The best Canon superzoom lenses in 2024: for Canon DSLR and mirrorless

With the best Canon superzoom lenses, you have a companion for every shooting situation. Offering incredible versatility, these lenses tend to go from a wide perspective, through standard focal lengths and right to a telephoto perspective, and generally do so in a fairly compact body that's ideal for travel.

Let's get this out of the way though – superzooms are not the sharpest lenses on the block. A big zoom in a small body comes with trade-offs; there are a lot of optical elements at work inside the lens in order to allow them to achieve their enormous focal range. The good ones are sharp enough – you'll get great-looking images – but if you need the ultimate in sharpness, you're best off looking at prime lenses, or at least shorter zooms. 

If you want a superzoom's versatility though, the good news is that you can get it no matter which Canon system you're using. There are great superzooms available for Canon's full-frame mirrorless RF mount and the APS-C mirrorless RF-S and EF-M mounts, as well as for the old EF DSLR range. We've divided our guide into sections so you can easily find the lenses relevant to you. 

The gradual discontinuation of EF and EF-S lenses, as Canon switches its attention to developing the newer RF and RF-S mounts means that there is very little choice for each particular mount at the moment.

If you're still unsure what type of lens is right for you, check out our guide to the best Canon lenses where we've put together a broad overview of what's on offer. And for more versatile optics that aren't too heavy, check out our guide to the best lenses for travel.

For now, let's get started with the best superzoom lenses for Canon. 

Best Canon superzoom lenses

Canon RF

Users of Canon EOS R cameras demand the best when it comes to quality, which makes sense given the full-frame, high-resolution sensors they're using. With that in mind, you might think that a superzoom simply wouldn't be a suitable lens for these cameras, however the Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM delivers truly outstanding results for a lens of its type, with impressive sharpness right through its 10x zoom range. We discovered this for ourselves when we put the lens through its paces in a full review, and ended up giving it our highest rating. 

You might want to be aware that some of the correction at the tele end is digital, not optical, a fact that's noticeable when you boot up Adobe Camera Raw. It's very good though, and ultimately it's results that count. And the Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM produces very good results indeed.

Read more: Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM review

Canon RF-S

The Canon RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM is typically sold as the kit lens for the Canon EOS R7. Its 18-150mm focal range equates to about 29-240mm in full frame camera terms, so although this lens is pretty compact and light, it actually qualifies as a do-it-all 'superzoom'. It's the ideal travel companion for APS-C cameras like the Canon EOS R7, R10, R50 and R100. It offers much greater range and a slightly faster aperture than the RF-S 18-45mm lens, and also boasts light macro capability. It performs above expectations for a kit lens and is an excellent choice for APS-C Canon EOS R cameras.

Canon EF-S

This Sigma goes all out for telephoto reach, equivalent to a mighty focal length of 480mm on a full-frame camera. The trade-off is that it’s noticeably bigger and heavier than some comparable lenses, at 79x102mm and 585g. The motor-based rather than ring-type ultrasonic system helps with downsizing but is a little sluggish and audible in operation. As well as aspherical and SLD elements, the addition of FLD elements really does help to boost sharpness, which only drops at the longest extremity of the zoom range.

This Tamron lens wins points for lightness at a slender weight of just 400g, i though the autofocus speed is a little pedestrian. Sharpness is pleasingly solid considering the type of lens and price, at all equivalent zoom settings, although corner-sharpness suffers noticeably when using the widest aperture in the middle sector of the zoom range. On the plus side, colour fringing at mid-zoom settings is very negligible. Overall, the lightweight Tamron is unbeatable value at the price.

Not everybody wants a superzoom lens for travel. They’re also great when you need to react quickly to different shooting scenarios. For example, you might be shooting an expansive wide-angle landscape image, then want to zoom right in after spotting some wildlife in the distance. This Tamron covers the distance more effectively than any competing superzoom lens on the market, thanks to its unprecedented telephoto reach. 

On a Canon APS-C format camera, it works out to an effective 640mm at the long end, putting it firmly into super-telephoto territory. Autofocus is driven by an HLD (High/Low toque-modulated Drive) motor. When we reviewed the Tamron 18-400mm lens, we found it to be quick and very quiet in operation. Being able to adjust focusing speed accordingly for speedy stills performance and smooth transitions in movie capture is hugely useful, though the VC (Vibration Compensation) system is comparatively mediocre for a Tamron lens, with just 2.5-stop effectiveness. Image quality is good overall but sharpness could be better at medium to long zoom settings.

Read more: Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD superzoom review

This Canon lens has distinctive styling, with a metal mounting plate and pleasing ergonomics that make it satisfying to use. While the previous STM edition of this lens is no slouch when it comes to autofocus speed this newer Nano USM version is incredibly fast for stills, while still maintaining smooth transitions when shooting movies. The image stabilizer is equally effective in very effective and image quality is of generally high quality. However, sharpness at the centre of the image frame proved slightly less than impressive from the new lens, at both ends of the zoom range.

Canon EF

Sadly, nearly all of the full-frame EF-mount superzooms have now been discontinued, but this monster 60-600mm technically counts as a superzoom due its impressive 10x zoom. However, it is not quite the all-in-one do-it-all lens - unless of course your main subject matter is wildlife or sport.

The 60-600mm Sport is noticeably larger and nearly 40 percent weightier, at 2,700g, than Sigma’s original 50-500mm. However, all that lens gets you a massive 10x zoom range. Allowing you to swap from a standard focal length to a close-up without having to waste time swapping between lenses.

The Sigma 60-600mm Sport has high-quality optics, better than would be expected for a lens of this range, only falling off in distortion and sharpness toward the 600mm end. However, for the very reasonable price Sigma ask for this lens, which is totally forgivable.

Read our full Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM | S review for more details

Canon EF-M

Marketed as the ideal all-in-one lens by Canon, this 8.3x superzoom doesn't quite pack the same range as the Tamron above, but it is a touch cheaper (though only just). With a full-frame focal length equivalent to 29-240mm, it's not quite as wide as we'd like, but you'll still be able to get a decent amount in the frame. Extended to 240mm and it should be handy for those occasions when you want to tightly crop in on something, but it's not going to fill the frame for those action shots. Available in black or silver, it's a compact lens that's no bigger than Canon's 55-200mm, making it a neat little travel lens. 

How we test lenses

We test lenses using a mix of both real world sample images and lab tests. Our lab tests are carried out scientifically in controlled conditions using the Imatest testing suite, which consists of custom charts and analysis software that measures resolution in line widths/picture height, a measurement widely used in lens and camera testing. We find the combination of lab and real-word testing works best, as each reveals different qualities and characteristics. 

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