17/03/2026 4:40 pm
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So I finally bit the bullet and grabbed the R5 Mark II after shooting with the original R5 for years but now I am having a total crisis about glass. My logic was that the RF 14-35mm f/4 would be the play because its lighter for hiking but then I started reading about how the software correction is pretty heavy on that lens and I am worried that 45 megapixel sensor is just going to eat it alive especially in the corners. I am leaving for a two week solo trip to Iceland in literally 19 days and I need to make a decision like yesterday.
Ive been looking at the 15-35mm f/2.8 too but honestly I rarely shoot landscape at 2.8 so is it even worth the extra weight and the smaller zoom range? Then there is the 10-20mm f/4 but that seems almost too wide for general use and I cant even use my normal circular filters on it without some crazy expensive setup. I have about 2500 bucks to drop on this but I dont want to just buy the most expensive thing if the f/4 is actually better for stopped down diffraction limited stuff.
Does the new sensor processing make the 14-35 better or am I gonna regret not having that f/2.8 glass for the occasional aurora shot? I keep going back and forth on:
- the 14-35mm portability
- the 15-35mm image quality
- the 10-20mm ultra wide look
2 Answers
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17/03/2026 5:25 pm
Building on the earlier suggestion, I disagree about the f/4 being unusable. In my experience:
- Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM: best for night auroras.
- Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM: better hiking value.
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17/03/2026 5:05 pm
Quick response while I have a sec. Unfortunately, the Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM was not as good as expected for high-resolution work in my experience. The software correction is technically quite aggressive and you can definitely notice a loss of resolving power in the corners. It is a bit of a letdown for L-series glass at that price point. For Iceland, you are probably gonna regret only having f/4 for the aurora. You need that light gathering for clean shots. A more budget-focused approach would be picking up the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM specifically for night shots. It is surprisingly decent for the price. Then maybe look for an older Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM with an adapter for daytime. It holds up well against the newer RF stuff and saves you a ton of cash for the actual trip. You dont want to spend your whole budget on one lens when the older glass is still sharp as a tack.
