Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM review

The Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM goes large on viewing angles while keeping the size and cost relatively small

Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM
(Image: © Matthew Richards)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Conveniently compact and lightweight for a full-frame compatible ultra-wide-angle zoom, this lens is also much more affordable than Canon’s previously launched 14-35mm and 15-35mm L-series RF-mount options. At just over 3.5 inches in length, the lens nevertheless packs a 5.5-stop optical image stabilizer and some up-market glass. Good build quality, handling and performance make it well worth the money, although it lacks weather-seals and the hood is sold separately.

Pros

  • +

    Compact for an ultra-wide-angle zoom

  • +

    Customizable focus/control ring

  • +

    5.5-stop optical image stabilizer

Cons

  • -

    No weather seals

  • -

    Lens hood costs extra

  • -

    Slow f/4.5-6.3 aperture rating

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The Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM is an ultra-wide-angle zoom for ‘the rest of us’. The company already offers a brace of RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM and RF 15-35mm F2.8L USM but, as L-series lenses aimed at enthusiast and professional photographers with deep pockets, they’re much more expensive to buy. As the latest in the trio, the RF 15-30mm is much more affordable yet still delivers a mighty maximum viewing angle with a decent overall 2x zoom range, albeit with a relatively slow and variable aperture rating of f/4.5-6.3. 

The RF 14-35mm L-series lens is quite compact and lightweight for an ultra-wide zoom but the RF 15-30mm is particularly small for its type and a featherweight at just 390g. Designed with full-frame R-system cameras in mind, it’s also a good fit for APS-C format bodies including the EOS R7, R10 and R50, on which it has a still useful ‘effective’ zoom range of 24-48mm.

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Matthew Richards

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.