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LENS TEST TestbenchResolutionOurImageEngineeringTeststellusthelensis
sharpestin thecentrewhenit’susedatthewide
endofthezoom,withcornersharpnessimproving
asyoustarttozoomin.Thebestedge-to-edge
sharpnessis resolvedaround70mmatf/8,with
goodcentresharpnessbeingmaintainedat240mm
betweenf/6.3andf/11.Sharpnessdropsoffquickly
beyond f/11 owing to the introduction of diffraction.24mmcentre
70mmcentre
240mm centre24mmcorner
70mmcorner
240mm cornerCanonRF24-240mmF4-6.3 IS USMCurvilinear distortionWiththedigitallensoptimiserturnedon,
curvilineardistortionis effectivelydealtwithand
removedin JPEGimages.Shootingin rawand
inspectinguncorrectedimagesrevealsthatthe
lensexhibitsseverebarreldistortionat24mm that
quickly turns to pincushion distortion.ShadingUsersshootingin theJPEGformatcancorrectfor
cornershadingin-camerabyenablingthe
peripheralilluminationsettingwithinthelens
aberrationcorrectionsettingsfromthecamera’s
menu.Rawfilesbenefitfromhavinga lensprofile
applied to remove corner shading automatically.2 4 m m f/4 240mm f/6.324mm 240mmSMIA TV = -8.7% SMIA TV =3.1%CANONwaslackinganall-in-onelensfor
itsEOSR systemandit hasdelivereda
respectableexamplewiththeRF24-
240mmF4-6.3IS USM.It’snotoptically
perfectandyoudoneedtobepreparedto
makesomecompromiseswhenit comesto
thesharpnessthat’sresolvedin thecorners.
Asis oftenthecasewithsuperzooms,it’snot
immunefromcurvilineardistortion,vignetting
orchromaticaberrationeither,however
theseopticalflawsarebrilliantlycorrected
forin-cameraandcanberemediedeasilyin
rawfilesbyapplyingtherelevantlensprofile.
It’llcovermostbasesforamateursand
hobbyistswhoarelookingforonelenstodo
it all,orliketheideaof travelling light. Its
imagestabilisation
suppresseshandshake
commendably,it focuses
quickly,andprovides
goodcontrolof manual
focusorexposure
variablesfromthesame
controlring.Havinga
hoodsuppliedin thebox
wouldhavebeenthe
icing on the cake.VerdictAmagnifiedviewofcentresharpnesswiththezoom set to 160mmCanon EOS R, 1/800sec at f/6.3, ISO 100
Price£845
Filterdiameter72mm
Lenselements 21
Groups 15
Maximumaperture
f/4-6.3
Minimumaperture
f/22-f/38
Minimumfocus50cm
Dimensions
80.4x122.5mm
Weight750g
LensmountCanonRF
Included
accessoriesLens
cap, rear capData fileimagestakenwithperipheralillumination
correctionandthedigitallensoptimiserturned
onfromthelensaberrationcorrectionsettings
revealednobarreldistortionor vignettingtowards
thecornersin JPEGscapturedat 24mm.It’snot
thesamestoryforrawfilesthough,whichare
subjecttobarreldistortionat 24mm,turningto
pincushiondistortionat longerfocallengths.
Theimagecircledoesn’tfullycoverthesensor
at 24mmeithersoyougetverydarkcornersat
theedges.Thankfully,a lensprofile is available
in thelatestversionof AdobeCameraRawand
Lightroom,whichdoesa finejobof correcting
this,thoughyoushouldstillexpectthecorners
at wideangletobesoftcomparedtothe
centreof theframe,evenwhenstoppeddown.
Reviewingmyimagesalsorevealedthat
uncorrectedrawfilesareproneto exhibiting
greenandpurplefringing,butthiswasremoved
effectivelybytickingtheRemoveChromatic
Aberrationboxortakingmanualcontrolof the
defringesliders.It goeswithoutsaying:if you
regularlyshootJPEGsyou’llwantto double
checkthatalllensaberrationcorrectionsare
turnedonwithinthecamerabeforeyoushoot.If
youpreferto workwithrawfiles,applyinga lens
profile duringpostprocessingto correctits
opticalflawsis a must.
Theresultsfromreal-worldtestingare
consistentwiththosewerecordedin thelab.
Thoughsharpnessin thecentreat 24mm
resolvesthehighestfigure,usersshouldnote
sharpnesstowardstheedgeis considerably
softer.Zoomin to70mmanda noticeable
improvementin cornersharpnessbecomes
obviousrightacrosstheaperturerange,with
thebestedge-to-edgesharpnessin themid
pointof thezoomrangebeingrecordedat f/8.
Sharpnessdoesdropoffagainat theedge
whenyoupushtolongertelephotolengths,
howeversharpnessin thecentreat 240mmat
itsmaximumapertureof f/6.3is impressive.
Overall,mylastingimpressionis thatsharpness
holdsupratherbetterat telephoto
lengths than other 10x zooms I’ve tested.
Recommended100%