‘It’llcovermostbasesforamateursandhobbyists’controldial,thelenshasa dualcontrolring
thatcanbeswitchedbetweenmanual
focusingandsettingexposureparametersviaa
selectoronthebarrel.Otherpointsof interest
includeits0.5mminimumfocusdistanceat full
telephoto,a variableminimumaperturerangeof
f/22-f/38andacceptanceof screwin filtersand
adaptersviaa 72mmfilterthreadat thefront.
Thelenscomeswithfrontandrearlenscaps
asyou’dexpect,howevera hoodandlenscase/
poucharen’tbundledin thebox.Theseare
optionalaccessories,withtheEW-78Fhood
andtheLP1219caseadding £35 and £25 to
thepricerespectively.
Buildandhandling
Thelenslooksat homepairedwithCanon’s
EOSR cameras.Thedarksilversurroundto
themountblendsnicely with the mount of
EOSR modelsandthematteblackbarrelhas
a similartextureandfinishtothetopplateof
theEOSRPandEOSR.Topreventthezoom
extendinginadvertentlyit hasa lockswitchthat
canbeengagedat 24mm.Unlikesomezoom
locksthatcanbedisengagedwitha sharptwist
of thezoomring,it doesrequireyoutoflickthe
switchbackagaintounlockit.
Ontheoppositesideyou’llfindthestabiliser
switchthathason/offpositions.Aboveit is the
focus/controlswitchthatletsyouchoose
whetherthediamondknurledcontrolringis
usedtofocusmanuallyorchangea user-
specifiedsetting.Enterthecustomisedials
optionin themenuandthecontrolringcanbe
settoadjustaperture,shutterspeed,ISOor
exposurecompensation,eitherdirectly,orby
holdingthemeteringbuttonif you’dliketo
avoidaccidentalorunintentional changes. Itshouldbepointedoutthatthecontrolringis
quitesensitivethoughanddoesn’tneedtobe
rotatedfarbeforesettingsstarttochange.
Despitenothavinga redring,whichdenotes
Canon’sprofessionalL-serieslenses,the
overallbuildqualityis good.Thezoomringis
rubberisedjustasit shouldbeandtheplastics
usedin theconstructionof thebarrelareof
highquality.Theswitchesoperatepositively
andtheclicklessaperturecontrolwhen
shootingmovieswillbewelcomedby
videographers.Bestof all,thezoomhasa
shortthrowthrough 100 degrees,meaning
youcangetfrom24mmto240mm,orvice
versa,veryeasilyin onequickmovement.It
offerssufficientresistancetopreventzoom
creepwhenthecamerais pointeddownand
it’sconsistentlysmooththroughoutitszoom
rangewithnochangein fluidity.
Extendingthelenstoitsmaximumfocal
lengthdoesincreaseitsoveralllengthto
192mm,whichis 69.5mmlongerthanwhen
it’sretracted;howeverthefrontof thelens
doesn’trotate,whichis goodnewsforthose
whoworkwithfiltersanddon’twanttobe
foreverreadjustingthem between shots.Imagequality
Superzoomshavetheirworkcutoutwhenit
comesto resolvingexcellentimagequalityacross
theirextensivefocalranges.Unlikeprimes,which
areoptimisedto producethefinestopticalquality
at oneparticularfocallength,a compromisein
opticalperformanceusuallyhastobemade
choosing an all-in-one lens. Studying real-worldThelensis pronetofringingalong
high-contrastedges,butit’saneasy
fixin JPEGimagesbyensuringlens
aberrationcorrectionsareturnedon
Canon EOS R, 1/80sec at f/22, ISO 200Telephoto 240mm Wideangle 24mm