Photo Plus - UK (2020-01)

The Canon Magazine 109

ENTHUSIAST/MID-RANGE

What we love

Some of Canon’s new RF mount lenses are

frankly enormous. This one is refreshingly

compact and lightweight, while still going

extra-large in terms of image quality and

all-round performance. It works brilliantly

for everything from landscape and

architectural shooting to extreme

close-ups, with a short minimum focus

distance that enables a 0.5x macro

magnification factor. We’re particularly fond

of the lens for street photography, where its

compactness combined with an R-series

body enables stealthy shooting without

drawing attention to yourself.

What’s missing?

Some might prefer the faster aperture of

an f/1.4 lens, but the slightly narrower f/1.8

rating enables a relatively small, lightweight

and stealthy build.

Why upgrade?

For a fast prime lens that delivers epic

image quality, but is compact, lightweight

and supremely versatile, there’s no beating

this Canon dark horse.

Elinchrom D-Lite

RX 4/4 Ro Go

Price £653/$699

Tested 157

What we love

It’s well engineered, from

its lighting stands to its

flash heads, softboxes and

wireless remote trigger. The control panel of the

flash heads are intuitive, yet give access to

wide-ranging features, like ignoring pre-flash

pulses when slaving from a flashgun.

What’s missing?

The kit comes with quality softboxes, but you’ll

need to buy reflectors if you want to add brollies.

Why upgrade?

More versatile and powerful than a couple of

flashguns, this studio flash kit enables pro-grade

lighting techniques.

Marumi DHG Super

Circular Polarizer

Price £34-120/$90-295 Tested 157

What we love

This filter lets you

minimize reflections in

water, windows and

other reflective

surfaces, while

boosting colour

saturation and the

drama of skies. Available in a range of sizes to

suit lenses with most filter threads.

What’s missing?

It doesn’t have the light transmittance

properties of Marumi’s pricier EXUS filters.

Why upgrade?

You can’t really replicate the action of a circular

polarizer in post, so it pays to buy the real deal.

STREET

LENS

WINNER

STUDIO

FLASH KIT

WINNER

POLARIZING

FILTER

WINNER

Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM

Price £479/$449 Tested 150

What we love

Mounting a manual lens on a high-tech body

like the EOS R or RP might seem a bit daft.

However, while you have to focus and adjust

the aperture manually, this Samyang lens

handles nicely. It’s got a fluid feel to its focus

ring that operates with precision and can still

take advantage of focus peaking in the

viewfinder or rear screen displays of the host

camera. And while it’s ‘only’ a manual, the

optical path is full of high-tech finery.

What’s missing?

You’ll need to have a very steady hand as

there’s unfortunately no image stabilization,

but the wide aperture enables for some very

fast shutter speeds.

Why upgrade?

As with the sibling Samyang 14mm manual

lens for RF mount, it’s a steal at the price and

is capable of impressive image quality while

shooting nice and fast.

MIRRORLESS

LENS

WINNER

Samyang MF 85mm f/1.4 RF

Price £319/$379 Tested 159