Which zoom lens/lenses (24-105, 24-240, 70-200 etc)?

LennyLevino wrote:

Anyway, tell me more about the 24-105mm f/4L. From what I've seen and heard, it doesn't seem to be a particularly sharp lens. Much softer than Nikon's and Sony's offerings. DXOMark claims it can only resolve 16 megapixels (should be enough for me though since I only have 20mp in my R6). But nonetheless I've heard it has good "rendering" (contrast, colors and "3D pop"), would you agree with that?

The 24-105mm is a decent performer. It might be a bit weaker overall at the wide end than the Sony lens but even DXOMark mentions that it improves for longer focal lengths and even achieves the same performance as some lenses of the competition on a higher megapixel body (!). This is an achievement. Always consider that DXOMark scores are not normalized for sensor resolution, meaning the more megapixel the sensor has, the better the score will be. If they would repeat the test on a R5 you would see overall higher numbers and better scores. The "16 Megapixel" metric is not a hard cap, but will improve with sensor resolution as well. In terms of rendering you get what you pay for. Meaning it will be better than the 24-105 STM and 24-240 but worse than the e.g. the 28-70 in the overlapping range.

Check out the review by opticallimits, one of the more serious review-sites:

https://www.opticallimits.com/canon_eos_ff/1056-canonrf24105f4is?start=2

A quote from their review:
"Just like other standard zoom lenses, it has its flaws, but it is clearly one of the better, if not the best lens in this specific class. Canon emphasized the performance at the wide end of the range with an evenly high - in fact, very high - sharpness across the image field."

and

"A more natural competitor is available over at Sony - the FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS. The Sony lens is more expensive. Quality-wise it's hard to compare the two because we tested the Sony lens on a 42mp sensor compared to just 30mp on the EOS R. The Canon lens should have an edge, though."

That being said I have rarely used this lens when I got the RF 28-70. Before that I actually enjoyed it, especially for an all purpose walkaround lens for vacations.