Canon has just announced an intriguing new lens for full-frame Canon mirrorless cameras that spans a focal length not commonly seen. The brand new Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM Lens is compact, well balanced, and offers an astonishingly wide focal length that is sure to excite landscape, interior, architecture, travel, and even photojournalism photographers.
Key Features of the Canon 10-20mm f/4 Lens
- Designed for Canon full-frame mirrorless cameras
- Ultra-wide 10-20mm coverage
- Fixed f/4 aperture
- 9.8 in/0.25m minimum focusing distance
- Canon leadscrew-type stepping motor for smooth, quiet AF
- Five stops optical image stabilization (six stops when paired with EOS R series cameras with IBIS)
- Rear slot for pre-cut gel filters
What’s New About the Canon 10-20mm Lens?
Ultra-Wide Focal Length
The most exciting feature in this brand new lens is certainly the focal length. Offering the widest focal length ever seen on a full-frame lens for Canon mirrorless, this ultra-wide lens is sure to expand your creative opportunities both for photography and videography.
The 10mm range provides the opportunity to include more in your scene than ever thought possible. This lends itself well to photographers shooting landscapes, cityscapes, astrophotography, and even photojournalism. Meanwhile, the fixed f/4 aperture helps to keep the lens compact, while allowing you to pick up plenty of light and produce a sufficient amount of bokeh when shooting wide open.
Compact Size and Weight
Considering this focal length will be a hit among travel photographers, a compact size and weight is critical. Mounting this lens on your full-frame Canon mirrorless body means you can fit more in your suitcase, or avoid carrying heavy photography equipment.
The lens comes in at 1.3lbs and has an outer diameter of 3.3in (83.7mm) and a length of 4.4in (112mm). Considering the ultra-wide focal length and fixed f/4 aperture, the size and weight of this lens is incredible.
Leadscrew Stepping Motor
Canon opted to use a signature leadscrew-type stepping motor focus drive. Essentially, for the standard videographer and photographer, this means you can expect smooth and quiet autofocus operation. Videographers will love how smooth the focus works, especially when combined with the very unique focal length.
Best of all, smooth focus isn’t the only thing this lens offers for videographers. Excellent image quality can be expected from this new lens which boasts one super UD lens, three UD lenses, three aspherical lenses with Subwavelength structure coating and Air Sphere Coating to reduce ghosting. Simply put, the optics on this lens are superb.
Rear Slot for Filters
Oftentimes, photographers are unable to use standard lens filters on ultra-wide lenses due to the curved nature of the front glass element. Canon has implemented a rear slot behind the lens that can be used to insert pre-cut gel filters in order to achieve your desired effect. These filters sit just in front of the camera’s sensor and behind your lens. They can be easily installed and removed by taking the lens off of the camera.
Minimum Focusing Distance
Finally, a minimum focusing distance of 9.8in (or 0.25m) will give photographers creative opportunities that are nearly unmatched on the market today. Having an ultra-wide focal length of 10mm, combined with a minimum focusing distance of just under ten inches, will allow photographers to get up close to their subjects. Images shot up-close with this lens will have a look unlike anything else. The maximum magnification of the new Canon 10-20mm f/4 lens is 0.12x.
Who Should Try the Canon 10-20mm Lens?
While just about any kind of photographer can produce creative images with the new Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 Lens, it’s catered towards a few specific kinds of photographers.
Travel Photographers
Most notably, this lens should be an instant hit among travel photographers. The focal length is excellent for those who want to capture travel images that leave no detail behind. With the minimum focal length of ten inches, you’ll be able to capture even more than what meets the eye. If that wasn’t convincing enough, this lens is both lightweight and compact, making it the perfect travel companion.
Landscape and Astrophotographers
This lens also works well for landscape and astrophotographers. For landscapes, photographers who spend their time hiking to stunning locations will feel a lighter load on their back, and have an excellent ultra-wide angle lens to capture every detail in their scene. This lens is perfect for capturing close-up details in the foreground and still being able to capture details in the background — like mountains, rivers, and lakes.
For astrophotographers, the minimum focal distance of 10 inches is perfect for wide-angle Milky Way and night sky images. It allows you to keep the shutter speed open longer than ever before without seeing trailing stars.
Videographers
Finally, videographers of all kinds will love this lens. With the quiet and smooth autofocus, this is a great lens for any video project. The focal length makes this lens a great choice for videographers who want to capture a very large scene, or for the creator who wants to get up close for a cinematic scene. Additionally, the fixed aperture of f/4 makes it easy to zoom without having to adjust your camera settings in the middle of your shoot.
Comparable Canon Lenses
The new Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM Lens is in a class of its own when it comes to Canon full frame Mirrorless lenses. This lens is far wider than any other piece of glass in the lineup. The most comparable wide angle lens in Canon’s lineup is the RF 14-35mm f/4, which also features a fixed f/4 aperture, a weight of 1.2lbs (19oz), and has a minimum focusing distance of just 7.9 inches.
The 14-35mm offers a more typical wide-angle lens focal length than the brand new 10-20mm. Despite only having a 4mm difference in minimum focal length, the difference between 10mm and 14mm is significant, and these two lenses offer vastly different capabilities for photographers and videographers.
Conclusion
Practically any Canon mirrorless shooter who wants to create uniquely creative photos or videos should be excited about this new ultra-wide lens from Canon. The rarely seen 10-20mm focal length is sure to become a must-have in the bags of wide-angle Canon shooters all across the globe.
