RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z

[neuroanatomist]

Post your shots from the One Zoom to rule all standard zooms, combining the useful focal range of the 24-105/4 with the faster aperture of the 24-70/2.8 and beating both on IQ.

My first impression of the lens is that it's reminiscent of the EF 70-200/2.8 zooms but with a petite hood – not a small lens but pretty easy to handle. It's a little weird seeing open screw holes on a weather sealed lens.

I'm not a fan of the tripod ring, and I wish Canon had made it removable. The tripod foot is easy to remove (which is a good thing), and the mount left behind is not as obtrusive as I thought it would be. The foot extends to the far end of the zoom ring, and that makes the ring harder to use with the foot installed. At least the zoom throw is short. With a lens plate (the RRS L85 fits fine) on the foot it's even worse (hand under the foot is even further from the barrel), so I really hope RRS makes a replacement foot. I've already put in a request, which received the usual 'we are tracking customer demand for this product' response.

I also don't like that there are no 90° detents in the ring rotation; my other lenses with a non-removable tripod ring (RF 100-300/2.8, EF 600/4 II) have those detents, and that makes it easy to position the ring at 0° (landscape) and 90° (portrait) orientations. The ring rotates smoothly, but you need to line up the markings to get it properly oriented.

On my way home from picking up the lens, I stopped by a local cemetery for some initial shots. Below is a selection, reduced for posting but otherwise just with basic processing in DxO.

This is another lens that requires correction of barrel distortion. I did not check, but I'm sure it's 'forced' in camera. The corners are black at 24mm, however the distortion resolves pretty quickly since the black corners are gone by 28mm. DxO PL7 does not have a profile yet, but applying manual barrel distortion correction of +80 takes care of it (but probably not optimally, since the distortion is probably non-linear as is the case for the RF 14-35/4L).

Sharpness is excellent, the bokeh can be a bit nervous with some backgrounds. Nice sunstars thanks to the 11-bladed aperture, lots of flare at f/22 but not at more typical apertures.

"Headstones"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 95mm, 1/800 s, f/2.8, ISO 100

"Flags"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 24mm, 1/15 s, f/22, ISO 200

"Flags corrected" (+80 manual correction of barrel distortion in DxO PL7)

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 24mm, 1/15 s, f/22, ISO 200

"Sunstar"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 28mm, 1/80 s, f/22, ISO 1250

"Cannon shot with Canon"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 105mm, 1/200 s, f/4, ISO 100

"Wren" – bonus shot, one of our two kitties with one of our four Christmas trees in the foreground

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 105mm, 1/60 s, f/2.8, ISO 6400

 

[Dragon]

Post your shots from the One Zoom to rule all standard zooms, combining the useful focal range of the 24-105/4 with the faster aperture of the 24-70/2.8 and beating both on IQ.

My first impression of the lens is that it's reminiscent of the EF 70-200/2.8 zooms but with a petite hood – not a small lens but pretty easy to handle. It's a little weird seeing open screw holes on a weather sealed lens.

I'm not a fan of the tripod ring, and I wish Canon had made it removable. The tripod foot is easy to remove (which is a good thing), and the mount left behind is not as obtrusive as I thought it would be. The foot extends to the far end of the zoom ring, and that makes the ring harder to use with the foot installed. With a lens plate on the foot it's even worse (hand under the foot is even further from the barrel), so I really hope RRS makes a replacement foot. I've already put in a request, which received the usual 'we are tracking customer demand for this product' response. I also don't like that there are no 90° detents in the ring rotation; my other lenses with a non-removable tripod ring (RF 100-300/2.8, EF 600/4 II) have those detents, and that makes it easy to position the ring at 0° (landscape) and 90° (portrait) orientations. The ring rotates smoothly, but you need to line up the markings to get it properly oriented.

On my way home from picking up the lens, I stopped by a local cemetery for some initial shots. Below is a selection, reduced for posting but otherwise just with basic processing in DxO.

This is another lens that required correction of barrel distortion. I did not check, but I'm sure it's 'forced' in camera. The corners are black at 24mm, however the distortion resolves pretty quickly since the black corners are gone by 28mm. DxO PL7 does not have a profile yet, but applying manual barrel distortion correction of +80 takes care of it (but probably not optimally, since the distortion is probably non-linear as is the case for the RF 14-35/4L).

