【Canon RF Super Ternary) RF10-20mm F4 L IS STM Hands-On】Recently, Canon's "Super Ternary" team has successfully teamed up, with the ultra-wide-angle RF10-20mm F4 L IS STM, and the newly released RF24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z and RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM super telephoto zoom lenses.
Entering the mirrorless era, the Canon R system has brought a lot of super-standard lenses, and these three "super ternary" have expanded the original large ternary focal length of 24mm to 200mm to 10mm to 500mm, covering many impossible subjects to meet more needs.
Recently, I just got the ultra-ternary ultra-wide-angle end RF10-20mm F4 L IS STM, which is wider than the EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens in the SLR era, and has become the widest ultra-wide-angle zoom lens under Canon at present, and the stacking material is also very sufficient, the lens adopts an optical structure of 16 elements and 12 groups, due to the characteristics of the ultra-wide-angle lens, many special lenses are needed to help ensure the excellent image quality performance of the center and edge, and at the same time correct the problems that are prone to occur.
However, considering the application of its own micro-applicability, it has also made a lightweight design, the lens is equipped with an STM focusing motor, with a combination of position detection sensors, the STM focusing motor is small in size, fast in driving speed, reducing the amount of movement of the focusing lens, and further reducing the volume and weight of the lens is of great help, the size is about Φ83.7 × 112 mm, the weight is only 570g, and the weight is also controlled at about 1300g when combined with EOS R5, compared to the EF 11-24mm f/ in the DSLR era. The combination of the 4L USM and the EOS 5D Mark IV (weighing about 2070g) is more than one-third lighter, whether it is carried out or used with a stabilizer or even a drone, it is a lot of load reduction, and it is well received.
The position detection sensor can remember the focus position when the camera is turned off, and can quickly start into the shooting state, which greatly shortens the time from boot to shooting, so that you will not miss any wonderful moments.
Appearance, Controls:
In terms of exterior design, the RF10-20mm F4L IS STM lens adopts a "bulb" design, so it is impossible to use a filter on the front end, but the front lens has a waterproof and anti-fouling coating, which can be easier to clean fingerprints, dirt, etc., and the maintenance cost is lower. Canon also takes into account the need to use filters for scenery or special shooting, and the rear of the lens is equipped with a special filter mounting slot, but it seems that there is no good selection of special ND or filters at present, and I look forward to the follow-up filter manufacturers. The lens also has a dust-proof and water-resistant drip function, a brass chrome mount, and a fairly meticulous workmanship.
The lens body is equipped with a "three ring" design of focus ring, zoom ring and control ring, and the lens adopts internal zoom, so the lens volume will not change when zooming, but the front lens group will move back and forth, but it will not protrude outside the lens, 10mm is the most prominent, 16mm front lens group has the deepest income, and to 20mm it will move forward slightly, the amplitude is not large, and it will not affect the center of gravity of the lens, and it is very friendly when equipped with a stabilizer or drone.
Although the lens is compact, there is no shortage of function buttons and various levers, and it also gives the custom buttons that the telephoto lens will only be equipped with in the past, and can be set up through the settings such as: "depth of field preview", "drive mode" and many functions are given buttons, and users can reset them according to their own shooting habits to make it more convenient to take pictures.
Hands-on experience:
The first feeling of the lens is that it is lightweight, very lightweight, although it is a red circle L head, there is a lot of material, but there is no burden on the actual use, it is worth saying that this time the RF10-20mm F4L IS STM lens also has optical image stabilization, 5 levels of image stabilization is very practical, and it also supports lens and body collaborative image stabilization, with built-in body image stabilizationEOS R5, EOS R3 and other models can achieve up to 6 levels of collaborative image stabilization, which is very helpful for handheld shooting.
Canon placed the lens stabilization component far back, combined with the short flange distance, so that the rear lens group is close to the imaging surface, and with the new control algorithm, the stabilization performance of this lens is even better, and the image quality can be improved even more.
In actual shooting, I tried handheld long exposure shooting, and there was no problem at all with the unsupported low camera position for 1 second, and with the "Peripheral Coordination Control" supported by the latest firmware of the Canon EOS R5 (here I want to say, this function is also applicable to short film shooting), it can effectively reduce the edge shaking of the frame, even if it is inconvenient to use the stabilizer, the image stabilization of the body and lens can meet the practicality of most shooting, and even without a tripod, the long exposure cable is not a problem.
The second feeling of getting hands on the lens is too wide, control requires skill, look at the ultra-wide-angle zoom head on the market, 10mm starting is very rare, not to mention the traditional sense of the big ternary, small ternary kind of "golden oil" lens, compared to our commonly used 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and other focal lengths, this lens does not belong to the frequency of use, but it is irreplaceable when needed, 10mm can bring the impact is very suitable for landscapes, architecture, indoor and other shooting scenes.
However, due to the wide angle, 10mm provides a viewing angle of more than 130°, and there are too many contents to store it, and it is difficult to highlight the main body...... However, considering its "near large and far small" perspective relationship is strong, easy to bring a sense of space characteristics, it will be a visual impact if it is used well, and it will be a disaster if it is not used well, therefore, it is necessary to try more when shooting, and even the lens will have different visual effects when tilting, tilting, and sideways shooting, RF10-20mm F4 L IS STM is a lens that takes some time to get used to, but the law of ultra-wide-angle shooting still applies to this lens, and in actual use, I will think more about how to compose the shot, and it seems that I have regained the fun of taking pictures in the first place.
The RF10-20mm F4 L IS STM lens will also have a starlight effect, this lens uses 9 aperture blades, reduce the shutter to F11 starlight and start to appear, we used F22, slow speed low camera handheld shooting long exposure, you can see that the starlight of the street lamp is 18 pins, usually the number of stars depends on the number of aperture blades, the number of light of the cardinal lens is twice the number of blades.
Finally, a brief explanation,The feeling of using this lens,Small,Light is the first feeling of getting this lens,Canon R system brings excellent image quality (distortion、Glare、Vignetting, etc. have good suppression,Especially distortion,If you are using EOS R5 like me, it is recommended to upgrade to the latest firmware,Turn on in-camera correction) and anti-shake performance (R5The latest firmware will bring "peripheral coordinated control") Needless to say, there are some thresholds for the lens to get started, but the process is quite pleasant, just focus on the composition, the image quality performance can be assured, the overall control is very good, very in line with the photographer's habits, and although this lens is 10mm start, everyone's attention is focused on the widest 10mm, it also provides 14, 16, 18, 20mm and other important focal lengths, so although 10mm is more difficult to control, these common focal lengths are very practical, and 10mm gives you more options and possibilities.
In addition, although Canon's official part has not been introduced too much, it is clear that Canon has taken into account the needs of more and more video creators nowadays, and the lens has done a good job of suppressing the breathing effect, and its excellent stabilization ability makes handheld video recording easier, even without the use of stabilizers.
Buying advice:
Newcomers: Friends who like ultra-wide can consider experiencing it, but after all, there is a certain threshold for getting started, and you can spend more energy on easy-to-use lenses, which makes it easier to shoot your favorite works and better build self-confidence in taking pictures.
Enthusiasts: If you are a landscape, starry sky, architecture, interior photographer, or shooting a Vlog or using it with a drone, you can get it, otherwise it's the same as above.
Professional photographers: This lens is very suitable for professional photographers, especially those who have a certain experience in ultra-wide-angle shooting.