14/04/2026 5:30 pm
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So I just bit the bullet and grabbed the R5 Mark II because my old 5D was finally giving up on me but now I am totally stuck on what glass to actually put on it for this trip to Zion in two weeks. I keep reading that the RF 14-35mm f/4L IS is basically the go-to for hikers since it is so light and has that extra 1mm on the wide end which sounds great but then other people are swearing by the 15-35mm f/2.8L.
My logic was that since I'm mostly shooting landscape at f/8 or f/11 the extra stop of light doesnt really matter right? But then I saw some forum posts saying the 14-35 has some crazy distortion that the camera has to fix digitally and I'm worried that with 45 megapixels I'm gonna see some weird softness in the corners. I have about 2500 bucks left in the budget for this so I can afford either one but I dont want to carry a brick if I dont have to.
Does the 15-35 actually look sharper on this specific sensor or am I just overthinking the digital corrections? I really need to get this ordered by tomorrow morning to get it here in time for the flight...
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14/04/2026 5:55 pm
Unfortunately, I found the Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM pretty disappointing once I started looking at the raw files from a high-res body. The distortion at 14mm is honestly kind of a mess, and while the camera fixes it, you end up losing some of that 45MP crispness in the corners because of the pixel stretching. It is just not as good as I expected for an L series lens on this specific sensor.
- Corner smearing is noticeable even when you stop down to f/8 or f/11.
- The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM is much sharper across the frame.
- Software correction eats into your resolution. Coming back to your point about f/8... it dont really matter what aperture you use if the lens design is relying that heavily on software fixes. Id grab the heavier 2.8 glass and just deal with it. Zion is too pretty for soft corners.
11
14/04/2026 5:31 pm
I'm really happy with the Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM on my R5. Honestly, the 540g weight is a massive win over the 840g Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM when you're hiking all day.
- That 14mm focal length is killer for Zion walls.
- Software correction works well, corner softness is negligible at f/11.
- 77mm filters are cheaper than the 82mm ones too.
3
14/04/2026 5:55 pm
Just found this.
- Choose Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM for maximum reliability.
- It eliminates corner softness from digital correction.
- That's the safer long-term investment.
