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Features

The Best Canon RF Lenses Under $500 for Beginners

Chris Gampat
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08/22/2022
4 Mins read
Hillary Grigonis The Phoblographer Canon RF 16mm f2.8 review-2198

When just getting started in photography, you’re probably not looking to spend a lot of money. Instead, you may be choosing to spend the money that will get you the results you want. With that said, you’re not going after the highest-end lenses. If you’ve accepted that you’re not looking for the best of the best, there are Canon RF lenses under $500 that are still really great. We’ve tested zooms, wide angles, and so much more for this system. Here are the Canon RF lenses under $500 we think are the best.

Pro Tips and What to Know About Canon RF Lenses Under $500

  • Be sure to check out our guide to all of Canon’s RF Lenses lenses.
  • Our editorial policies are strict about the gear we recommend. We never recommend something we haven’t tested. With that said, all these Canon RF lenses under $500 have links to our reviews. All the images were also shot by us.
  • The image quality from Canon RF lenses under $500 comes from a combination of the sensor and the lens design. Canon’s sensors are unique. Try using them with the Fine Detail profile for some truly nice colors.
  • If you’re starting out on a camera like the Canon EOS R7 or EOS R10, these lenses will work perfectly fine. If you eventually get a full-frame camera, these lenses will also perfectly work on those with full coverage of the sensor area.
  • All these photos were shot with various Canon RF lenses under $500 over the years. We’ve used them on the Canon EOS R3, EOS R6, EOS RP, and the EOS R original.
  • None of these Canon RF lenses under $500 have a weather resistant design. So don’t take these into the rain or snow.

Canon RF 50mm f1.8 STM

Pros

  • Affordable
  • Compact and lightweight
  • Solid bokeh and color
  • Great autofocus performance
  • Lots of room for character

Cons

  • Softer than other mirrorless primes, especially at the corners
  • No weather-sealing
  • Some minor color fringing

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“I love a good budget nifty fifty — and the Canon RF 50mm f1.8 certainly falls under that category. Bokeh is excellent, colors are rich, and there’s plenty of character left over. It’s not as sharp as leading mirrorless prime lenses, but for $200, the images are pretty spectacular.”

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Canon RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM 

Pros

  • Very sharp
  • Nice color rendition
  • Lightweight and small
  • Good build quality
  • Very fast and quiet when focusing
  • Finds focus quickly in both good and low light conditions
  • The programmable control ring is a nice touch.
  • Excellent image stabilization
  • A fun macro feature which works surprisingly well
  • Very affordable at just $399

Cons

  • A lens hood is not included.
  • There’s a lot of distortion at 24mm (but easily fixed during post).
  • No weather sealing

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“Overall, you’ll be delighted with the images from the Canon RF 24-105mm. Colors are beautiful and natural, images are very sharp, you can create some beautiful bokeh, and there’s not a hint of fringing or chromatic aberration. There is a problem with distortion when at 24mm, but it can be corrected in post.”

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Canon RF 16mm f2.8 STM

Pros

  • Compact and lightweight
  • Affordable
  • Ultra-wide view
  • Bright aperture
  • Simple, clever design
  • Fast to focus

Cons

  • Significant vignetting, barrel distortion, and chromatic aberration on RAW files
  • Smudgy image quality at the edges, in both RAW and JPEG
  • Small points of light flare
  • No weather-sealing

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

The Canon RF 16mm f2.8 STM corrects the distortion that naturally comes with an ultra-wide angle lens with lens profiles rather than glass. That’s a big part of what makes the lens so lightweight and affordable. But, as of this writing, the lens profile isn’t yet available in Lightroom or Capture One to apply to RAW files, and you’ll lose around ten percent around the edges correcting for distortion.

Does that make it a bad lens? Not for $299, no. But, it’s a far cry from the Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM. It’s unfair to compare a $299 lens to a $2,399 lens, however, so let’s take a closer look at what Canon photographers get for the cash with this 16mm.

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The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

beginners Bokeh Cameras canon rf canon rf 16mm f2.8 canon rf 24-105mm canon rf 50mm f1.8 canon rf lenses under 500 image quality review
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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