Canon RF 24-240mm Super Zoom – Hands On Part1

The New Canon RF 24-240mm f4-6.3 Super Zoom lens is due to be released on 09/05/19, but due to a bit of luck, I managed to get my hands on one 6 days early.  This is another of the new Lenses Canon is bringing out for its new mirrorless “R” series cameras.  Allot of attention is being given to this lens as it is the first Canon RF lens to have Dynamic Image stabilization on a full-frame lens.  For this test, I used a Canon EOS-R converted to Hyper Color Infrared and a Super Color filter.  My perfect conversion.

The first thing that struck me when I opened the box for this lens is how sturdy it feels.  It has a more sturdy feel than the Canon EF 24-70mm, or 24-105mm.  

It’s not a light lens, but it feels well balanced.  It also doesn’t look out of place on the camera.  In the past, many Super Zoom lenses were bulky and front heavy.  This lens feels very natural and even with the zoom extended there is no wobble.  

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will want to make certain you have the most current version of the camera’s firmware installed.  If not, you will receive an error message when you turn your camera on with the lens connected.   You will also want to have the most current version of Canons Digital Photo Professional software to convert the RAW files.

Now before I go any further, I have a tradition whenever I test a new lens; I do a test image of my dog first.  Sort of a good luck thing.

Here she is in Super Color Infrared at f6.3, ISO 2000 at 1/20 sec, Hand Held. YES, the image stabilizer most certainly works.  And it works for up to 5 stops.

As I left to shoot some test shots, I discovered that the sky was overcast and grey and it was about to rain.  At this point, I took off for the closest park I could find.  This is only part one of this review.  Once the weather cooperates I will do a more in-depth shoot, with hopefully more artsy images.

BUT…… Let me answer the most important question first.

DOES IT HAVE A HOT-SPOT????

. . . . . NO ! 

Here’s an image in Super Color Infrared (590nm) at f22, 1/50sec, ISO 800

Now that we have established there are no Hot-Spot issues, let’s continue to try different types of images before I get rained on.

As I walked thru the park trying to quickly grab as many types of images as possible I realized how hooked I was becoming on this Image Stabilizer.  I normally can hand hold a shot down to 1/50sec on a good day but with this lens, 1/30sec  was nothing special.

Here’s a Hyper Color Infrared image (470nm) at f5.0, ISO 100, 1/30sec. 

With many Zoom and Super Zoom lenses, the minimum focusing distance can be a bit much. With the 24-240mm the minimum distance wide is 1.64 feet, and 2.5 feet zoomed in. 

That still allows for decent tight shots.

As I was shooting it became very obvious that this lens is weighted so that the camera feels balanced in your hand.  I’m really getting impressed with it.  And to say the auto-focus is fast is an understatement.  Instantaneous seems more accurate.

 

So after shooting with it for a short time, less than an hour thanks to the rain, here are my feelings.

Positive   

It is a compact lens with great range.  It will be a great travel lens.

The image stabilization is fantastic.

The auto-focus is silent and super fast.

The lens balances well with the EOS-R

Negative

I do wish it was a little faster zoomed in.  But we always want more, don’t we?

Because Canon is grouping this lens with the RP, it is going to get that dreaded label of “Kit Lens”, which mean quite a few photo snobs will never try it.  Their loss.

 

I will do a follow-up piece once I’ve had a little more time to shoot with the lens and also put a human in front of the lens.

 

Here are a couple more images from the short shoot today.