In summary
The Canon RF-S 14-30mm f/4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens is the first Canon RF-S lens with internal power zooming designed for vlogging. It has a lightweight and simple design, built-in Optical IS, and minimum focus of 15 cm.
Full review
Launched concurrently with the EOS R50V camera, the Canon RF-S 14-30mm f/4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens provides basic features for content creators in a wide-angle, non-extending lens. Encompassing angles of view from 88 degrees 30 minutes at 14mm to 48 degrees 50 minutes at 30mm, this lens has the equivalent zoom range of 22.5mm to 48mm on a full-frame camera, which is primarily wide-angle and wider than usual for a kit lens. It is the first Canon RF lens with an internal power zoom that can be controlled remotely via smartphone or Bluetooth remote and offers 15 adjustable levels with two-step variable speeds.
Angled view of the Canon RF-S 14-30mm f/4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens. (Source: Canon.)
We received the lens as a bundled kit with the EOS R50V camera, which is reviewed separately. With a mainly polycarbonate construction – and plastic lens mount, this lens is designed for entry-level users and those who require its compact size and relatively light weight.
The optical design of the RF-S 14-30mm f/4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens showing the positions of the exotic lens elements. (Source: Canon.)
Its optical design (shown above) reflects its target market and consists of 10 elements in nine groups. Two PMo (plastic moulded) aspherical elements and one UD (ultra-low dispersion) element are included in the design to suppress common aberrations. Proprietary Super Spectra coating has been applied to suppress ghosting and flare caused by surface reflections.
The lens also comes with built-in stabilisation with up to five stops of shake correction. Autofocusing is driven by a single lead screw-type stepping motor and the lens will focus down to 15 cm from subjects, providing a 0.38x magnification, which is a bit less than half life size.
Who’s it For?
Initially at least, most people will acquire this lens with the EOS R50V camera, for which it was designed. As an RF-S lens, it is best suited to APS-C sensors but can be fitted to and used on full-frame bodies, although with the automatic crop applied it’s effectively the same as using it on an APS-C camera (which makes it pointless).
Being designed for the EOS R50V also means this lens is video friendly, thanks to power zoom functionality and image stabilisation that works with Movie Digital IS to deliver optimal results when shooting video. The AF system is fast enough to keep up with the camera’s continuous AF and provide smooth tracking, while also being quiet enough to minimise operational sounds.
Its compact size and light weight make it ideal for handheld video work and also easy to balance on gimbals. The ring-style control for the power zoom enables users to shoot with different angles of view, providing great flexibility in shooting styles.
Build and Ergonomics
While this lens is essentially built to a price, it’s nevertheless quite well-constructed and finished in a similar fashion to the EOS R50V camera. Like other entry-level lenses, it is only supplied with front and end caps; if you want a lens hood (advisable if you’ll be using it outdoors), the optional EW 63C will cost you between $24 and $30 from a local re-seller.
The front lens in the optical assembly has a diameter of approximately 14 mm and sits inside a 23mm diameter ring that is roughly 16 mm wide. A threaded ridge around the perimeter of this ring accepts 58 mm diameter filters while the outer edge has a bayonet fitting for the optional lens hood.
This section of the outer barrel is recessed by about 10 mm and ends with a 10 mm wide, cross-hatch textured control ring, that is used for focusing when manual focus is selected. In this mode, a distance scale is displayed on the camera’s monitor screen to help users set focus. This ring turns freely when the camera is in AF mode.
Immediately behind the control ring is the zoom ring, which is 18 mm wide and entirely covered in thin ridging. Zooming is controlled by turning this ring through the short distance of about 7 mm between the 14mm and 30mm settings. It can also be adjusted with the lever control that surrounds the shutter button on the camera.
As the zoom is adjusted, the maximum aperture is displayed on the monitor screen. Both maximum and minimum apertures change with focal length adjustments, as shown in the table below.
| Focal Length | Max. aperture | Min. aperture |
| 14mm | f/4.0 | f/22 |
| 15mm | f/4.5 | f/25 |
| 18mm | f/5.0 | f/29 |
| 22mm | f/5.6 | f/29 |
| 26mm | f/6.3 | f/32 |
Behind the zoom ring the lens barrel extends for 20 mm, joining up with a 5 mm wide grey metallic-looking band that marks the edge of the lens mount. A red alignment dot is the only item on this band.
