| Image: Canon |
Canon has announced a new full-frame power zoom lens: the RF 20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ. As it’s launching alongside the company’s new video-focused camera, it’s no surprise that the primary audience for this lens is videographers, though it has a clever trick that makes it an interesting choice for photography as well.
The RF 20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ has 13 elements in 11 groups, with 2 glass molded aspheric lenses and ultra-low dispersion elements. It has a minimum focusing distance of 0.24m (9.4″), providing up to 0.14x magnification at its widest setting and 0.33x at its long end.
The lens’s trick is how you change your focal length. Canon says this is its first switchable power zoom. That means that you can control it by jogging the zoom ring, like with its other RF power zoom lens, or by rotating the zoom ring between set points, as with most stills zooms. The first bit of the lens’s zoom ring is its power zoom setting, letting you rotate it left or right to have the motors zoom it in or out, but flip a switch, and you can get to the more traditional, mechanically limited zoom ring.
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| The lens’ zoom ring has two ranges: one for power zoom, the other for a more traditional zoom experience. Photo: Canon |
In power zoom mode, its zoom can also be controlled by the camera body, and you can configure its speed. Canon also says you can control the zoom using its Camera Connect app, or with a Bluetooth remote connected to your camera.
The power zoom is driven by two of Canon’s “Nano UltraSonic Motors” – one for each of its zoom groups – while another Nano USM handles focusing. The company says that focus breathing, where the field of view changes with the focus, is minimized. It’s also an internally zooming design, so its center of gravity shouldn’t change substantially as you change your focal length, making it suitable for gimbal use.
As you might hope for a lens that you may hold at arm’s length to film yourself, it’s not particularly heavy at 420g (14.8oz). It’s 98mm (3.9″) long and is threaded to accept 67mm filters.
Canon says the lens’ optical stabilization is good for 6EV at the center
Since it is a video-focused lens, it’s also not a surprise that it features optical stabilization, which Canon says is rated for 6EV at the center on its own, and up to 8EV at both the center and corners when coordinating with a camera’s IBIS system.
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| The lens’ controls, as well as the switch to toggle between power zoom and manual zoom mode. Image: Canon |
Beyond the fancy zoom ring, it has the controls we’ve come to expect from an L-series RF mount lens: there’s a programmable function button, switches to control stabilization, power zoom mode and focus mode, and a customizable control ring. The company also says the lens is sealed against dust and moisture, and that it has a fluorine coating on the front element to repel oil and water. It includes a lens hood and a fabric carrying case.
This lens is an interesting addition to Canon’s lineup, and will likely be an especially welcome one for content creators. It’s Canon’s first full frame lens for RF that has power zoom via internal motors, rather than via an external attachment, making it much friendlier to use. The zoom range is also a reasonable choice for vloggers, as, on a full frame camera, it’ll be wide enough to comfortably film yourself without totally excluding your surroundings.
In that way, it’s a very close analog to the APS-C 14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ that Canon launched alongside the EOS R50 V, though the constant aperture is a welcome addition, especially given the RF 20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ’s price. It will retail for $1399 standalone, and is also available as a kit with the EOS R6 V for $3699 (a $1200 premium over the camera’s body-only price). It’s slated to start shipping at the end of June.