Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Review
Summary Verdict
The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is a versatile, compact wide-angle lens that performs well across a range of photographic genres. Its lightweight build and ability to focus closely make it suitable for capturing anything from wide landscapes to the finer details of nearby subjects. While the lack of weather sealing and a bundled lens hood is disappointing, it still delivers sharp images and dependable autofocusing in a handy form factor.
Score: 4.5/5
For
Light and compact design
Close focusing for semi-macro shots
Built-in stabilisation and effective correction profiles
Against
Lens hood not included
No weather sealing
Not a true macro lens
What is the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM?
The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is a wide-angle prime lens designed for Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras using the RF mount. With its f/1.8 aperture and 24mm focal length, it’s well-suited to travel, street and landscape photography. The close focusing distance and optical stabilisation also enhance its appeal for creative close-up work. Although it is a full-frame lens, like other Canon RF lenses, the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM can be used on Canon's APS-C format mirrorless cameras such as the Canon R7 and R10.
Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Price and Availability
At launch, the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM had a suggested retail price of £719.99/$599, and it went on sale in August 2022. The lens comes with front and rear caps, but not a lens hood.
Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Specifications
Lens type: Wide-angle prime
Announced: 12th July 2022
Lens Mount: Canon RF
Filter diameter: 52mm
Construction: 11 elements arranged in 9 groups with 1 PMo (plastic-moulded) aspherical element and one UD (ultra-low dispersion) element
Diaphragm blades: 9
Maximum aperture: f/1.8
Minimum focus distance: 14cm giving half—life-size reproduction
Dimensions (L x D): 63.1 x 74.4 mm
Weight: 270g
The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM makes an attractive pairing with the Canon EOS R5 shown here, or the R6 Mark II
Key Features
The RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM features 11 elements arranged in 9 groups, including one UD (ultra-low dispersion) and one PMo (plastic-moulded) aspherical element to help reduce chromatic and spherical aberrations. A Super Spectra Coating is also applied to minimise flare and ghosting. Its autofocus is driven by a gear-type STM motor, which is designed to operate quietly and swiftly, making it a good choice for video as well as stills.
As the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM offers 0.5x magnification (half life-size) at its closest focusing point (14cm), it isn't a true macro lens, but it’s versatile.
The lens's built-in image stabilisation provides up to 5 stops of compensation, which increases to 6.5 stops when used with a camera that has in-body stabilisation.
It’s not weather-sealed but the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM has a metal mount.
Build and Handling
Weighing just 270g and measuring 63.1mm in length, the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is highly portable and doesn’t unbalance Canon’s smaller mirrorless bodies. While the mount is metal, the barrel is plastic and there’s no weather sealing.
There are two rings around the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM’s barrel. Just behind the front element is a narrow control ring that can be customised to adjust settings such as the autofocus method, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation or ISO. I found it most helpful for tweaking either the aperture or the exposure compensation, depending on the subject and lighting. It turns smoothly with just the right level of resistance, not too stiff but not so loose that it feels imprecise.
Sitting further back towards the centre of the lens is the manual focus ring. It’s placed where your fingers naturally rest when supporting the camera with your left hand. Like many of Canon’s STM (Stepping Motor) lenses, the RF 24mm f/1.8 uses a focus-by-wire system, so the manual focusing is electronic rather than mechanical. There are no hard end points, and the only focus scale is the digital one that appears in the viewfinder or on the screen.
Although the autofocusing with the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is generally quick and accurate, it’s reassuring to have the option to fine-tune the focus manually even when the AF system is active. This proved particularly useful when working close to subjects, where even a tiny adjustment can refine the point of focus just enough to get it spot on.
The customisable control ring has a knurled texture while the broader manual focus ring is ridged.
Performance
When used with the Canon EOS R5 or R6 Mark II, the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM's autofocusing proves fast and accurate, even in low light and it handles close-up subjects well. However, there is some minor focus breathing which may be noticeable during video or focus stacking.
The lens produces high image quality at the centre of the frame throughout its aperture range, but if you zoom into 100% on a computer screen, you can see that the far corners are much softer in images shot at the widest aperture. This improves significantly when the aperture is closed to f/2.8, and it's very good at f/4. However, by f/16 the softening effect of diffraction becomes visible and it’s very clear by f/22. As a result, I'd avoid using apertures smaller than f/16. This is unlikely to be a problem given the extensive depth of field available with a 24mm lens.
Without the correction profiles that are automatically associated with the lens and can be turned on or off when processing raw files using software such as Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom, there's also strong vignetting in images shot at f/1.8. This improves significantly by f/2.8 and it’s very gone at f/4.
Like the vignetting, the correction profiles also do a great job of removing the barrel distortion that's clearly apparent if you decide to turn them off.
The correction profiles also deal effectively with chromatic aberration (coloured fringing), which can be seen in some image shots using the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at wide apertures.
Fortunately, given that Canon doesn't supply a lens hood with the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM, the lens controls flare very well. However, unsurprisingly, I noticed a dip contrast and occasional hotspots when shooting directly into the sun.
I found that around 40% of the images I shot using the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM on the R5 with a shutter speed of 0.6 seconds in real-world use are sharp. That’s a correction factor of around 4EV (stops). Some photographers may find they get more or less depending on how steady they can hold a camera.
Read our Canon EOS R5 II vs EOS R5 Comparison
Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Sample Images
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. As you get close to the nearest focusing distance of 14cm from the sensor, the depth of field at f/1.8 becomes very shallow so you can isolate your subject from its surroundings.
Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/1.8, 1/1250 sec and ISO 100.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. There’s a good level of detail across the frame at F/2.8.
Camera: Canon EOS R6II, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/2.8, 1/3200 sec and ISO 100.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. The wide-angle of view allows you to put subjects in context while the wide aperture settings enable significant background blur.
Camera: Canon EOS R6II, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/5.6, 1/250 sec and ISO 100.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. The bokeh of the out-of-focus areas can sometimes look a little ‘busy’, but the fall-off in sharpness is dramatic at wide apertures.
Camera: Canon EOS R6II, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/1.8, 1/8000 sec and ISO 100.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. At just 270g, the Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is highly portable and makes an attractive lens for landscapes when you are covering long distances on foot.
Camera: Canon EOS R5, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/13, 1/60 sec and ISO 250.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. Although it doesn’t allow life-size reproduction, the close-focusing capability of the RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM makes it very versatile.
Camera: Canon EOS R5, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/7.1, 1/60 sec and ISO 125.
Image Credit: Angela Nicholson. Chromatic aberration is controlled well, so you are unlikely to find fringing along high contrast edges when using the lens.
Camera: Canon EOS R5, lens: Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM at f/3.2, 1/200 sec and ISO 100.
Verdict
The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is a highly usable prime that brings close-up versatility to a wide-angle lens. It’s compact, lightweight and capable of excellent image quality, especially when automatic corrections are used. It’s a shame Canon doesn’t include a hood or offer weather sealing, but otherwise, it’s a solid performer that many photographers will enjoy using day-to-day.
