Canon RF 16mm f2.8 IN-DEPTH review: NO-BRAINER for EOS R!

My in-depth review of Canon RF 16mm f2.8 lens! Vs 14-35mm vs 15-35mm

Equipment used for producing my videos

00:00 - intro
00:44 - size vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
02:30 - design and controls
03:43 - focusing for photos
04:06 - coverage vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
05:20 - optical quality vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
08:20 - night landscape quality
08:41 - astrophotography quality
09:36 - portrait quality
09:59 - closeup quality and bokeh
10:27 - diffraction sunspike quality
10:42 - video autofocus
11:10 - focus motor noise
13:06 - focus breathing
13:48 - vlogging tests
15:15 - vlogging on EOS R without IBIS
17:02 - lens correction and distortion
20:17 - verdict and sample images

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[cameralabs]

My in-depth review of Canon RF 16mm f2.8 lens! Vs 14-35mm vs 15-35mm

Equipment used for producing my videos


00:00 - intro
00:44 - size vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
02:30 - design and controls
03:43 - focusing for photos
04:06 - coverage vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
05:20 - optical quality vs RF 14-35 and RF 15-35
08:20 - night landscape quality
08:41 - astrophotography quality
09:36 - portrait quality
09:59 - closeup quality and bokeh
10:27 - diffraction sunspike quality
10:42 - video autofocus
11:10 - focus motor noise
13:06 - focus breathing
13:48 - vlogging tests
15:15 - vlogging on EOS R without IBIS
17:02 - lens correction and distortion
20:17 - verdict and sample images

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

[kamv]

This is by far the best review of this lens that I’ve seen. Including images from the 14 and 15 to 35 was extremely helpful. Haven’t seen anyone else do this and I have no doubt lots of people were curious about how they compared. Thank you for the amazing video. Just ordered the lens…..

[oceanlevel]

Gordon is, to my knowledge, the original YouTube “camera scientist.” Thank you very much Gordon for all your effort over the many years. Your in-depth, comprehensive, and precise explanations are much appreciated!

[Desert-edDave]

3:07 The R7 and R10 are exceptions to this as there is a physical AF/MF focus type selection switch on the camera body which is very convenient vs. having to navigate through the menu system to make the same change.

[tempest]

thank you for including footage from a non-ibis model!! Glad to see us R owners haven't been totally forgotten haha

[esphilee]

Best photogear reviewer in youtube. Candid, concise, comprehensive.
Don’t be deceived by the seemingly simple presentation, I can see a lot of thought and effort being put in to the making of these videos.

[mwigle]

Gordon! If your lens is set to AF in the menu and you select 'FOCUS' on the lens, you manually override the AF by half-pressing the shutter button. You do not need to go through the menu, or assign a special button. Just switch from 'CONTROL' to 'FOCUS' and half-press the shutter button. This makes the lens work like any other EF autofocus lens from EOS history.

[rainermenes]

Hi Gordon, thanks for your review. If you want manual focus without going into the menu all the time you can use back button focus. In back button focus mode you can just turn the focus ring at any time and the lens will focus manually. Pressing the back button focus knob "AF on" you have AF. This should work with all EOS R models. I have tested it with the R and R6. The only drawback is you can't use the focus guide or focus peaking but 5x or 10x magnification works.

[WILDANDSTORY]

Very thorough as always Gordon. I bought the RF 14-35mm f4L lens specifically for making videos for YouTube as it was smaller and lighter than the 15-35mm but then Canon announced this little beauty for my EOS RP. Sold the 14-35mm and I’m very happy with the new 16mm. It does everything I want at a great price and small package for travelling.

[grooveecard]

Man, if Gordon Laing isn't on Canon's R&D payroll he certainly should be. This review, as always, goes way above and beyond. This should be required viewing for those looking seriously at the 16mm.

[lepostedejordan]

You're my go-to for photography info, Gordon. Always so professional and informative. Thank you and please keep it up!

[Motocycleinsta]

Thanks Gordon, I’ve just picked one of these up today, and this is now my widest lens for not much money! 🙏👍

[hansweichselbaum]

I always check your reviews before buying a lens. The only reliable channel for objective information on cameras and lenses. Thank you!

[harrisonmudge]

Really appreciated the EOS R demo as currently still rocking the R as a primary and M50 as my B cam. Looking to upgrade to an R6 as my primary at some point in the near future. Thanks for the video.

[RexxReviews]

For anyone worried you are "losing" MM because of the crop you are not. The warped RAW image is closer to about 14mm so that the corrected image is at 16mm, 06:09 shows an example of this. I hope I end up being wrong but I don't think we will see a Camera RAW/Lightroom profile for this for some time, it took Adobe 1 year to put in a profile for the RF 50mm you mentioned early in the video.

[hannumikola]

I routinely use RF 14-35mm f4 L, RF 70-200mm f4 L, RF 100mm f2.8 L, RF 100-500mm L, and this tiny little RF 16mm f2.8 STM wonder on my R5.

Your test routines and final conclusions are the most relevant and accurate I've seen so far.

Keep up the good work.

[BabyBackManiac]

Your reviews are incredibly thorough. Thank you, Gordon

[AdrianBacon]

This is on my list of RF lenses to acquire. Looks like a reasonably good deal, though I'd have preferred less optical tradeoffs, even if that meant being a little more expensive.

[raylander]

Gordon has some of the best reviews on the internet. Thank you!!

[barrymiller]

The best, down to earth, review of this lens that I have seen. Thank you.