There is no doubt in my mind, Autumn is my absolute favourite season. The colours, cooler weather, moody skies and the slower pace that this time of year brings. There is simply nothing better than spending a Sunday walking in the forest, admiring the colours of the season and coming home to cook a roast dinner. Beaut.
But it’s also my favourite season for heading out with the camera. With the later sunrise and sunset times and the sun being generally a lot lower in the sky, I prefer how the light looks this time of year (when it’s not raining of course).
These shots were taken in the Blackwater Arboretum, New Forest, Hampshire. on the Canon EOS R5 with Canon RF 28-70mm f2 L USM, an excellent combination for traveling light. I say light, but this camera lens combo is well over 2kg. However, Canon touts this lens as a lens with prime quality, with the convenience of a standard zoom. I personally don’t quite agree, it’s a pretty bold claim - I mean, what primes are we talking about here? I would say it’s not quite as good at all focal lengths even comparing it to relatively affordable Sigma Art primes.
But, that’s not to say it isn’t an outstanding lens. Because it is. It’s incredible in fact and a lens I’m very glad I invested in. No, it’s not prime quality. Nothing will ever beat a prime in my opinion, however this lens does have some beautiful qualities that just get me excited about shooting with it. And it’s a zoom, which for me is a very novel thing. I rarely use a zoom as I just love the images I can get with primes and although the 28-70mm f2 might not achieve the look of a prime, it has a look that is very distinctive and artful. Canon have done a fantastic job to even make this lens a reality, let alone make this lens stand out with such a distinct and stunning image quality.
Back to the weight thing. No, it’s not light. But if you compared the weight of carrying around a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and maybe an 85mm then you’d have a backpack that weighs FAR more than 2kg. And that is something I have to do fairly often and it can really slow things down and make working in the field much harder (and sometimes impossible).
I’d never buy a zoom lens if it wasn’t something special - after all I want to give my clients a look that is unique and gets them excited too. The Canon RF 28-70mm f2 L USM does exactly that.
So what is it about the 28-70mm f2 L USM that makes me say ‘it’s not quite prime quality’? To test this, I have taken a few photos of a horrible old paint can in my garden in the midday sun - quite possibly the worst time and subject, but lets see how this goes.
Please keep in mind these points are (mostly) subjective. They are reasons why I would still reach for a prime (specifically a Sigma Art Prime) over this lens if I had the choice, they are not reasons to decide against renting or owning this lens. They’re purely points I’ve noticed from using it for over a month now personally and on a range of commercial shoots along with some of the very basic tests I’ve carried out.
Bokeh - it just isn’t as smooth and in some situations can be slightly disruptive. This is completely subjective, this lens renders out of focus areas beautifully, but I just prefer the look compared to my Sigma Prime . The below images are from the Canon RF 28-70mm f2 zoomed in to 50mm and the Sigma Art Prime 50mm. Both captured at f2 with all settings exactly the same.
Canon RF 28-70mm f2 L USM @ F2
Sigma ‘Art’ 50mm f1.4 @ F2
The first thing that you’ll notice is that the Canon RF 28-70mm (top) is slightly wider compared to the Sigma Art 50mm. I imagine this is to do with how much breathing occurs when focusing the mammoth piece of glass that the 28-70mm f2 is, the Canon is also slightly warmer (notice the grey on the paint can is warmer on the Canon). I think this is a common trait of Canon Glass, they often render images on the warmer side and are therefore great at rendering skin tones. The warmer tone of the paint can is actually more ‘visually accurate’ and represented close to what I observed by eye. But apart from that, the images are VERY similar which is quite astonishing. Well done Canon, you’ve made a zoom lens as good as a prime!! …well hang on, lets take a closer look.
Now this really is pixel peeping, but if Canon are going to claim this is a do-it-all standard zoom that offers prime quality, then we should be pixel peeping. The reason I shoot primes is for the image rendering quality after all. Plus, with the cost of this lens (around £3,000) we should be extra critical against Canon’s claims of ‘prime’ quality.
The above examples show a close up of the out of focus area on both the Sigma 50mm f1.4 and Canon RF 28-70mm f2, set to f2 and all other settings matched. I personally far prefer the out of focus area on the Sigma (bottom). The Canon seems to have some very defined circles around the bokeh balls and some strange texturing to them also whereas the Sigma seems to be much smoother. The Canon also has lots more ‘bokeh balls’, which (for lack of a better phrase) look like lots of bubbles whereas the Sigma seems to softly blend them together to create some very soft, pleasing defocused areas. In some situations, the Canon can really over accentuate these bokeh balls and it can easily look very fussy and distracting to the point where the subject can get a bit lost, like the example below.
Canon RF 28-70mm f2 L USM out of focus areas are beautifully artful, but can sometimes be a bit distracting and can take away from your subject.
Don’t get me wrong - it still renders out of focus areas with an incredible look and feel - it’s beautiful! But it’s something I’ve noted for future reference. If I was shooting a subject and I didn’t want all these very evident bokeh balls and I wanted the smoooooothest and buttery-est bokeh ever, I would more than likely reach for the Sigma Prime. It’s worth keeping in mind also that you (or other people/your client etc) may actually prefer the look of the Canon RF 28-70mm f2’s out of focus characteristics. It’s all just opinion anyhow.
Chromatic Aberrations - The Sigma Prime just simply outperforms it. See below. This was some very hard midday sun, so it’s an extreme example. For the most part this lens does an incredible job of controlling chromatics. However, not as well as a the Sigma 50mm prime lens.
Summary - This is an extremely unfair (and unscientific) test. But, to be honest I think for Canon’s marketing to say “The RF 28-70mm F2L USM offers the kind of image quality you’d expect from a prime lens” is a little bit unfair in itself. The marketing should say “The RF 28-70mm F2L USM is a really, really bloody amazing lens. It weighs a ton, but it looks lush. In fact, it’s SO lush that it’s almost as good as a set of prime lenses, but features the really handy convenience of a zoom lens.”
Okay, maybe that needs a bit of work. But you get the idea. I love this lens. It’s possibly one of the only standard zooms I’ll ever own, purely as I just don’t really like the look of most zooms (L series or otherwise). I love shooting with primes and that won’t change, but for jobs where I need outstanding performance but I’m unable to change lens on-the-go, the RF 28-70mm f2 will be my go-to.
The fact that Canon have managed to develop this lens at all is amazing, it is a massive feat of optical and technical engineering.. With a bright f2 across the entire zoom range, beautiful colours, sharpness and stunning all round image quality all the way from 28mm to 70mm. This is a game changing lens and one that many other of Canon competitors will be working hard to release something that will even come close.