There’s a shot I took at a café on the very first day I got my hands on this camera. It’s still a photo I’m attached to.
At a café, on my first day with the camera.
Focuses down to 0.45m, so you can shoot a café table without leaving your seat
For a standard zoom, it focuses fairly close: a minimum focusing distance of 0.45m and a maximum magnification of 0.24x. Even at a café table, you can shoot without getting up.
Up to 8 stops with coordinated image stabilization — no blur even at 1 second
On my way to Yamashita Park with a tripod over my shoulder, I was casually snapping away when I noticed the shutter speed had dropped all the way to 1 second. Looking at the shots, there was no camera shake. So I took this one, aiming to capture the laser beams.
The lens alone gives 5 stops of stabilization, and paired with the EOS R6, coordinated control of the in-lens and in-body stabilization gives up to 8 stops. You can shoot at a 1-second shutter speed without blur. Seeing technology expand what you can photograph was a fascinating experience.
Dust and drip resistant, so it can come along to a temple on a rainy day
It’s dust and drip resistant, so I could take it out without a second thought even on rainy days. Whenever it rained, I’d go photograph a nearby temple lit up at night. That became a small pleasure of mine after I got this lens.
The standard zoom I’d recommend as your first RF-mount lens
This was also the lens I used when I started posting videos on YouTube. The standard range is easy to work with, so start by shooting with just this one lens. If, as you shoot, you find yourself wanting to go wider or wanting a brighter lens, that’s the time to think about your next one.
If someone asked me which lens to buy with their first Canon, I’d choose the RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM. Whenever I look back at that café photo from the first day, I think: it all started with this lens.
