Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Home โ†’ Reviews โ†’ Cameras and Lenses โ†’ Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM Review

Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM Review

By Spencer Cox 30 Comments
Last Updated On January 5, 2024

«»

To put the sharpness results from earlier into context, let’s look at how the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L stacks up against various other lenses on the market at each focal length.

15mm/16mm

Canon-15-35mm-f2.8-L-MTF-Performance-15mm

Sony-FE-16-35mm-f2.8-GM-MTF-Performance-16mm

Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S MTF Performance 16mm

IRIX 15mm f/2.4 MTF Performance

20mm

Canon-15-35mm-f2.8-L-MTF-Performance-20mm

Sony-FE-16-35mm-f2.8-GM-MTF-Performance-20mm

Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S MTF Performance 20mm

Sony-FE-20mm-f1.8-G-MTF-Performance

Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S MTF Performance

24mm

Canon-15-35mm-f2.8-L-MTF-Performance-24mm

Sony-FE-16-35mm-f2.8-GM-MTF-Performance-24mm

Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S MTF Performance 24mm

Sony-FE-24mm-f1.4-GM-MTF-Performance

Sony-FE-24mm-f2.8-G-MTF-Performance

Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S MTF Performance

28mm

Canon-15-35mm-f2.8-L-MTF-Performance-28mm

Sony-FE-16-35mm-f2.8-GM-MTF-Performance-28mm

Nikon-Z-17-28mm-f2.8-MTF-Performance-28mm

Nikon-28mm-f1.4E-MTF-Performance-New

Nikon Z 28mm f2.8 MTF Performance

35mm

Canon-15-35mm-f2.8-L-MTF-Performance-35mm

Sony-FE-16-35mm-f2.8-GM-MTF-Performance-35mm

Canon-EF-35mm-f1.4-L-II-MTF-Performance

Canon-RF-35mm-f1.8-Macro-MTF-Performance

Summary

At each focal length, the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L holds its own, even beating prime lenses in some cases. At a broad level, it is slightly less sharp than the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S and Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lenses, but it’s in the same ballpark (and it beats them at some apertures and portions of the frame). Of course, it’s not a big deal, since you can’t mount those lenses on Canon EOS R cameras anyway. I only include them above for context.

I’ll put it this way – sharpness is not a weak point of the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L no matter what aperture or focal length you’re using. While some lenses will beat it slightly in a head-to-head, if you’re getting blurry photos with the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L, it’s not because of the lens (unless your copy was dropped)!

The next page of this review sums up everything and explains the pros and cons of the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L. So, click the menu below to go to “Verdict”:

Table of Contents

  • Specifications & Build Quality
  • Optical Features
  • Sharpness Comparisons
  • Verdict
  • More Sample Images
  • Reader Comments
«»
Looking for even more exclusive content?

On Photography Life, you already get world-class articles with no advertising every day for free. As a Member, you'll get even more:

Silver ($5/mo)
  • Exclusive articles
  • Monthly Q&A chat
  • Early lens test results
  • "Creative Landscape Photography" eBook
Gold ($12/mo)
  • All that, PLUS:
  • Online workshops
  • Monthly photo critiques
  • Vote on our next lens reviews
 
Click Here to Join Today
 
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 ยท Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment