Best Canon RF lenses for landscape photography

How do you choose the best Canon RF lenses for landscape photography? We pick out the top buys, in partnership with Canon.

Landscape photography presents ever-changing vistas and opportunities, as a change in the light or the weather can transform even the most familiar subjects. But what are the best Canon RF lenses for landscapes?

The usual suggestion is a wide-angle lens in order to squeeze in as much of the scene as possible, and we pick a couple of our favourites in this guide. But a wide-angle view is not always the way to go, and can lead to impressive subjects looking quite small and insignificant in the frame. It sounds counter-intuitive, but sometimes a telephoto is what you need. This will bring distant subjects and details closer and will also make backgrounds look bigger and much more impressive. Sometimes a detail view can say as much about a landscape as a wide shot.

Not all of your subjects will be far away. We’ve included a macro lens in this guide for close-up details, which is especially relevant if you want to photograph nature and the landscape together, and if you are working on a picture story rather than trying to capture a single image.

If you don’t mind carrying a little extra weight, then zoom lenses will give you the most flexibility, and you can check out some more options in our guide to the best Canon RF mount lenses overall. They do say you can zoom with your feet, but that’s not always possible out in a vast landscape or where there is limited access. The best camera bags can make light work out of carrying a lot of gear, but if you do want to keep the weight down then lightweight prime lenses could be the answer, and we’ve included one of Canon’s lightest in this guide.

For many landscape shots, the standard zoom that came with your camera can do a great job, but these lenses will let you go further, wider and closer!

Don’t forget to check out our get-started guide to landscape photography and moody monochrome landscapes, plus fine-art landscapes. In addition, in partnership with Canon, we’ve got buyer’s guides to the best Canon RF lenses for wildlife and for sports and action photography.

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Here’s the quick list of our picks of the Canon RF lenses for landscape photography:

• Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM – check best price
• Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM – check best price
• Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM – check best price
• Canon RF 24mm F1.8 Macro IS STM – check best price
• Canon RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM – check best price
• Canon RF 24-50mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM – check best price
• Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM – check best price
• Canon RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM – check best price
• Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM – check best price
• Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM – check best price

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1. Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM

At a glance

• Type: Wide-angle zoom
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 840g
• Price: $2,399 / £2,389

The RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM is one of Canon’s ‘trinity’ lenses designed to cover three key focal lengths with a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. This lens is an ultra-wideangle zoom that’s perfect for wide, sweeping landscapes, dramatic perspective effects and small interiors. The f/2.8 maximum aperture allows shooting in low light, which is further aided by the in-built image stabilization, a feature you don’t often find on ultra-wide zooms.

It’s one of three lenses that pro photographers will often aim to keep in their bags, alongside a 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8. If this lens falls outside your budget, however, there is a less expensive and somewhat smaller RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM lens that goes a fraction wider still.

2. Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM

At a glance

• Type: Wide-angle zoom
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 390g
• Price: $549 / £669

Canon’s constant-aperture f/2.8 and f/4 ultra-wide lenses for the Canon EOS R series cameras – are ideal for landscape photographers – see the RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM above – but they are a significant outlay for new users and hobbyists. That’s where the RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM comes in! This is an ultra-wide zoom at very good price for a lens of this type.

While it doesn’t have the same optical sophistication as the f/2.8 and f/4 lenses, it still offers very good optical performance and in a lens that’s both lighter and a lot cheaper. The RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM is perfect for landscape photographers who like to travel light – and for travel photography too, for the same reason. It doesn’t have weatherproofing or a constant maximum aperture across the zoom range, but it does have in-built optical stabilization and a focal range that makes it the ideal complement for Canon’s 24-105mm f/4-7.1 kit lens. It’s not just one of the best Canon RF lenses for landscape photography, it’s pretty handy for arms-length ‘selfie’ vlogging, too.

3. Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM

At a glance

• Type: Wide-angle prime
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 165g
• Price: $299 / £299

If you’re looking for the least expensive, smallest and lightest ultra-wide Canon RF lens on the market, you can hardly go wrong with this. The Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM is very compact, very light and also very cheap for a lens of this type. It’s perfect for squeezing into a corner of your camera bag, or even a coat pocket, just in case you need it. It’s all the more impressive for having an f/2.8 maximum aperture.

This lens does not have an optical stabiliser, though this is unlikely to be a deal-breaker in a lens this compact and at such a short focal length, where any camera movement is less significant. If you need the best possible optical performance, then you should look at one of Canon’s constant-aperture wide-angle zooms, but for occasional use and a lens you can carry around and hardly notice it’s there, this is brilliant.

4. Canon RF 24mm F1.8 Macro IS STM

At a glance

• Type: Wide-angle prime
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 270g
• Price: $599 / £719

One of the draws of ultra-wide lenses is the way they can create dramatic perspective with close-up foreground objects against more distant backdrops. Canon has used this to good effect with the RF 24mm F1.8 Macro IS STM, which is a moderate wide-angle lens with unusually close focusing capability. It doesn’t offer the 1:1 magnification you can get from a true macro lens, but its 1:2 ratio is still very good at showing small plants, for example, in their environment.

This also doubles as a handy wide-angle prime for low-light shooting for two reasons – its f/1.8 maximum aperture is 1-2 f-stops faster than a typical ‘kit’ zoom, and it has optical image stabilisation built in too. Canon has even found room for separate focusing and function rings on the short lens barrel. A compact 24mm prime like this is already one of the best Canon RF lenses for landscape photography, but the macro capability takes it one step further.

5. Canon RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM

At a glance

Type: Compact wide-angle zoom
Format: Full frame
Weight: 540g
Price: $1,499 / £1,749

This is Canon’s widest RF zoom lens to date, making it ideal for soaking up the best bits of a dramatic landscape, without missing any attractive details. The 14-35mm zoom range is handy for architecture, travel and video, too, and there is a constant f/4 aperture throughout the range. This has also enabled the weight of this L series lens to be reduced, so it won’t weigh you down when out in the field, and f/4 should still be fast enough for many landscape photographers.

Another useful addition, particularly when shooting in lower light or handheld, is the 5.5-stop stabiliser, which increases to 7-stops with cameras equipped with IBIS. For landscape photographers, this means you can reduce the shutter speed without having to haul around a tripod. The inclusion of a Nano Ultrasonic Motor also delivers, fast, quiet AF, while the minimum focusing distance of 20cm is another handy extra when out shooting landscapes. Wide, sharp and weather-sealed, this is a solid choice for landscape photographers who want to keep both the cost and the weight down.

6. Canon RF 24-50mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM

At a glance
Type: Standard zoom
Format: Full frame
Weight: 210g
Price: $299.99 / £379.99

This new lens is Canon’s small and lightest kit zoom for full-frame and sits between the RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM and the RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM in the line-up. While this retractable lens with 2x zoom is primarily aimed at portrait photographers and travel vloggers, the versatile focal length is also handy for landscape photography, giving a wide-enough view to get in as much of the vista as possible, while also enabling you to zoom in to attractive details.

Up to 4.5 stops of image stabilisation helps to avoid camera shake when shooting handheld, and the stabilisation goes up to 7 stops when the lens is used with in-body IS on a compatible EOS R camera. Other features include a close focussing distance of 0.20 at 24mm, adding to the lens’s versatility, and an STM motor for smooth and quiet video recording. There is also a customisable lens control ring for easy adjustment of settings. Entry level this lens may be, but it still offers a lot for landscape photographers, at a great price – and in a very compact and practical package.

7. Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM

At a glance

• Type: Standard zoom
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 900g
• Price: $2,399 / £2,629

This is Canon’s go-to standard zoom lens for higher-end EOS R-series cameras, offering the professionals’ favourite combination of a 24-70mm zoom range and constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. It also has optical stabilisation built in, which is idea for use with bodies that don’t have it but can also work alongside the IBIS in those that do.

Although this is a general-purpose lens it’s also ideally suited to landscape photography, covering the majority of focal lengths you’re likely to need and offering first-rate image quality. It’s weather-sealed too and has a fluorine-coated front element to shake off water and the worst that the weather can throw at it. Alongside an ultra-wide-zoom like the RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM, it’s the perfect landscape setup.

8. Canon RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM

At a glance

• Type: Standard zoom
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 395g
• Price: $399 / £479

The Canon RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM sold with the Canon EOS RP and other models as an affordable ‘kit lens’ is a very effective everyday walkaround lens, being light, compact and inexpensive. However, for a step up in image quality and versatility, consider the RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM instead. It covers the same focal range but offers superior optics and a constant f/4 maximum aperture. Either way, the 24-105mm focal range can be very effective for landscapes.

It’s wide enough to take in most scenic vistas, while the longer end of the zoom range is good for picking out distant details, flattening the perspective for more dramatic backdrops, and for powerful and effective sunset shots. In some ways, this is a more versatile landscape lens choice than a fast 24-70mm lens. It’s especially good for travel and hiking, where its low weight and wide zoom range make it both portable and versatile.

9. Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM

At a glance

• Type: Superzoom
• Format: Full frame
• Weight: 750g
• Price: $899 / £959

The RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM takes the idea of a wide zoom range to its limits! The 10x zoom range of this lens means it can take in everything from wide-angle shots to wildlife, which is ideal if you don’t want to carry around a whole set of different lenses. The variable maximum aperture drops to f/6.3 at maximum zoom, but that’s less of a problem on a mirrorless camera than a DSLR and the built-in stabilisation and the camera’s

Auto ISO function can handle any camera shake issues. While superzoom lenses don’t usually enjoy the best reputation for optical quality, the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM is actually pretty good, using a combination of optical and digital corrections to produce images of a quality you might not expect from a lens with such a long zoom range.

10. Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM

At a glance

• Type: Superzoom
• Format: APS-C
• Weight: 310g
• Price: $499 / £519

Most of the lenses in our RF lens guides are designed for Canon’s full frame cameras. Now, of course, Canon also makes the APS-C format EOS R50, EOS R10 and EOS R7. While you can fit full frame lenses straight on to these cameras, there is a 1.6x ‘crop factor’ which effectively increases the focal length by that amount, so for standard and wide angles of view, you really need RF-S lenses designed specifically for the smaller format.

Canon does already make an RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM 3x kit lens for these cameras, but for landscapes you might be better off with the more expensive but much longer-range RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM. This will give you a zoom range equivalent to around 29-240mm – almost the same as the full frame RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM superzoom lens but for the smaller format.

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Further reading
Best Canon mirrorless cameras
Beginners’ guide to landscape photography
Fine-art landscape photography
How to take moody monochrome landscapes