Sigma and Tamron to produce Canon RF mount lenses

ziggy53

Sigma and Tamron have reached agreements with Canon to produce Canon RF mount lenses, starting with autofocus lenses for Canon APS-C sensor bodies.

The first lenses planned:

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC
Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC
Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC
Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8

No firm sales dates yet, but expect late 2024 at the earliest, with most probably released in 2025.

ziggy53

Sigma's announcement:

SIGMA launches interchangeable lenses for Canon RF Mount system

https://www.sigma-global.com/en/news/2024/04/23/010362/

ziggy53

Tamron's announcement:

TAMRON announces development of first CANON RF mount lens 11-20mm F/2.8 Di III-A RXD (Model B060)

https://www.tamron.com/global/news/detail/b060rf_20240423.html

pathfinder

This is encouraging, but still a bit disappointing, since they are only making lenses for APS-C bodies, and the full frame RF bodies remain unable to utilize any Sigma or Tamron lenses without an EF to RF mount adapter.

I do use several lenses from Sigma and Tampon on my RF bodies with the EF to Rf adapters and they work quite well, enough that I own several EF to RF mount adapters, and just leave them on some of my EF mount lenses permanently.

ziggy53

@pathfinder said:
This is encouraging, but still a bit disappointing, since they are only making lenses for APS-C bodies, ...

I do use several lenses from Sigma and Tampon on my RF bodies with the EF to Rf adapters and they work quite well, enough that I own several EF to RF mount adapters, and just leave them on some of my EF mount lenses permanently.

Sigma and Tamron are both familiar with the "EF" lens communications, timings and protocols. The Canon "RF" lens mount has additional pins, AND the lens communications, timings and protocols are considerably different.

This means that the existing Sigma and Tamron mirrorless lens optical paths are fairly easy to convert and accommodate to the RF physical specifications, the flange-focus specifications in particular, but the third-party lens communications, timings and protocols will take some time to adapt to the Canon mirrorless bodies.

The speculative reason that Sigma and Tamron are starting with APS-C coverage lenses is because Canon has relatively few native RF-S specific lenses available, meaning a better marketing opportunity for breaking into the Canon APS-C mirrorless market.

Conversely, the Canon FF RF mount lenses are much more developed, because prior to last year Canon only had FF mirrorless RF mount bodies.

The unique Canon RF 28-70mm F2 L USM is an example of Canon's commitment to their professional mirrorless constituents, and I don't recall seeing anything similar from the other camera manufacturers or third-party lens manufacturers.

Indoor professional sports shooters, as well as professional wedding and event photographers appear to be the primary users of that larger aperture beast, and other than the extra weight and somewhat higher cost, the RF 28-70mm F2 L USM seems well accepted.

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I too have multiple EF to RF mount adapters to use with my Canon R8 body:

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro w/Hybrid Image Stabilization

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 DI VC USD [G1]

Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD

The convenience, plus redundancy factor, are compelling enough reasons to warrant the extra cost of multiple adapters.

My only investment in FF RF mount lenses so far:

Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM

Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM

Honestly, these 5 aforementioned lenses make a fairly complete system for most of my current FF needs. I also carry the Canon R7 body, as needed, with a few APS-C lenses to complete a larger system.