Canon RF 24-105mm F4: Still the Best Value Lens for Canon in 2023?

Is the Canon RF 24-105mm f4 the best bang for buck lens? It’s essentially a kit lens that you are guaranteed to upgrade from. But, with a constant F4 aperture, beautiful glass elements, and high quality build, this lens is a fantastic all purpose lens. I recently brought this with me on my trip to Peru, and was able to test it out in a ton of different shooting scenarios.

So in this blog, I’m going to go over all the features this lens has, the image quality out of this lens, how well this lens performs in all its focal ranges, its low light capabilities, the Autofocus speed and accuracy, and whether this lens is still the best bang for buck lens for Canon in 2023.

Let’s get started by covering the features of this lens, starting with the focal range.

This lens covers a wide focal range of 24mm all the way to a short telephoto range of 105mm. Meaning you can capture your wide establishing shots with the 24mm end, all your medium shots from 35-70mm, and with the 70-105mm range you are able to capture shots from a distance or get intimate detail shots nearby. It is a fantastic all around lens for that reason. I keep this on me mainly for travel since it allows me to capture such a wide variety without the need to switch lenses. 

Speaking of its benefit as a travel lens, the Canon RF 24-105mm F4 is extremely compact and light. This lens weighs in at 1.5lbs, and is about 4.5 inches in length when at 24mm, and is 6.2 inches when fully extended to 105mm. So packing this in your bag is easy and comfortable. You won’t get tired easily from holding this lens, versus the 28-70mm F2 which is 3lbs. Which is why I don’t like to bring that lens out as much if I am traveling. You can go a whole day with this camera strapped around your neck or shoulder and not feel a thing. So this will definitely benefit those who value compact and lightweight equipment.

The first dial here on the lens controls image stabilization. This lens is image stabilized up to 5 stops, which helps to eliminate camera shake. It won’t be the same level of stabilization as the 24-70mm or 28-70mm F2 Canon lens, but it’s more than enough for most handheld situations. It works best when going in one direction, so if you pan, it will combat the vertical shakiness. While if you tilt, it will combat your horizontal shakes. 

The second switch on the lens turns on and off the autofocus capabilities of this lens. We will cover the autofocus capabilities here shortly, but know you have the option to quickly switch that on and off on the lens.

Finally the switch on the other side locks the lens to prevent lens drift. You can only lock the lens when it is zoomed out at 24mm. It’s not like the lens drift is bad on this lens, but it can be useful for keeping the lens drift minimal for longer. Because it will get loose over time. It’s great to use when storing the lens in your camera bag. Just so that it won’t drift by accident.

This lens holds its F4 aperture throughout the full zoom range, which makes it better than the 24-105 F5.6-7 that canon also sells. The fact that exposure won’t shift when zooming in and out is fantastic for keeping exposure consistent between focal ranges. And at F4, you can capture decent bokeh if you are focusing on subjects close to the lens in an open space. Especially at 105mm, I think most people wouldn’t even notice the difference between the F4 and an F2.8 shot if done right.

Because this is an L series lens, the lens is made of high quality materials and glass. It isn’t as premium as some of the other L series lenses though, it definitely feels plastic-y. But it comes with this control ring. You can set this to adjust a ton of settings on the camera. I personally have set this to control White balance kelvin scale, allowing me to adjust that quickly without needing to open the menu system. The Zoom ring is smooth and easy. The throw on this lens is relatively small, giving the focal range it covers. So you can quickly adjust from 24-105mm in a pinch. And the manual focus ring works perfectly too.

Now let’s cover the lens’ image quality.

Even though this is an F4 lens, the lens captures stunningly sharp images. Especially at the center of the frame, no matter the focal range or aperture. It does soften and begin to get chromatic aberrations towards the edges of the frame, but nothing noticeable. I find the lens is at its sharpest around F8, which works perfectly for capturing those clean landscape shots.

The lens has great contrast and color rendition. The glass is covered in a special coating that helps create this contrast. It even helps minimize ghosting and flaring when pointing at bright light sources. So I haven’t run into any issues when shooting in broad daylight. Lastly, there is a slight vignette in the corners of the image, no matter what focal range you are at. It’s pretty minimal and can be corrected for in camera or later in post production.

With that, let’s talk about its Autofocus Performance.

This lens performs fine in autofocus. It isn’t particularly great, and it works the same at all focal lengths. I have used it to capture some wildlife and it tracks subjects perfectly. Even in sports scenarios it handles well. So no complaints in that department. It does focus and track faster than the Canon RF 28-70, but that lens is at F2 meaning it is less forgiving when it comes to missing focus. At F4 it’s fairly easy to track and focus subjects. So you have nothing to worry about when it comes to autofocusing.

When it comes to the low light performance of this lens, it definitely struggles. F4 is a fairly small aperture to use in low light, so you will be needing to crank the ISO up a bit in those situations. This is also where the autofocus will struggle the most, simply because it doesn’t have enough light coming in. The 24-70mm F2.8 is only one stop more but that can bring an ISO of 6400 down to 3200, helping to keep the image cleaner from noise. So going for those lower apertures would be ideal for shooting in low light. So I would definitely not recommend this lens for low light situations.

So given all this, is the Canon RF 24-105mm F4 worth it in 2023?

This is the most versatile all around lens you can own for your camera. I love that I can carry this one lens on me when I'm out traveling, and capture amazing shots without the need to constantly be switching lenses. This allows me to focus on composing and getting the shots I want. The F4 aperture is ideal for shooting in bright conditions. So shooting outdoors is fantastic and easy with this lens. This is why I truly believe this is the best all around lens especially when it comes to travel. It’s lightweight, covers a wide range, it’s relatively cheap, and the lens produces amazing images. And this is perfect for studio settings where you can control the light. In that setting, you won’t have to worry about the low light performance, and you will still be able to capture sharp pristine images at any focal range you use.

So this lens will do just about everything well, while not being particularly amazing at anything. Because of that, it is a great all around lens that is great for beginners, or for those who want a single lens that will cover just about most use cases.

Given all that, it is definitely a lens worth checking out if you wanted something simple and easy to use. It retails for $1,300 which I think is definitely way too expensive for what this lens offers. I was able to get mine used from facebook marketplace for $900, which I think is what this lens is worth. If you can get this lens for sub $1,000, then you got a good deal. Just be sure that it is fully functional if you get it used.

What do you guys think about this lens, are you going to get one for yourself?