Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM

On 24 May 2023, Canon announced its first pancake lens for the RF mount: the LRF28mm f/2.8 STM Designed for full-frame cameras, the new lens is Canon’s smallest, lightest, and thinnest prime lens to date. Offering easy-to-use angles of view on both full-frame and APS-C cameras (28mm and 44.8mm full-frame equivalent respectively), it promises to be a convenient companion for everyday shooting.

So thin, it’s like a body cap with plenty of benefits

Like their namesake, pancake lenses are extremely thin and compact. No lens lineup is complete without at least one in the collection! The RF28mm f/2.8 STM is the RF mount’s very own native version, and it promises the smallest, lightest combination possible with your lens. Perfect for users who are frequently out looking for new angles and inspirations, camera in hand.

In fact, even if your main lenses are telephoto and super telephoto lenses, its thin body could function as a body cap replacement that’s always ready for picture-taking action. That way, you’ll be well-equipped to preserve fascinating scenes you encounter on the way to your wildlife/landscape/sports shoot location.

As it is native to the RF mount and therefore requires no mount adapter, EOS R system users can fully reap the size benefits of the RF28mm f/2.8 STM, which is approximately 2.47cm long and weighs around the same as a bar of soap at approximately 120g. These specifications also make it the smallest, lightest, and thinnest prime lens in the current RF lineup, promising to make the most of the mobility offered by the EOS R mirrorless camera system while offering excellent RF mount image quality.

28mm on full-frame cameras: Ideal for urban and street scenes

When used with a full-frame camera, the RF28mm f/2.8 STM functions as a 28mm wide-angle lens. This provides a sufficiently large field-of-view of the scene in front of you and ample perspective in low- and high-angle shots. It is good for photographing landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and travel portraits that show ample background context.

EOS R8/ RF28mm f/2.8 STM/ FL: 28mm/ Manual exposure (f/3.5, 1/200 sec)/ ISO 800/ WB: Auto

Fun fact: Most standard zoom lenses start at 24mm now, but 28mm was the norm before that. It’s a classic angle-of-view that older photographers will be very familiar with.

44.8mm equivalent on APS-C cameras: A super compact standard lens

On APS-C cameras, as the smaller image sensor results in a 1.6x crop factor, the RF28mm f/2.8 STM offers a standard angle-of-view equivalent to 44.8mm on a full-frame camera. Images rendered with a standard angle-of-view look very natural to our bare eyes as the perspective and dimensionality is close to what we see in real life. The narrower angle-of-view also makes it easier to simplify compositions.

As the smallest, lightest RF lens, the RF28mm f/2.8 STM is a good match with compact EOS R APS-C camera bodies. For the tiniest combination possible, combine it with the EOS R100.

EOS R50/ RF28mm f/2.8 STM/ FL: 28mm (44.8mm equivalent)/ Manual exposure (f/2.8, 1/400 sec)/ ISO 400/ WB: Auto

Full-frame EOS R system camera users can also use the RF28mm f/2.8 STM as a standard lens by shooting in 1.6x crop mode. In this sense, the RF28mm f/2.8 STM is effectively two different lenses in one: a wide-angle 28mm lens, and a standard 44.8mm lens! Double the convenience, all within one tiny, thin body.

Bokeh-licious f/2.8

The RF28mm f/2.8 STM’s large f/2.8 maximum aperture makes it capable of creating creamy blurred backgrounds that isolate the subject beautifully: something extra that 28mm on your kit lens can’t do to the same degree under the same conditions. For example, the maximum aperture is f/5.0 at 28mm on the RF24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM, more than a stop slower, and the difference is visible in the images below.

Full-Frame

EOS R8 + RF28mm f/2.8 STM
28mm / f/2.8