In this patent application (2024-173039), Canon talks about a few interesting wide-angle zoom lenses and one design, which I’ve seen a lot over the RF years and have wanted Canon to do. For me, a 17-70 or equivalent full-frame lens would be a “shut up and take my money” kind of lens as long as it was decent optically. It would be my sweet spot for full-frame focal lengths in one zoom lens.
So yes, Canon..
Canon RF 15-50mm F4-6.3
As with all these wide-angle zooms, this one going from 15mm to 50mm would be compelling in many use cases. Yes, it’s slow, but it covers a range on a full frame that nothing else does. The beauty of this lens is that it’s useable on both full-frame and crop camera bodies as a kit lens.
| Wide | Middle | Telephoto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | 15.20 | 26.16 | 49.50 |
| F-number | 4.12 | 5.60 | 6.45 |
| Half angle of View | 52.76 | 39.59 | 23.61 |
| Image Height | 20.00 | 21.64 | 21.64 |
| Lens length | 124.63 | 115.64 | 125.93 |
| Back Focus | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 |
Canon RF 17-65mm F4-5.6
Just make it. Please. This lens may not be as good as 15mm for a crop camera body, but 17mm still is a 27mm equivalent which is considered “okay.” I like the total range of 17 to 65mm.
| Wide | Middle | Telephoto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | 17.20 | 33.96 | 64.50 |
| F-number | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.60 |
| Half angle of View | 49.30 | 32.50 | 18.54 |
| Image Height | 20.00 | 21.64 | 21.64 |
| Lens length | 132.16 | 130.27 | 165.51 |
| Back Focus | 15.00 | 29.11 | 21.72 |
Canon RF 17-50mm F4-5.6
This design is interesting, but I’m not sure it could fit on an RF mount camera with a back focus distance under 11mm.
| Wide | Middle | Telephoto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | 17.53 | 33.18 | 49.43 |
| F-number | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.60 |
| Half angle of View | 48.76 | 33.11 | 23.64 |
| Image Height | 20.00 | 21.64 | 21.64 |
| Lens length | 117.96 | 112.16 | 120.63 |
| Back Focus | 10.64 | 10.64 | 10.64 |
As with all patent applications, this is a look into Canon’s ongoing research and may not end up being a product.
Source: Japan Patent Office 2024-173039
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But I have to say I would hope for better aperture, biased by the look at the Tamron 17-70 2.8
We'll see what comes at the production step