Canon RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM

A lightweight alternative to a ‘trinity' wide-angle zoom

- Matthew Richards

You certainly can't accuse Canon of having a meagre line-up of wide-angle zoom lenses for its EOS R system mirrorless cameras. With the advent of this RF 16-28mm, there are no less than five full-frame options, plus an RF-S wide-angle zoom for APS-C format cameras, and that's not counting all of the back-catalogue EF mount zooms that you can use via an EF-EOS R mount adapter. Like the similarly new RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM standard zoom, the wide-angle RF 16-28mm follows a recent theme of downsized, lightweight alternatives to 'trinity' zooms, delivering much more manageable and affordable options compared with top-flight constant f/2.8 aperture zoom lenses. Taking other camera systems into account, it follows in the footsteps of the Nikkor Z 17-28mm f/2.8 which itself is a close copy of the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD for Sony cameras.

Build and handling

The first thing that grabbed my attention was just how small and lightweight the Canon RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM is for a wide-angle zoom with a constant f/2.8 aperture. At just 91 x 77mm and 445g, it's only slightly bigger and heavier than the Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM, which has a variable aperture rating and is all of 2.33 f/stops slower at the long end. Both lenses have a retractable design, which tends to split opinions among photographers. However, I personally like the option of compressing the lens to save space. It only takes a split second to extend the lens for use from its retracted state, with a quick twist of the zoom ring and no fumbling around for a locking button, which isn't featured.