Exploring Canon's first 24-105mm hybrid lens

Winding cobblestone lanes, elegantly aged buildings, warm sunlight filtering through historic arches. That was the scene when professional photographer and videographer Jamie Ferguson took to the streets of Florence with the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z, to put the hybrid lens to the test on a fast-paced men's fashion shoot.

Jamie is well known for his playful lifestyle imagery, having worked for brands including MR PORTER and Polo Ralph Lauren. To meet the industry trend for additional video content, over time he's developed a hybrid approach. "I now have more clients asking me to do photos and video on set, and it's an interesting challenge managing that workload," he explains.

As a wide-aperture zoom, the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z combines the technical benefits of the RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM and RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM lenses. Jamie particularly remembers shooting model Tommaso Capozzoli in a rowing club, and how the lens enabled him to quickly adapt to changing conditions. "I could go straight from shooting the boats underground in low-light where it was super tight, to outside using the zoom to track Tommaso along the water," he says.

Kyle used the lens with the RF mount Canon EOS C70 cinema camera and found its zoom range was ideal for fast-paced BTS crews. "Traditionally you might swap from a 24-70mm to a 70-200mm to get the telephoto aspect," he says. "But here everything was coming out of one lens and we didn't have to miss any footage."

Cine lenses and stills lenses can have different dedicated controls but the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z is designed with both mediums in mind. Jamie found switching between stills and video straightforward. "When I was setting up for one mode and then swapping back, the settings were maintained. When you're working in the candid style that I favour, and capturing moments here and there, that was incredibly handy."

A former Canon EOS 5D series user, Jamie is switching to the mirrorless EOS R System cameras because of the advantages the technology brings to his work. On the busy streets of Florence, the 5.5-stop Optical Image Stabilizer in the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z worked in conjunction with the In-Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) in Jamie's Canon EOS R5 to deliver up to 8-stops of stabilisation. "There's one shot where I'm walking behind Tommaso on a cobbled incline," he explains. "I was worried about keeping the image steady, but the first take was perfect." The autofocus could lock on to Tommaso, even on busy streets. "In another shot, where he was walking into frame and then turning his head, I was so impressed by how quickly and smoothly it picked him up."

The autofocus and built-in stabilisation also helped Kyle's team to get the footage they needed. "I trusted the IS enough to run handheld," he says.

During production, Jamie used the Canon Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2 for the first time. "This is an amazing bit of kit that you can keep in your back pocket and attach in seconds for more control over the shots you want to achieve," he says. He mainly shoots handheld, run-and-gun-style footage with his Canon EOS R5, and the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2 meant he could zoom in and out smoothly, for a more professional result.

"We used the Canon Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2 to experiment with the lens's parfocal abilities," he adds. "The fact that you're able to put something in focus and zoom in and out manually enables you to create tableaus, vignettes, and beautiful scenes. It was unreal being able to achieve shots that I'm used to seeing in the cinema, like a dolly zoom. Importantly, it felt very natural holding the lens with the adapter attached." A zoom speed dial on the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2 adds an extra level of control. "This meant I could quickly amp up while Tommaso was rowing, or slow down while he ate his ice cream," says Jamie.

Kyle used the Canon Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2B with its 20-pin interface to connect to the Canon Zoom Servo Grip ZSG-C10. This gave him a more ENG style/configuration and also enabled him to utilise the grip's variable speed rocker switch. "The servo zoom autofocus was super sharp, fast and clean, and the lens stays in focus while you zoom [electronic parfocal focus]," he explains.

The Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z has an 11-blade iris – as found in premium RF mount cinema prime lenses – which produces natural round bokeh and softly diffused highlights. "When shooting on the rooftop terrace as the sun was going down, I was getting a real softness with Tommaso backlit," says Jamie, who found the visual quality to be perfect for a fashion photography lens.

"When we were at the Ponte Vecchio, the lens was able to pick up the warmth from the stone, the lovely bokeh in the background, and still have Tommaso pin-sharp at f/2.8," he adds. Kyle also noted the visual quality of footage from the lens. "It has a really nice, organic flare, with great contrast control, but also feels really warm and natural. It has quite a lot of character. With its quality and features, you're entering the cine lens market without having to spend a five-figure sum."

Focus breathing (the slight change in focal length when adjusting focus) was also minimal. "It really blew me away, which is what you want from good focus breathing suppression," Kyle adds. "Being able to pull from almost infinity to close focus with no noticeable breathing was special."

Through a combination of visual and technical excellence, the RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z and the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E2 can unlock creative and professional doors for hybrid content creators, journalists and production companies. "It's been hard not to use clichés, but it's a game changer, and that's not a phrase that I throw around readily," says Jamie. "This lens has opened up a wealth of possibilities that I just didn't feel that I had access to before."