Sigma has released its first official Canon RF mount lens, the 18-50mm f/2.8. This lens is designed for Canon's APS-C RF mount mirrorless cameras, like the R100, R50, R10, and R7. Is this as big of a deal as it seems?
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this detailed video reviews Sigma's 18-50mm f/2.8 lens. This lens offers a constant maximum aperture of f/2.8, significantly brighter than the kit lenses. This means faster shutter speeds and more out-of-focus backgrounds, opening up new possibilities for portrait and subject photography. The price is reasonable, set at £479 in the UK and $599 in the US. Frost mentions the lens is compact, making it a practical choice for your camera bag.
Frost explains that the lens' build quality is comparable to Sony and Fuji versions, with a larger Canon RF mount. It features a smooth zoom ring and an electronically coupled focus ring, which are beneficial for video work. The autofocus is silent, accurate, and fast, with no issues in subject tracking. Frost tested the lens on the EOS R7's demanding 32 MP sensor, ensuring it works well with Canon's in-body image stabilization and camera corrections.
At 18mm and f/2.8, the lens delivers excellent central sharpness but softer corners, which improve when stopped down. At 30mm and 50mm, the lens maintains decent sharpness, though corners are better at narrower apertures. Frost points out that while the lens may not be the sharpest at f/2.8 on a high-resolution sensor, it performs adequately for 4K video and is suitable for the majority of Canon's APS-C mirrorless cameras.
The lens also controls distortion, flaring, and chromatic aberration well. Despite some longitudinal chromatic aberration, it remains manageable. Frost appreciates the lens's bright maximum aperture, small size, and reasonable price, making it a valuable addition for both photography and video. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Frost.
Well, it IS the exact lens for the other camera brands. I have the Sony version. Wonderful lens, however, the thing that most reviews don't mention is the chromatic aberration. Normally, it's not so bad but if you take high contrast images with opposing colors, red/blue, green/red, etc., it's quite noticable and for me, by far the thing I like the least.
For photography, probably it's better to go with Canon 17-55 F2.8 + EF-RF adapter.
But it's ok to have the opportunity to choose.