#74
If you are travelling but still want f2.8, then this new STM range makes a lot of sence. It also makes a lot of sense if your want the f2.8 apaerture, but down want the pro build / bulk.
The 70-180mm f2.8 STM is a logical step for Canon. After all both Nikon and Tamron have a version of this lens that is small, lightweight, sharp and very popular.
 
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#79
Asobinet has posted patent applications for a 70-200mm F2.8-4 lens and a 70-200mm F3.5 lens. The objective: “To provide a zoom lens that is small and lightweight, capable of focusing, has little aberration fluctuation during zooming, and provides high optical performance over the entire object distance range”.

Google translated link.
 
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#80
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