First impressions of the RF 16mm

Last week I decided to splurge for another RF lens, this time the 16mm f2.8. I currently have an EF 16-35mm f4 lens I really love, but it is heavy and not something I use all that often. In fact, when I took it to the Lake District a few years back, I rarely if ever used the 16-24mm range. A 16mm is a bit too wide for my tastes, a 20mm might be a better option along with a zoom lens 24-70mm, or a 24-105mm.

After buying the 35mm prime for the R5, it reignited my passion. I wanted to get out more, take gobs of photos. Enter the 16mm prime at $299. I figured it to be a low cost gamble to see if it could replace my 16-35mm lens, and potentially fund an RF lens I would use more such as the 70-200mm f4.

My first impressions of it weren't great. Sure it feels great on the camera, quick to focus, but the chromatic aberrations were terrible. The first pic below shows that, granted it is a pine tree at midday, but wow, that's not what I'd want in a lens. I still wanted to make it work, so I got out Sunday morning for a downtown photo walk and enjoyed the results. I'm not won over yet, need a few more winning moments for that to happen. For now, here are the photos.