CanonRF 16mm f/2.8 STM Lens

Tiny, Light, Inexpensive and Sharp: One Needs No More

I'm disdainful of this lens and I shouldn't be. The red circle on the L lenses have kept me captive for so long, it's difficult to accept what my own experience proves: non-L RF lenses are very close to what EF L lenses produced in quality, and so much better than the old EF non-L lenses. I vowed years ago to only buy L lenses so I had the best glass, weather sealing, IS, whatever, and then the RF line kept expanding and showing me the non-L lenses were exceptional enough for real work. I bought this lens for the same reason I owned the EF 20mm: in a compact size I was able to get really good photos, while carrying only the one lens into the backcountry for multi-day backpacking trips. True, I'm more likely to carry as my one lens the excellent RF 14-35 L lens, but I have recently carried only two lenses into Alaska's Arctic Circle for some Aurora chasing, and the 16 was one and the one I used when aiming at the sky. And I was impressed. It's tiny size, tiny price, and sharp imaging, may not reach all the way to my L lens heights for ultimate sharpness, but the size combined with the quality it helps produce, has gone the distance in allaying my fears for trusting a non-L lens in exacting situations. Even in the -50 degrees we were shooting in almost day and night for a week. Considering that I have a few non-L lenses proving similar things to me as this 16mm has, I still have to get over my disdain for non-L because Canon is producing pro level lenses at consumer level prices, and I must learn to ignore the price tag and trust the results.