It’s as if the makers of full frame mirrorless cameras have suddenly realized that there’s no point making mirrorless cameras smaller if the lenses are as big as ever.
So there’s a trend now to make compact zooms for these cameras to cut down on the overall system size. That’s great. But in making these kit lenses compact, have they also made them next to useless?
Nikon, Sony and now Canon all make size-appropriate compact kit lenses for their lower-end mirrorless cameras – but with silly 2x zoom ranges and maximum apertures that plummet even across this tiny zoom range. They are zoom lenses in the literal interpretation of the word, but are they really fit for everyday all-purpose use, or are they simply there to make the cameras look compact?
So first the Nikkor Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3. This is a dinky little companion to the Nikon Z5 (and also available separately) with a quick and simple retracting mechanism for easy stowing. It’s small, it’s light and it’s convenient. But this is a lens 1/3 of a stop slower than even the basic 3x zoom kit lenses we used to get and with only 2/3 of the zoom range. By any standards it’s far more limiting than the classic ‘kit lens’, even the most modest.
And then there’s the Sony FE 28-60mm f4-5.6, which is a nicely sized companion to the Sony A7C, but again with a zoom range barely more than 2x and not even as wide as the Nikon lens – though it does go to 60mm at f/5.6 rather than the Nikon’s 50mm at f/6.3.
They are zoom lenses in the literal interpretation of the word, but are they really fit for everyday all-purpose use, or are they simply there to make the cameras look compact?
And now Canon’s joined in with the Canon RF 24-50mm f4.5-6.3 IS STM, which has the same zoom range as the Nikkor Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 and has a built-in stabilizer for use with the EOS RP and EOS R8, which don’t have IBIS. It’s another stubby little lens that’s a nice fit for the R8 and RP, but with a miniscule zoom range and very restricted maximum aperture even slower than the Nikon’s at the wide end.
So it’s great to have small lenses for travel and portability, but is a 2x zoom lens with a plummeting maximum aperture at the ‘long’ end really fit for much at all?
I really don’t think so. Much as I might complain about fat and heavy full frame mirrorless lenses (and I do), I think I’d rather put up with that than go out shooting with lenses as limited as this.
Heck, if all I’m getting is a 2x zoom range with a pitiful maximum aperture, I think I’d rather just stick on a prime lens and be done with it.