In the full frame landscape, the 24-105mm range has been the most versatile yet limiting lens to professional photographers. They have about 4 stops of zoom ratio but usually have a fixed aperture of f4 which wasn't acceptable to wedding photographers and rather not good enough for indoor shoots. Most professional shooters go for the steeper 24-70mm f2.8 lenses which is part of the holy trinity of lenses, or if not, the sharp and fast prime lenses.
But then again, these lenses still exist for a reason. The 24-105mm f4 lenses from various brands got its name as a kit lens as it did come with some full frame camera combos, but has existed for very long and adopted by 3rd party lens makers. I myself have been a big fan of the 24-105 f4 lenses because im mainly a landscape and travel photographer.
I initially fell in love with this lens when I was using the Sigma 24-105 f4 DG OS HSM Art on my Canon EOS 6D Mk ii. This was a wonderful combination as I could get wide angle and some compressed shots. The Art series from Sigma is also tack sharp. Although being almost half the price and arguably sharper to its Canon L competitor, it actually was way heavier and bigger.
But enough about my history and love of 24-105mm lenses, lets get to the meat of this topic!
At this point of time, the current 24-105mm lineup of the Canon RF series are:
- Canon RF 24-105mm f2.8 L IS USM Z
- Canon RF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM
- Canon RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM
One of them is exceptionally expensive, that you could buy 10x of the third lens for the first one! But lets dive into them one by one.
Bad aperture range (would have been nice if the minimum aperture could max out at f5.6)
no weather sealing
Hard to create compression or depth of field
Good for:
Travelling
To be used at high risk places
Bad for:
hired shoots
night photography
So im not gonna go all technical, im just gonna share my experience and sample shots.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM 60mm f5.6 1/500 iso 100
This was taken at the Kek Lok Si Temple on Penang Island on a bright afternoon. Its worth mentioning that a CPL filter was attached which makes the sky much more blue. We can see that the image is sharp for f5.6, and its something that is acceptable to capture memories or for travelling, but how about when it gets darker?
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM 24.0 mm f8 1/80 iso 6400
Here we can see that there is much softening of the image due to higher iso. It is still acceptable for something that goes into the family album, but i wouldnt recommend for editorial. As mentioned, it is hard for this lens to create depth or bokeh due to its minimum f7.1 aperture at its full zoom length of 105mm.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM 105 mm f7.1 1/80 iso 320
The pillars in the foreground are still clear and identifiable whereas the statues remain to be sharp. In the image below, the temple in focus is way further than the previous image, and the buddha in the foreground is still clear.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM 24 mm f4.5 1/500 iso 100
In terms of landscapes, it does keep everything in detail and sharp.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM 60 mm f5.6 1/500 iso 100
Personal sentiment and verdict - Honestly the shots were disappointing, especially when depth could not be established. Its weak low light performance wouldn't outshine a modern hand phone today. The reason why i took this out for a trip is because its too costly and heavy to bring out the RF 24-105 f2.8 L for a road trip. If you have some budget, i recommend upgrading to the RF 24-105 f4 L, which i will be talking about next, or try the RF 35mm f1.8 Macro IS STM.
Cheapest Canon RF L lens at about RM 4,700 (Shopee)*
Very sharp throughout
Weather sealing
Fast Autofocus
Cons:
Weighs about 700g
More depth only at the further zoom ranges
Good for:
Travelling
Outdoor event shoots
Motorsports
Bad for:
night photography
I honestly miss this lens, because it just fits into the bag for an all in one setup. The only drawback i had with it was shooting at night and indoor events where ISO had to be bumped up quite high. An f2.8 aperture makes a big difference compared to f4 for indoor shoots and im the type that avoids using speedlights.
But this lens was easy, i could take it along with me for morning drives and it will take stunning automotive shots.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM 47 mm f4 1/200 iso 400
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM 91 mm f4 1/200 iso 250
In terms of bokeh, there is a fair amount of background separation especially around the 105mm range.
Canon EOS RP RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM 105 mm f4 1/500 iso 12,800
Canon EOS RP RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM 105 mm f4 1/500 iso 200
When paired with a speedlight for studio product shoots, it is sharp throughout and makes clean shots.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM 45 mm f8 1/80 iso 400
Personal sentiment and verdict - The f4 variant is great and capable, but when doing hired jobs, it may not cut it when dealing with low light situations or if you want to get very shallow depth. Prime lenses are great for this but in the rush of the moment, the lack of zoom could affect your framing, composition or story telling. This is where the RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS USM is well known for.
Not fully removable tripod ring (Only the tripod attachment slides off leaving a mount)
Good for:
Professional shoots and events
Video Production
Borderline good for portraits
Motorsports
Automotive
Bad for:
traveling
Ok so the biggest question everyone has about this lens is, how does it perform in portraits?! Honestly i'd say, dont expect much for an f2.8, but see for yourself:
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/4000 iso 400
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/640 iso 200
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/640 iso 100
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/640 iso 160
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/1250 iso 100
They're not too bad isin't it? Whats important is the background separation that is enough to put focus on the subject and still get to tell a clearer story. Now lets have a look at some events.
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 43 mm f2.8 1/500 iso 100
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/125 iso 1000
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 24 mm f2.8 1/250 iso 1250
The thing about RF lenses is that it's so sharp, minimal choma, has good contrast and vibrance. Well, how about low light conditions?
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 27 mm f2.8 1/125 iso 4000
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 25 mm f2.8 1/160 iso 8000
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 64 mm f2.8 1/125 iso 2500
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 105 mm f2.8 1/160 iso 2500
Canon EOS R8 RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z 63 mm f2.8 1/100 iso 640
In these shots, no flash has been used and fully dependent on the lighting provided. The f2.8 really makes a difference for low light situations.
Personal sentiment and verdict - The lens although feels good, has nice ergonomics, balanced weight and renders amazing photos, its not something that i would want to bring out just for fun.
The lens is huge that it doesnt fit many of my bags. I always have to unmount it to be able to transport it around. Carrying an expensive lens is also worrying, and becomes a liability. I find myself looking for alternatives when i pack my bag for trips (which is where i borrowed the 24-105 f4-7.1 lens).
This lens is no doubt production ready, and is for serious business. You can store this in a case and bring it out only when you have a paid gig, thats how i would characterise this lens.
The ringing alternative in my head will be to sell this and go for a 24-70 + 70-200 setup, but (again) having that extra 70-105 mm in a lens is really a trade off that is hard to let go because you do lose time when swapping or switching lenses than to just have that further reach when needed.
End Notes
I hope this comparison has helped you in choosing which of these lenses you should go for. Basically, these are the 3 characters for each lens:
Canon RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM - youre new to photography, still figuring out the technicalities, want something light and in a budget
Canon RF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM - you been shooting awhile, but you are a hobbyist, maybe get paid once in awhile or never stressed over clients
Canon RF 24-105mm f2.8 L IS USM Z - youre serious about nailing every shot and can never miss a moment, must be able to shoot indoors and outdoors, and zoom into the moment when needed. huge budget but believe a few jobs can pay off the lens.
*I am not associated with these stores, link is for reference on the current market
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