Canon RF Holy Trinity: The L-Series F2.8 Zooms, the Cheaper STM Pair and the F4 Set
On Canon’s full-frame RF mount, picking a holy trinity is simpler than on Sony, for an awkward reason. Sigma and Tamron make RF lenses only for Canon’s APS-C bodies. As of 2026 there’s no full-frame third-party f/2.8 zoom for RF at all. If you want a trinity on an R5 Mark II, R6 Mark III or R8, Canon makes every piece of it.
The good news is that Canon now makes three different trinities, at three very different prices.
The L-series f/2.8 trinity
This is the pro set: the RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM, the RF 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM and the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z. At launch prices it costs about $7,600 and weighs about 2.9 kilograms.
The two shorter zooms both arrived in August 2019 at $2,299 each. Both have optical stabilization, which Sony’s G Master equivalents don’t, and both take 82mm filters. They’re heavier than Sony’s second-generation lenses, at 840 grams for the 15-35mm and 900 grams for the 24-70mm. Canon hasn’t replaced either one, and they still hold up on 45MP bodies.
The telephoto is newer. The RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z came out in October 2024 at $2,999. It zooms internally, takes Canon’s RF extenders, and accepts an optional power zoom adapter for video. It weighs about 1,115 grams and also takes 82mm filters, so the whole trinity shares one filter size.
Wedding shooters often swap the middle lens for the RF 24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z, which keeps f/2.8 out to 105mm. With that lens on one body and the 70-200mm on another, the wide zoom stays in the bag most of the day.
The STM f/2.8 pair: half the price
In 2024 and 2025 Canon released two non-L f/2.8 zooms that changed the math for enthusiasts. The RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM costs $1,099 and weighs 495 grams. The RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM, from January 2025, costs $1,149 and weighs 445 grams. Both are stabilized and weather resistant, and both take 67mm filters.
Canon hasn’t made a matching STM telephoto at f/2.8. The sensible partner is the RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM, about $650 and 635 grams. It’s slow, but on a modern Canon sensor that matters less than it used to. The three together cost about $2,900 and weigh about 1.6 kilograms, a little over half the weight of the L set.
On an EOS R8 or R6 Mark II, this is the trinity that makes sense.
The f/4 L trinity
Between those two sit Canon’s f/4 L zooms: the RF 14-35mm F4 L IS USM ($1,699, 540 grams), the RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM ($1,099, 700 grams) and the RF 70-200mm F4 L IS USM ($1,599, 695 grams). They’re the landscape and travel set. Sharp, sealed, a stop slower, and each one lighter than its f/2.8 sibling. The 14-35mm is unusual for a lens that wide in taking normal 77mm screw-in filters.
Which set to buy
Working pros shooting events and weddings: the L f/2.8 set, probably with the 24-105mm f/2.8 Z in the middle, on an R5 Mark II or R6 Mark III.
Landscape and hiking: the f/4 L set.
Everyone else: the two STM f/2.8 zooms plus the RF 100-400mm. It costs less than a single L-series 70-200mm f/2.8 and covers 16mm to 400mm.