Canon has released a bunch of nice primes that are reasonably priced, size and weight friendly. Most of these lenses are also capable of 1:2 macro. The latest one is the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM. Let’s find out if it is as great as its brothers.
Sometimes I’ve used cheaper RF primes. I wrote about my experience with 16mm . radio frequency, RF 35mm . lensand RF Macro Lens 85mm during my scouting trip in France. I also used RF 50mm f/1.8 for a few shots and do a full review of RF 85mm Macro here on Fstoppers.
Now, Canon Netherlands has offered me the newest sibling in the relatively inexpensive RF prime lens series. That is RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM . Lens, which is a great addition when it comes to focal lengths. Especially for landscape photography, it’s a great spot. It does not show typical wide-angle distortions, and polarizing filters can be used without obvious uneven polarization effects. It’s also great for full-body portraits and wedding photos.
How does it look?
As expected, the RF 24mm looks similar to all the other lenses in this series. It has the same build quality and the same finish. Other than that, the dimensions and weight are about the same, maybe with the exception of the 85mm RF. The lens features a dedicated focus ring and a programmable Control Ring. There are two switches that allow the user to turn off the autofocus or the stabilizer. These are great additions, as they don’t need to dig into the menu system to turn them off.
Just like the other lenses in this series, it expands when focusing. The lens becomes 1.3 cm longer. Although it is not much, but looking at the overall length of 7.2 cm, it is also very significant. If you remove the lens while the camera is still on, the lens barrel will stay in its place. It will only retract if the camera is powered off, unless you have disabled lens retraction in the menu, that is.
Image quality
with 24mm RF macro lens, you have to rely heavily on in-camera lens correction. With a maximum aperture of f/1.8, the lens performs quite well at average levels. Sharpness becomes less impressive with respect to edges. Vignetting is also strong at that aperture, up to four stops.
Fortunately, the quality at the edges improves dramatically when down to f/4 or f/5.6. Vignetting will also decrease until it is no longer noticeable. If in-camera lens correction is enabled, vignetting will be completely eliminated, even at f/1.8. This will require exposure correction at angles of almost four stops, which can result in slightly increased noise levels in those areas of the image.
In addition to sharpness and blur, the lens also exhibits strong barrel distortion. This is also remedied by the in-camera lens correction feature. It requires stretching some of the edges of the image, which can lead to a loss of image quality again. Note how degraded the corrected image is, but this only becomes apparent when the image is viewed without lens correction in post-processing software.
Real life picture quality
Looking at the image quality in great detail will reveal a lot of imperfections that are barely visible in real-life situations. That’s why I like to take the lens out in the field to see what it looks like in normal use.
I did some comparison shots at f/1.8 and f/4, with and without the in-camera lens correction enabled. Without lens correction, vignetting was prominent at f/1.8, but at f/4, barely noticeable. With lens correction enabled, both images no longer show any signs of dark corners.
The funny thing is, in many cases, we tend to add fuzzy vignettes during post-processing to grab the viewer’s attention in the middle. Of course, this is easier to control than the lens’ natural vignetting. But it shows that vignetting isn’t always a bad thing.
Also, for portraits, angles are often less important because the subject is more in the center of the frame. If a shallow depth of field is used, the lack of sharpness of the image no longer matters. If you need a greater depth of field, you will stop the lens down to f/5.6 or f/8, in which case sharpness will be significantly better.
If 24mm RF is used on an APS-C camera such as the Canon EOS R7 or EOS R10, the field of view will be reduced to the equivalent of a 35mm full frame. In that case, you will lose the outer part of the image circle, which is the weakest part of the lens.
Using Macros
The minimum focal distance of 14 cm allows for a magnification of 1:2. This makes the RF 24mm a macro lens, which is quite unique for this focal length. It allows you to shoot close-ups with a wide field of view, capturing small objects along with their surroundings.
Add f/1.8 to the equation and it will allow for beautiful macro landscape photography with a shallow depth of field. You will reduce sharpness at the edges, but this will be lost in the unsharp background. I think the macro function is a great addition that makes the RF 24mm Macro even more fun to use.
my conclusion
Look at RF 24mm f/1.8 macro IS STM from a clinical perspective, it doesn’t have excellent performance. Most of its lens flaws are rectified when in-camera lens correction is enabled, but that can degrade image quality in the far corners of the frame. Especially at f/1.8 aperture, sharpness in those corners is not very good.
Since sharpness isn’t something that can be easily adjusted, I don’t think this lens can be used for images that need edge-to-edge sharpness with wide apertures, such as sky photography. night. But for normal use, the lack of sharpness won’t be an issue. Most photos with a shallow depth of field need sharpness only at the point of focus, rarely at the edge.
Stop makes the image quality much better. This makes the RF 24mm a great lens for both full-body portraits and landscape photography. Add macro capabilities to the equation and it’s a great lens with lots of possibilities. It may not be perfect, but that’s not to be expected from a relatively cheap lens. Fortunately, in-camera lens corrections solve a lot of problems, resulting in beautiful and clear images in the end.
The STM focus system operates quietly and smoothly. It is accurate and fast. The lens also features built-in image stabilization at up to five stops. This is quite unconventional for such a short focal length lens, but very useful. There’s no focused breath, which is great news for filmmakers.
There is only one other downside to this lens. It costs $599. Looking at the quality and asking price for the other lenses in this series, I find it a bit overpriced. On the other hand, since this focal length is so versatile, the RF 24mm can be pretty much used. In that case, it justifies the price, maybe.
What I Like
- Small and light
- Up to five stops of image stabilization
- Silent and fast STM focusing system
- AF and IS switches on the lens
- The breath is not focused
- Excellent sharpness in the center of the image
- Macro magnification up to 1:2
What I don’t like
- The barrel expands while focusing
- Strong vignetting at f/1.8 (gets better from f/4 onwards)
- Lack of sharpness in corners at f/1.8 (gets better from f/5.6 onwards)
- Strong chromatic aberration at f/1.8 (gets better from f/4 onwards)
- No dust or weather resistance
- Strong barrel distortion (fixed with in-camera lens correction)
- Not suitable for shooting the night sky
- Although it is quite cheap, it is still a bit too expensive
Although it has its downsides, I think RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM . Lens is a great lens however. Most of the blemishes will go unnoticed or even visible during actual use. I can recommend this lens if you can live with the price tag.
