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Canon's RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z carries a price near $3,000 and a body large enough to reshape what you pack. Deciding between this lens and the more familiar RF 24-70mm is one of the harder calls a Canon shooter faces right now.
Bryan Redding of Deaf Director breaks down what happened after running the Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z through several video and photo jobs. The image quality lands exactly where you'd expect from premium Canon glass, and he compares the character to his Canon RF 70-200mm, which he calls his all-time favorite lens. The de-clickable manual aperture ring turns this into a serious video tool, letting a focus puller dial exposure by hand. Redding also praises the quick-release collar design, which pops off with a button for a cleaner profile on a gimbal or in a bag and slides right back on when you need it.
The extra reach past 70mm becomes the real argument in its favor. He found himself constantly pushing to 85mm and 105mm, treating the lens as a walkaround that stretches further than a standard zoom ever could. The collar also uses multiple mounting points, which keeps a plate from shifting over time. All of this adds up to a lens that performs beautifully across both stills and motion.
Then the size enters the conversation, and this is where the decision gets personal. Comfort isn't the issue, since he shoots all day with a 70-200mm and never tires of a large lens. Bag space is the issue. Paired with a 70-200mm and a Canon RF 16-35mm, the kit swells past what he wants to haul into a field for event or lifestyle work. He'd rather carry one big magic lens and one compact option that covers this range. The gimbal test drives it home: it balances on a DJI RS 4 Pro with a counterweight, but the standard DJI RS 4 simply can't handle it, which matters when travel forces you to pack the smaller rig.
That travel angle points to a wider shift. Canon built the internal zoom into this lens partly because working video shooters increasingly balance stabilizers, cages, and follow-focus gear, and a barrel that never changes length keeps a rig balanced through the whole zoom range. The RF 24-70mm f/2.8 lacks that internal design, so it breathes in and out as you zoom. If you shoot mostly from a tripod, a studio, or a controlled set where weight and pack size never bite, the 24-105mm gives you an extra 35mm of reach and a rig-friendly barrel for the same fast aperture. The math flips the moment your suitcase is already full and your gimbal is a compact one. Matching the lens to how you actually move through a shoot, rather than to a spec sheet, is the principle that decides which of these two Canon zooms earns a spot in the bag.
Redding is careful to say none of the drawbacks are knocks against the optics, and he plants his verdict squarely in his own workflow as a director who travels for work more than ever. He also directed a feature called American Deadbolt, streaming free on Amazon Prime and Tubi or available to rent on Apple TV, if you want to support independent work.
Watch the breakdown above to see the quick-release collar in action and hear where Redding finally lands on the 24-105mm versus the 24-70mm.
English (US) ·