Sharpness is excellent, the bokeh can be a bit nervous with some backgrounds. Nice sunstars thanks to the 9-bladed aperture, lots of flare at f/22 but not at more typical apertures.

"Headstones"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 95mm, 1/800 s, f/2.8, ISO 100

"Flags"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 24mm, 1/15 s, f/22, ISO 200

"Flags corrected" (+80 manual correction of barrel distortion in DxO PL7)

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 24mm, 1/15 s, f/22, ISO 200

"Sunstar"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 28mm, 1/80 s, f/22, ISO 1250

"Cannon shot with Canon"

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 105mm, 1/200 s, f/4, ISO 100

"Wren" – bonus shot, one of our two kitties with one of our four Christmas trees in the foreground

EOS R3, RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z @ 105mm, 1/60 s, f/2.8, ISO 6400

Looks like sharpness holds up pretty well at f/22. Not always the case for wide aperture lenses. Once DXO profiles the lens, they will drag 23 or 22mm corrected out of the wide end with PL7 as the full frame is clearly wider than the "corrected" 24mm. Nice to have lots of pixels when those kinds of corrections are necessary. The R5 will like this lens. EDIT. I missed that you had done the correction manually, so it would be interesting to see what Cannon DPP gives you for usable area as that should be close to an actual 24mm. Latest version of DPP is September, so not sure if it includes that lens or if the correction data is buried in the raw files now, but it would be interesting to give it a try.

 

[frankchn]

I found that the 24-105mm f/4-7.1 profile in Lightroom is decent for correction while we wait for Lightroom to update.

 

[danfaz]

I've only been able to take one pic today, hopefully more tomorrow.
Tested the macro capabilities on one of my little succulent plants.

 

[Dragon]

I found that the 24-105mm f/4-7.1 profile in Lightroom is decent for correction while we wait for Lightroom to update.

Lightroom says the profile is in todays LR update. Also included is the profile for the 200-800 both barefoot and with 1.4x and 2x extenders.

 

[danfaz]

Lightroom says the profile is in todays LR update. Also included is the profile for the 200-800 both barefoot and with 1.4x and 2x extenders.

Okay, LR and PS have the profile, but it's doing some weird stuff. Looks what happens when I apply profile corrections:

 

[Dragon]

Okay, LR and PS have the profile, but it's doing some weird stuff. Looks what happens when I apply profile corrections:

View attachment 213528

Maybe Adobe has some work to do

 

[danfaz]

Okay, got some landscapes in, a portrait, and some nighttime pics to test the stab. These are all jpegs from cam mildly edited on my phone, since LR's profile correction is wonky right now.
Overall impression after just a couple days: lens is for sure very sharp. Does have significant vignetting at 2.8, corrected by camera. Focusing is super quick and accurate. I could easily hand-hold half second shots (both Christmas decor shots are half second exposure). Note on the reindeers, my focus was on the momma. The papa moves, so that why there's motion blur. One the other shot, my focus was the inflatable Christmas tree.
Bokeh has the onion ring look, but falloff (see my "macro" shot above) is pretty smooth.
Ergonomics are good, it's very well balanced, does not feel like a 3 pound lens. I also would like to be able to take the tripod collar off completely, but if you take off the foot and spin the collar, you can find a comfy spot.
The zoom throw is nice and short, and you can turn with one finger.
I can tell I'm going to really like this lens!

 

[Del Paso]

I should get mine within 1 or 2 days.
Growing more and more impatient...

 

[kdcaptures]

Okay, got some landscapes in, a portrait, and some nighttime pics to test the stab. These are all jpegs from cam mildly edited on my phone, since LR's profile correction is wonky right now.
Overall impression after just a couple days: lens is for sure very sharp. Does have significant vignetting at 2.8, corrected by camera. Focusing is super quick and accurate. I could easily hand-hold half second shots (both Christmas decor shots are half second exposure). Note on the reindeers, my focus was on the momma. The papa moves, so that why there's motion blur. One the other shot, my focus was the inflatable Christmas tree.
Bokeh has the onion ring look, but falloff (see my "macro" shot above) is pretty smooth.
Ergonomics are good, it's very well balanced, does not feel like a 3 pound lens. I also would like to be able to take the tripod collar off completely, but if you take off the foot and spin the collar, you can find a comfy spot.
The zoom throw is nice and short, and you can turn with one finger.
I can tell I'm going to really like this lens!

