After years of particularly limited lens choice, things are about to change for Canon's crop-sensor (APS-C) cameras like the excellent EOS R7, because Canon has finally given the key to the door of its RF-mount to Sigma and Tamron. It really is about time.
The leading third-party lens makers already provide a wide number of prime and zoom lenses for crop-sensor and full-frame cameras from Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, and more. Sigma's E-mount lenses for Sony have been around for years and there are absolutely loads of them. Now, Sigma and Tamron's final frontier – Canon's RF-mount – has been realized.
It's a monumental moment for Sigma and Tamron but also for Canon fans who can expect to enjoy a wider choice of more affordable lenses in the future.
Canon has been pretty active making pricey RF-mount lenses for its full-frame cameras, including the excellent RF 200-800mm f6.3-9 and RF 100mm F2.8L macro, plus pushing the boat out with lenses like the RF 28-70mm F/2. However, it isn't making a lot of crop-sensor RF-S lenses, and that's a red flag against models like the EOS R10 which we still rank as the best beginner mirrorless camera years after release.
That's all changed with the news that Sigma and Tamron can make RF-mount lenses, with Sigma immediately announcing six of its existing DC DN Contemporary crop-sensor lenses are in the pipeline for 2024, while Tamron also has a single new RF-S lens in the works, the popular 11-20mm F2.8.
Seven new lenses could be just the beginning
So which lenses exactly have been confirmed already? First up, we will have six Sigma RF-S lenses on the way in 2024, and one from Tamron. The Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN ($549 / £599 for existing versions) has the clearest expected date, being set for July 2024, while the other five Sigma lenses are in the pipeline for the final quarter of 2024.
One of those five lenses is the Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN, which we described as 'a dream ultra-wide angle lens for vlogging', rated 4.5 stars in our review of the Sony E-mount version, and costs $599 / £649 (price TBC for the Canon version).
There are also four F1.4 aperture prime 'Contemporary' lenses: the 16mm F1.4 DC DN ($449 / £389), 23mm F1.4 DC DN ($549 / £479), 30mm F1.4 DC DN ($339 / £319) and 56mm F1.4 DC DN ($479 / £419). A decent choice of prime lenses is great news for Canon fans especially given that there are no Canon-own fast aperture prime RF-S lenses available. Also, those prices for the existing versions are excellent value and hopefully will be the same for the RF-S versions once prices are confirmed.
Tamron's sole RF-S lens at this point will be the 11-20mm F2.8 F/2.8 Di III-A RXD.
Those seven lenses are the beginning and there's plenty in the Sigma and Tamron inventory to excite Canon fans who will finally be able to whack a third-party lens on their Canon mirrorless camera.
You can discover more about each of the lenses on the Sigma website and Tamron website.
