Post your images from Canon's first (non-cinema) ILC lens to feature an internal power zoom.
Canon's RF 20-50mm f/4 L IS USM PZ delivers a very useful focal range (for me, at least). Personally, I don't shoot video with ILCs, but rather with a camcorder (Canon HF G60) or the PowerShot V1, so I'm already used to having a power zoom for that use case.
When the 20-50/4L was announced, I had concerns about the implementation of a power zoom for general photography, but those concerns turned out to be mostly unfounded (which makes sense, given the L designation of the lens). Of the two modes, PZ and what I'll call EMZ (electronic manual zoom, analogous to electronic manual focus aka focus-by-wire), I expect I'll leave it on EMZ unless and until I decide to shoot video with a MILC (for which I'd get the C50, at this point).
What I mean by 'mostly' is that that the motorized zoom has a maximum speed that noticeably lags behind the speed at which I typically rotate a zoom ring. Peak zooming speed with EMZ takes about 0.5 seconds to go from 20mm to 50mm. The EMZ zoom throw is short, only about 60° rotation, and I can rotate through the range in less than 0.25 s, meaning with a rapid rotation of the zoom ring, it takes a bit of time for the zoom to catch up. It's something I'll get used to, but I'm not a fan of that lag.
I was hoping for the lens to be a bit smaller, it's only a bit shorter than the RF 24-105/4L. Though the 20-50/4L does not extend with zooming, that's of less concern to me than the amount of space a lens takes up in a camera bag. One big difference is the weight – at only 425 g, the 20-50/4 is easy to carry along and much lighter than the 24-105/4L that weighs in at 700 g. The 20-50/4 is also significantly skinnier – holding one in each hand, the PZ lens feels smaller and much lighter.
Choice is a good thing, but I now have several choices for a zoom lens covering the standard range for local or travel use.
Horses for courses, though...my primary use case for the 20-50/4 will be as an urban travel walkaround lens on the R8, where starting at 20mm instead of 24mm means less swapping to a UWA zoom, and the light weight will be an advantage.
An extra 4mm on the wide end may not sound like much, but it makes a difference especially when there is limited room to back up. For the same reason, Canon has both a 24/1.4L VCM and a 20/1.4L VCM.
As expected, the lens requires distortion correction at the wide end (RAW images from DxO below). The image fills the frame between 23-24mm, with some residual optical vignetting that is mostly gone by 28mm. Wide open vignetting is not bad, though that's expected for an f/4 lens.
Overall, I'm very happy with the size and functionality of the RF 20-50/4L, and looking forward to putting it to use on upcoming trips. It's a good size on the R8.
Since there are a few forum members now with this lens, I'm looking forward to seeing examples from others. Bring 'em on!
Canon's RF 20-50mm f/4 L IS USM PZ delivers a very useful focal range (for me, at least). Personally, I don't shoot video with ILCs, but rather with a camcorder (Canon HF G60) or the PowerShot V1, so I'm already used to having a power zoom for that use case.
When the 20-50/4L was announced, I had concerns about the implementation of a power zoom for general photography, but those concerns turned out to be mostly unfounded (which makes sense, given the L designation of the lens). Of the two modes, PZ and what I'll call EMZ (electronic manual zoom, analogous to electronic manual focus aka focus-by-wire), I expect I'll leave it on EMZ unless and until I decide to shoot video with a MILC (for which I'd get the C50, at this point).
What I mean by 'mostly' is that that the motorized zoom has a maximum speed that noticeably lags behind the speed at which I typically rotate a zoom ring. Peak zooming speed with EMZ takes about 0.5 seconds to go from 20mm to 50mm. The EMZ zoom throw is short, only about 60° rotation, and I can rotate through the range in less than 0.25 s, meaning with a rapid rotation of the zoom ring, it takes a bit of time for the zoom to catch up. It's something I'll get used to, but I'm not a fan of that lag.
I was hoping for the lens to be a bit smaller, it's only a bit shorter than the RF 24-105/4L. Though the 20-50/4L does not extend with zooming, that's of less concern to me than the amount of space a lens takes up in a camera bag. One big difference is the weight – at only 425 g, the 20-50/4 is easy to carry along and much lighter than the 24-105/4L that weighs in at 700 g. The 20-50/4 is also significantly skinnier – holding one in each hand, the PZ lens feels smaller and much lighter.
Choice is a good thing, but I now have several choices for a zoom lens covering the standard range for local or travel use.
Horses for courses, though...my primary use case for the 20-50/4 will be as an urban travel walkaround lens on the R8, where starting at 20mm instead of 24mm means less swapping to a UWA zoom, and the light weight will be an advantage.
An extra 4mm on the wide end may not sound like much, but it makes a difference especially when there is limited room to back up. For the same reason, Canon has both a 24/1.4L VCM and a 20/1.4L VCM.
As expected, the lens requires distortion correction at the wide end (RAW images from DxO below). The image fills the frame between 23-24mm, with some residual optical vignetting that is mostly gone by 28mm. Wide open vignetting is not bad, though that's expected for an f/4 lens.
Overall, I'm very happy with the size and functionality of the RF 20-50/4L, and looking forward to putting it to use on upcoming trips. It's a good size on the R8.
Since there are a few forum members now with this lens, I'm looking forward to seeing examples from others. Bring 'em on!
