When comparing prices could we please either compare the retail price listed by Canon or compare discounted prices for both lenses? Of course, as of now there aren't any discounts on the RF 28-70mm F2.8 yet. But I imagine it will get a lot of discounts over time just as every other non-L RF lens has. It really sounds like wishful thinking to compare a RF 24-70mm F2.8 grey market and a newly released lens. It is only a very short period of time, in which the "only 650 € more" does apply. And it only applies IF you had preordered the RF 28-70mm F2.8 asap. It'll take six months to be in stock everywhere and by then the spring cash back/ discount will be applied.
I got my EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM new at B&H a year ago to use at choral concerts my wife participates in, after an evening of swapping primes every few minutes, which got old very fast.
So when this new lens came out I was considering the RF 24-105mm f/4L, but I need the light-gathering ability of a fast lens. (I had just bought the R6 Mark II to avoid the R7's noise above ISO 500.)
The standout feature was halving the weight. I wasn't going to wait the six months needed to get the Loyalty Program discount at Canon, but bought it from B&H for the same price with free FedEx shipping. My one-year-old EF 24-70 with its EF to R adapter sold to KEH for $13 less than I paid B&H for the RF 28-70 f/2.8 IS STM.
So for $13 plus $10 for a JJC lens hood I got a lens with comparable image quality that weighs half as much, is 2/3 the length, and adds image stabilization. If I want to go wider for a landscape shot I have the RF 16mm f/2.8.
Since I also have the RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM I'll put that on my R7 (I took all the pictures in the butterfly gallery in my photo website linked in my signature with that pairing), for an effective 136mm f/2 lens - letting me keep the R7 below ISO 500 while runnng the R6 Mark II at ISO 1000 with this new lens. (Yes, I know that the 85 on the R7 has a depth of field comparable to f/3.2, but for my purposes, that's a plus, not a minus.)
By the way, these two lenses are physical twins - same size and weight. The only obvious difference in appearance is in their lens hoods: deep cylindrical hood on the 85, shallow tulip-style hood on the 28-70 since its angle of view can get three times as wide than the 85.
They want to withhold the "L" designation from it - even though they say it has L-quality optics and weather sealing - because it has an STM focusing motor - and it's inexpensive? Fine. I call it my "No eL" lens and say "Merry Christmas!"