On the inner edge of the plastic lens mount are 12 gold-plated contacts, arranged in a 4/8 configuration. These transmit signals between thee lens and the camera it is mounted on.
Performance
Our Imatest tests showed the lens struggled to meet expectations for the 24-megapixel sensor with JPEG files, although it slightly exceeded expectations with raw files at the optimal lens settings. This is fairly typical for entry-level, low-priced lenses.
There was moderate edge softening between f/4 and f/5.6 at the 14mm focal length but less as the lens was zoomed in. Diffraction kicked in between f/8 and f/9 causing resolution to plunge, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results, below.
Our new test chart makes it difficult to measure lateral chromatic aberration so, since it is corrected automatically in all modern cameras and also in Adobe Camera Raw (our preferred raw file converter), we are no longer presenting a performance graph. However, examination of an image file taken with in-camera corrections disabled, showed some coloured fringing along high contrast boundaries. An example is shown in the Samples section below.
In-camera corrections are also applied to counteract vignetting and distortion in JPEGs so we’ve based our assessments on uncorrected raw files. We found no obvious vignetting at the widest apertures for any of the focal lengths we checked. Similarly, little could be seen in the way of rectilinear distortion.
The lens produced 14-pointed sunstars at the widest and longest focal lengths when stopped down to its minimum aperture settings (f/22 and f/29, respectively), although they weren’t particularly well-defined. We found flare artefacts at the 14mm focal length and also observed a general susceptibility to slight veiling flare with backlit scenes at shorter focal lengths during both stills and video shooting.
Autofocusing was a mixed bag and highly dependent upon light levels and the amount of contrast in scenes. Our problems with focusing at night have been outlined in the review of the EOS R50V camera. We can’t say whether they would persist with other cameras but, we suspect low-light and low-contrast performance could be generally below par.
In brightly-lit situations, focusing was seldom a problem when shooting stills or video, although being forced to rely on the monitor screen could make focusing difficult when light fell on the screen – and also if the user was wearing polarising sunglasses. Subject tracking AF worked well when recording video clips, as shown in the Samples section below.
It was almost impossible to achieve attractive bokeh in close-up shots because of the relatively small lens apertures throughout the zoom range, including at 14mm. However, when there was sufficient distance between the subject and the background, blurring was acceptably smooth in evenly-lit conditions.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 88 degrees 30 minutes to 48 degrees 50 minutes
Minimum aperture: f/22-36
Lens construction: 10 elements in 9 groups (including 2 PMo aspheric and one UD elements), Super Spectra coating
Lens mounts: Canon RF-S
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Weather resistance: No
Focus drive: STM (stepping motor)
Stabilisation: Yes (5 stops)
Minimum focus: 15 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.38x
Filter size: 58 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 69.6 x 62 mm
Weight: 181 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps only
Distributor: Canon Australia
TESTS
Based on JPEG files recorded with the Canon EOS R50 V camera.
Based on CR3.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 14mm f/4.
Vignetting at 24mm f/5.6.
Vignetting at 40mm f/6.3.
Rectilinear distortion at 14mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 24mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 40mm.
14mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/5.6.
30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
Close-up at 14mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/4.
Close-up at 40mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
Bokeh in evenly-lit close-up; 14mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/4.
Bokeh in evenly-lit close-up; 30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
Sunstar at f/22 with 14mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/30 second.
Sunstar at f/29 with 30mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/40 second.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
Crop from the above image at 100% magnification showing coloured fringing and edge softening.
Backlit close-up; 30mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
Close-up in full-auto shooting mode; 30mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/250 second at f/8.
19mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/80 second at f/5.
20mm focal length, ISO 500, 1/60 second at f/5.
30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
22mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/400 second at f/11.
30mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/7.1.
15mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/7.1.
20mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/5.
18mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/5.
15mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/60 second at f/5.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Canon EOS R50 V camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$579
- Build: 8.7
- Handling: 8.8
- Image quality: 8.7
- Autofocusing: 8.5
- Versatility: 8.5
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