View attachment 213534View attachment 213535View attachment 213536View attachment 213537View attachment 213538

Those first two are STUNNING!

 

[danfaz]

Those first two are STUNNING!

Oh, thank you!

 

[Dragon]

Okay, got some landscapes in, a portrait, and some nighttime pics to test the stab. These are all jpegs from cam mildly edited on my phone, since LR's profile correction is wonky right now.
Overall impression after just a couple days: lens is for sure very sharp. Does have significant vignetting at 2.8, corrected by camera. Focusing is super quick and accurate. I could easily hand-hold half second shots (both Christmas decor shots are half second exposure). Note on the reindeers, my focus was on the momma. The papa moves, so that why there's motion blur. One the other shot, my focus was the inflatable Christmas tree.
Bokeh has the onion ring look, but falloff (see my "macro" shot above) is pretty smooth.
Ergonomics are good, it's very well balanced, does not feel like a 3 pound lens. I also would like to be able to take the tripod collar off completely, but if you take off the foot and spin the collar, you can find a comfy spot.
The zoom throw is nice and short, and you can turn with one finger.
I can tell I'm going to really like this lens!

Nice shots. The first two from Sand Harbor and Incline respectively??. The longer FL really brings the far shore closer.

 

[danfaz]

Nice shots. The first two from Sand Harbor and Incline respectively??. The longer FL really brings the far shore closer.

Yes they are, good eye!

 

[Dragon]

Yes they are, good eye!

Once you have seen the shoals at Sand Harbor, they are hard to unsee. This is a shot from 2007 taken with a Casion EX-Z750 . Lived in Grass Valley for almost 40 years, so got to the lake fairly often..

 

[LSXPhotog]

I've only used this lens for one job since I was able to pick it up. I went to work with it the very next day shooting a $2.5-million listing before Christmas. I used it on my R3 to shoot all the insane details this property has while the R6II got to work with the RF 14-35 f/4L. I would have loved to use the 10-20 in a few rooms, but mine is still backordered. Thankfully, the lens profile was available because this lens has a pretty disappointing amount of lens distortion correction applied to it. That alone has me a bit apprehensive about the lens, but the corrected results for photography have me swooning. I fully come back from vacation next week and have an all day "hybrid" shoot where I plan to throw everything at this lens. I need this lens to perform better than the 24-70 in every way on the job.

Lens corrections make this a mixed bag for me. We were in discussions about buying a RED Komodo or C70 for our video projects. I thought this lens would be perfect. The video frame will cut off the dark corners, but it won't correct for distortion on the RED. So this really bothers me at $3000 it may not even be viable for professional video work on a professional camera that isn't branded with Canon on it.

 

[danfaz]

I've only used this lens for one job since I was able to pick it up. I went to work with it the very next day shooting a $2.5-million listing before Christmas. I used it on my R3 to shoot all the insane details this property has while the R6II got to work with the RF 14-35 f/4L. I would have loved to use the 10-20 in a few rooms, but mine is still backordered. Thankfully, the lens profile was available because this lens has a pretty disappointing amount of lens distortion correction applied to it. That alone has me a bit apprehensive about the lens, but the corrected results for photography have me swooning. I fully come back from vacation next week and have an all day "hybrid" shoot where I plan to throw everything at this lens. I need this lens to perform better than the 24-70 in every way on the job.

Lens corrections make this a mixed bag for me. We were in discussions about buying a RED Komodo or C70 for our video projects. I thought this lens would be perfect. The video frame will cut off the dark corners, but it won't correct for distortion on the RED. So this really bothers me at $3000 it may not even be viable for professional video work on a professional camera that isn't branded with Canon on it.

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View attachment 213758

Shots look great!