Re: Talk up (or down) the RF 24–240mm F4-6.3
4
atolk wrote:
This lens came up in the thread when I was asking whether the move to R6 from 6D was a good idea (it was) and whether I can get by with my EF lenses or need to start moving over to RF.
Speed notwithstanding, this seems like a good street and travel lens. Street -- maybe iffy because of size if you are conscious of what you appear like with your camera; I love strolling with my tiny Sony a6500 in a leather case with the logo blacked out and with a toy 35mm lens, I look so innocent and old school.
At $899 (and no L designation), it seems one the cheapest way to build up one's RF lineup. Do you get what you pay for or do you get more? Sample images greatly appreciated, especially street and travel.
(God, when did $899 for a lens become cheap?)
Overall, I think the RF24-240 is the best value RF lens. It is a great walk-around lens for when you can't be changing lenses. That said, it is a pretty big lens.
From one of my posts on the subject in: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65777977
I got my RF24-240 as part of a kit with the RP. I liked both so much that I ended up getting R5 and many RF-L lenses (15-35f2.8, 24-70f2.8, 70-200f2.8, 100f2.8 macro, 100-500). When I pack a bag to go out shooting, the RF24-240 is always in the bag, and I will drop some of the other lenses based on what I am shooting. The RF24-240 is always there just in case, and it also works well for me as the lens I put on the RP as a backup camera. The 10x zoom range with fast AF and great IS makes it a great utility lens.
The RF24-240 is very sharp in the center. Even though it loses sharpness in the corners, it still has high contrast. Its sweet spot is from about 70-135mm and does get soft in the corners at both ends of the zoom range. It does lose resolution in the corners at the wide end with the distortion correction, and that resolution can't be gotten back by stopping down.
It has USM AF, which is much better than Canon's STM in my experience, and has exceptionally good image stabilization, something particularly important with the RP camera. Both the RF35mm and all the RF50mm don't have stabilization.