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Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Review

Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Review

By Dvir Barkay 22 Comments
Last Updated On July 2, 2020

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Table of Contents

  • Specifications & Build Quality
  • Optical Features
  • Summary
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options
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22 Comments
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Jose
Jose
November 12, 2023 12:51 pm

You never updated this review with the R5 or R3 (i.e.: a RF camera that was better than the initial R-camera).

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Hugh Vail
Hugh Vail
January 3, 2021 4:13 pm

I am a novice to the full frame mirrorless world. I love my Canon RP with the 24-105 RF L lens. It is heavy but takes beautiful pictures and is very flexible. I love it.

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Marc
Marc
January 18, 2020 9:47 am

Hm, if a mediocre bokeh is 4 out of 5 stars I would like to know what a bad bokeh rating is, and how reliable the star ratings of this website are.

Vignetting you say “much better than the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S” but the numbers you present us are equal if not worse than the numbers in the review of the Nikkor lens, on this website. If the f stop numbers are correct does that mean that the corner _area_ which is affected is much smaller (“much better”) with the Canon lens compared to the Nikkor lens? At least it is not clear to me what you mean.

Apart from this I like your review, thanks.
Regards.

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PPK
PPK
October 26, 2019 5:46 am

I just purchased the RP and 24-105. Been a Nikon user since 1989. Nikon’s last few years of product have been weak – my 300 pf was never any sharper than an old 70-300 VR… The canon menus are sweet! The 24-105 is light without being cheap. I had some good nikkors over the years – 35-70 f2 is what this new canon lens reminds me of… Go Canon!

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Joachim
Joachim
March 22, 2019 6:31 pm

Dvir, thanks for the review. I’m curious: why did you look into nearly all kinds of optical features and left out or forgot the various distortions? It’s only a question, no complaint.

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Dvir Barkay
Dvir Barkay
Author
Reply to  Joachim
March 22, 2019 8:21 pm

Joachim, to test distortion and to be exact about it takes measurement tools that are beyond my means. As with the resolution tests, we will update this review in the future with Imatest results including distortion values when Canon releases a higher megapixel body. What I can tell you is that the RF 24-105 is relatively well controlled for distortion for a lens of this type and better than the Sony FE 24-105 and Nikon 24-70/4. At 24mm, there is noticeable though not atypical levels of barrel distortion. The other focal lengths feature pretty good control of distortion and are quite easily corrected. Overall, I would rate the performance as quite good when it comes to the lens’s handling of distortion (again, based on the eye test and not on exact measurements which will come in the future).

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Enrique Balarillo
Enrique Balarillo
March 22, 2019 1:06 pm

Thank you for the nice review.

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Reply
Dvir Barkay
Dvir Barkay
Author
Reply to  Enrique Balarillo
March 22, 2019 8:22 pm

You are welcome Enrique!

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Daniel
Daniel
March 22, 2019 9:40 am

Control ring fellas! With that and it’s IS and tack sharp image quality if you could take one lens on a trip this is it. It’s a phenomenal lens!

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Orlando
Orlando
March 22, 2019 7:50 am

How does it compare to the Nikon Z 24-70/4S?

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Richard
Richard
Reply to  Orlando
March 23, 2019 6:45 pm

This.

Great efforts by apparently both Canon and Nikon in their mid-zoom f4, how does the 24-105f4 compare to the Nikon 24-70f4?

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Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Admin
Reply to  Richard
March 23, 2019 9:33 pm

Having used both – the Nikon is way smaller and lighter. The specs don’t tell the full story, but side by side, it’s just significantly more compact. In sharpness, both of these are next-level lenses. The Nikon is a hair sharper in the corners at f/4 from 24-50mm. At 70mm, performance is dead even to my eyes. Beyond 70mm, the Canon wins :)

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Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon
Reply to  Spencer Cox
March 24, 2019 1:57 am

Thanks Spencer! I have the Nikon and have been blown away by it – to the extent that I’m leaving some primes at home and am able to walkaround at night with an f4 kit lens shooting handheld at 1/15 and 1/20 at the 70mm end, and get really useable shots. Great for photographers everywhere that the Canon and Nikon offerings are so strong.

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Giovanni
Giovanni
March 22, 2019 5:16 am

“The rotating zoom and focus rings both feel very smooth, while offering the right amount of resistance so that nothing feels loose. ”

I own this lens and I find the zoom ring a lot less smooth than the EF 28-70 L F2.8 first series I own. Yet at the canon shop they told me they are all like this…

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Ertan
Ertan
March 22, 2019 4:34 am

Actually IS performance of the lens on EOS R is very impressive. Success rate at 1/2 seconds at 105mm is very high and I don’t have the most solid hands. Definitely better than my previous A7III and 24-70mm GM. I will compare with my EM1 II and 12-100mm f4 pro lens tonight and see if it can compete.

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