12 lenses of Christmas: Canon RF owners rejoice, as third-party lenses finally arrive!

(Image credit: Viltrox)

Tis the season to be jolly, so let’s have a jolly good look back at all the top-class glass that made it big in 2025. For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll be revisiting a month’s worth of lenses that we wrote about, tested and reviewed on DCW. Here’s what came in from the cold in January 2025…

With all the Christmas and new year festivities, you might be feeling a little ‘ultra-wide’ right about now. A new ultra-wide-angle lens might seem like adding insult to injury, but fear not – the Pergear 12mm f/2 II APS-C lens, which was announced pretty much as soon as the new year ball dropped, is 25% cent lighter than the original.

The revised aluminum structure gives the lens a featherweight 230g build, and it still goes large on mount options, with Canon RF-S, Nikon Z DX, Fujifilm X and Sony E mount versions up for grabs.

Pergear 12mm F2 II — Compact, lightweight and impeccably turned out, the Pergear 12mm f/2 II APS launched with a budget price tag of $169 / £140 (Image credit: Pergear)

More moderately wide than ultra-wide, January saw a flurry of fast new primes for APS-C format cameras, with ‘effective’ focal lengths of around 35mm.

First up was the Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.7 Air for Sony E, Nikon Z and Fujifilm X cameras, joining the existing fleet of Viltrox Air lenses for both APS-C and full-frame cameras (including 20mm, 35mm, 40mm and 56mm options thus far). Typical of the series, the new lens is super-lightweight and very budget-friendly.

Joining the wide APS-C party, there was also the rather chunkier Yongnuo YN23mm f/1.4 DA DSM WL Pro, in the same range of mount options for Sony E, Nikon Z and Fujifilm X cameras. Relatively high-end handling includes an aperture ring, dual function buttons and even optional remote focusing control – but still at a relatively affordable price.

There was also news of the super-cheap TTArtisan AF 23mm f/1.8 for Fujifilm X-mount cameras, with Nikon Z and Sony E versions to follow, and a longer focal length 7Artisans AF 27mm f/2.8 II in the same trio of mount options.

If you think you’ve spotted a theme for small lenses in the new year’s honors list, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Viltrox followed up on the Sony version of its Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 with the announcement of a Fujifilm X edition, nicknamed a ‘chip lens’ because it’s pretty much that thin.

Not to be outdone, there was also the SG-image 18mm f/6.3, barely thicker than a camera’s body cap at 14mm in length and weighing just 78g. This one’s not just for the usual Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm APS-C cameras, but also available as a Micro Four Thirds lens.

While Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm APS-C shooters were spoilt for choice when it came to budget-friendly, third-party autofocus lens options, Canon EOS R owners were still locked into first-party lenses.

That all changed in January, though, with Sigma shipping its first RF-S lenses – namely the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary and Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary. Yes, yet more wide primes!

Enough of all this APS-C malarkey. Where’s all the full-frame action? One notable announcement in January was for the 7Artisans 18mm f/5.6 for Sony E, Nikon Z and L-mount cameras. And although it’s full-frame, it’s definitely not full-fat, with a super-lightweight build and a bargain-basement price tag.

Another tempting launch for Nikon shooters was the Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical prime in Z-mount, following on from the Sony E-mount version that was announced at the tail end of 2024.

Voigtlander Nokton 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical lens on a black background — Typically, the Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical is a thing of retro beauty and would look right at home on a Nikon Zf body (Image credit: Voigtländer)

Our busy 2025 review schedule started off with yet another Canon R-system wide-angle zoom (how many do you need?). This one was the Canon RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS STM, joining the growing ranks of relatively compact, lightweight and affordable ‘alternative trinity’ f/2.8 zooms from various manufacturers.

We also reviewed the Samyang Remaster Slim 3-in-1 pancake lens, calling it "the most unique lens you'll ever use"! And focusing on moving pictures, we were impressed with Blazar Cato Anamorphic lenses, delivering full-frame anamorphic quality cine lenses on a tight budget.

Canon RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS STM with Canon EOS R8 — A prime (or rather zoom) example of new year January dieting, Canon’s RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS STM sheds the pounds, or at least a fair few ounces. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

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Looking for more best-in-class glass? Take a look at the best Canon RF lenses, the best Nikon Z lenses, the best Sony lenses all for full-frame and APS-C bodies. For crop sensor cameras, check out the best Fujifilm lenses and the best Micro Four Thirds lenses. And for medium format, these are the best Fujifilm GF lenses and the best Hasselblad lenses.

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.

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