Hello everyone, I bought a cheap used RF lens the other day, the 24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM.  It’s a kit lens (very basic starter one) that they bundle with the R8.  It’s a full frame lens, with a wide to normal field of view, but designed for lightweight travel and portability.  Meaning it really compromises light gathering ability for something designed for not so serious snapshots and video with continuous autofocus.  When I’m planning out photo gear loadouts for shoots (work or fun), weight and how something fits into the bag is a pretty big consideration these days.  

Here are some product shots taken with the Nikon V1 as usual:

The lens collapses in for storage and you basically give it a hard turn to get the lens to work.

I settled on keeping this lens on the Canon EOS RP.  Because it still has a traditional clackety-clack mechanical shutter, which you need for proper flash photography.  This is a simple light setup and might be good at mimicking a point and shoot in some situations.  The flash I have on it is an old 270EX which runs off 2 AA batteries, and can be used in high speed sync off camera with a Canon TTL flash cable believe it or not.

The lens shows an aperture of f/4.5-6.3, but the slightest nudge of the zoom ring immediately pushes it to f/5.  This is definitely a lens that you have to treat like a slow kit lens that is all about accepting the high iso penalty, but with the advantage of having a deep depth of field.  It’s a nice visual balance to the wide open aperture shots that I usually produce with the 85mm, 105mm, and 200mm.

So hopefully you can see where I’m going here–the 24-50mm is probably not the best tool by itself, as the photos can look a bit too normal and “iphone looking” but as a side helper camera as I lug the bigger cameras, it’s a great option.

---

Test Shots with the 24-50mm on the R8

When I get new gear in I always try to give it a nice photoshoot of its own, and some product shots of whatever’s nearby in the room.  It’s not lost on me that not many people have all this nice gear and really truly get by what they have.  Regardless of the opinion I have on lenses and cameras I do like them all really.  Somebody talented had to design and build it under the constraints of price and other factors.

This RF 24-50mm wants to live at f/6.3 or even smaller I’ve noticed.  If you don’t have supplemental lighting, forget about it in dim room situations.  Canon has definitely cheapened out on this in terms of aperture.  It is dimmer than the ubiquitous 18-55mm kit lens you see attached to all the Rebel DSLRs over the years.  (Speaking of which in the future I am going to do a post that will probably be titled “In Praise of the Kit Lens”)

The 24-50mm is plenty sharp enough to capture my .5mm pencil strokes and charcoal pencil smudges.  I left the warm auto wb of the light used to illuminate these drawings I had close by.

For photos of drawings at small aperture, it’s plenty sharp and will do the job, since those are just details on a flat plane, but I was surprised at how blurry up close images are of 3D things at f/6.3.  If you’ve used other types of lenses and sensor sizes, the idea of f/6.3 can seem just flat out gross, as it turns everything into generic kit lens imaging territory.  Again, these are just quick tests in a one light spare room.

---

Canon RF 24-50mm Real World Examples

I got the lens in and the very next day used it as a support 3rd camera for my normal event photography loadout.  It’s not going to beat any 24-70mm f/2.8 for work level photography, but its strengths are that it’s small, light, unassuming, and sharp all over the frame. 

If you’re delivering photos to an editor that needs a variety of compositions that show detail throughout the z axis, this one is not bad.  The way I look at and determine the usefulness of a lens like the 24-50mm is like this: well, it has IS, so you can use it as an advantage.  With a big f/2.8 lens you’ll always be tempted to use it wide open for a certain look, but the little 24-50mm can be used at small apertures and a super slow shutter like 1/4 to simulate motion at a busy event.

For Lao New Year up in Tennessee, I had for a good portion of the day: A Nikon D700+200mm f/2, a Canon R8+85mm f/1.2 and the RP with the 24-50mm.  All that is a crazy amount of weight.  Let me break down the insanity of this loadout that I had on my person.  Little ol me, with about STR level 8 (if that!):

Nikon D700 = 2.37 lbs (1 kg)
Nikon 200mm f/2 = 6.4 lbs (2.93 kg)
Canon R8 = 1 lb (450 grams)
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 = 2.37 lbs (1 kg)

Canon RP = 1 lb (450 grams)

and the subject of this review:

Canon RF 24-50mm is 7.4oz, 210 grams, which is a feather compared to any of the above

So this little Canon lens is good if you’re building an all prime loadout and need a simple kit lens combo for group photos and easy snapshots.  As much as the internet and curated feeds would like to trick you, there are many many situations that you just won’t be able to shoot even a 50mm.  Especially at my events and my community, there’s always a crowd of people to the left, right, and behind you, so backing up to get the proper distance for a portrait lens will cause you to be blocked or lose that opportunity.  Good on those out there that can control everything on their shoots, but this is real live event photography, which is closely related to street photography and its unpredictable nature.  Sometimes a kit lens like this 24-50mm (or 18-55mm) can be the better choice as opposed to a long lens.

I know these new cameras and phones are good at high iso, but there’s no real replacement for direct light from even a small pop up flash.  It’s a tool/technique that can give both a pro and amateur look all in one, and since the 24-50mm takes up so little room in the inventory slots, you can use that to pack a small flash.

Is this lens weather sealed? Nope! But it did survive a couple of splashes at Lao New Year!

---

This 24-50mm lens is not bad if it’s all you have in your camera kit.  Just focus on its strengths, and of course the art of photography and composition and timing. 😉  The baked in Canon lens corrections pretty much eliminates the distortion and the vignette control makes for standard sharp all over the frame photos.  Its real power is when you combine this kit with another camera.  I learned many many moons ago that (for me) two cameras with different lenses is the absolute best way to cover events and provide yourself with many different options and angles.  That way you can walk into an event with a “responsible” lens like a real journalist and a bonus camera with a creative or specific lens. This 24-50mm could take care of the bread and butter type of photos, establishing shots, group photos, while the real creative shots that you shoot for yourself can be done on any plain old DSLR with a 50mm f/1.8.