Canon - RF16mm F2.8 STM Wide Angle Prime Lens for EOS R-Series Cameras - Black

I'm disdainful of this lens and I shouldn't be. The red circle on the L lenses have kept me captive for so long, it's difficult to accept what my own experience proves: non-L RF lenses are very close to what EF L lenses produced in quality, and so much better than the old EF non-L lenses. I vowed years ago to only buy L lenses so I had the best glass, weather sealing, IS, whatever, and then the RF line kept expanding and showing me the non-L lenses were exceptional enough for real work. I bought this lens for the same reason I owned the EF 20mm: in a compact size I was able to get really good photos, while carrying only the one lens into the backcountry for multi-day backpacking trips. True, I'm more likely to carry as my one lens the excellent RF 14-35 L lens, but I have recently carried only two lenses into Alaska's Arctic Circle for some Aurora chasing, and the 16 was one and the one I used when aiming at the sky. And I was impressed. It's tiny size, tiny price, and sharp imaging, may not reach all the way to my L lens heights for ultimate sharpness, but the size combined with the quality it helps produce, has gone the distance in allaying my fears for trusting a non-L lens in exacting situations. Even in the -50 degrees we were shooting in almost day and night for a week. Considering that I have a few non-L lenses proving similar things to me as this 16mm has, I still have to get over my disdain for non-L because Canon is producing pro level lenses at consumer level prices, and I must learn to ignore the price tag and trust the results.

I paired this lens with my new Canon R5 mark II and it's been so fun to use. It was a learning curve at first for me because I had never really used such a wide angle lens, but after some trial and error I've learned what I want from it. Also very compact and great for travel.

Great lens, no vignetting. Not for portraits though

Great lens on a mirrorless camera for tight spaces. Very useful for in home studio.

Nice wide angle lens

Just picked up this lens, and went straight into shooting a wedding with it. I figured I'd use it as a kind of "artsy" lens, not worrying too much about sharpness and detail (I have the 24-105 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 for that. I just wanted a fun, lightweight, wide, and fast lens to have some fun with. My experience is...it is awesome for creative work. It was not as sharp as the 10x more expensive glass, but I wasn't expecting it to be. It did very well overall image-wise. It does seem to do a little hunting-dance when you have the camera set to AF-Continuous mode, but if you switch over to single-shot AF, it locks on and seems to work better that way. I would probably NOT use this for any architectural or detail oriented work, but other than that...go for it.

Item was exactly as described. No issues upon arrival. Another quality Canon lens to add to the collection.

Tiny in size with great performance. Relatively inexpensive, so it is also a great value.

This lens very sharp and adequate in my R50. The APSC equivalent 24.5mm is very useful. Landscape photography and selfies vloging are a breeze. Low light performance is adequate not so great.

Very disappointed with this lens due to softness around the edges. I recently used it for northern lights in Alaska and was excited by the light weight and small size. However, it ruined one of my best northern lights shot by blurring stars at the upper corners during a 8 to 10 second wide open exposure. I can't trust it anymore.