For years, a fast f/2.8 standard zoom on Canon’s RF mount meant one thing: the big, expensive RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L. The Canon RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM, launched in September 2024 at $1,099, changed that. It’s compact, it’s stabilized, it’s sealed against weather to Canon’s L-series standard, and it costs less than half as much.

It’s the lens Canon owners had asked for, especially those with smaller bodies like the R8 and R6 Mark II, and one Sony and Nikon owners had long enjoyed from Tamron.

If you could only own one lens for Nikon Z full frame, the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S would be the strongest candidate. It covers wide angle to short telephoto, holds f/4 through the whole range, and delivers S-line sharpness that rivals Nikon’s f/2.8 zooms. It launched in late 2021 at $1,100, and it’s been the default kit lens on Z6III and Z8 bundles ever since.

That extra reach past 70mm matters more than it sounds. 120mm is a real portrait length, a useful focal length for details and compressed landscapes, and enough to pick out a face across a room at an event.

Sigma’s first mirrorless 24-70mm f/2.8 Art, from 2019, was sharp and good value, but its autofocus lagged behind Sony’s own G Master. The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II Art, announced in May 2024 at $1,199, fixes that. New HLA linear motors make autofocus more than three times faster, Sigma says, and the lens gains an aperture ring and better close focus.

It’s available for Sony E-mount and L-Mount, the system Sigma shares with Panasonic and Leica.

The Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G looks like a small change on paper. Most standard zooms start at 24mm. This one starts at 20mm. In practice those 4 millimeters change how you shoot. Indoors, in narrow streets, in front of big buildings, you can step back without stepping back.

Sony announced it in January 2023 at $1,099. It weighs about 488 grams, uses a 72mm filter, and it’s become one of the most recommended everyday lenses for Sony full frame.

A 24-70mm f/2.8 is the lens most working photographers reach for first. Weddings, events, news, travel. It’s the one you’d keep if you could only keep one. Sony’s first G Master version, from 2016, was good and very heavy. The Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II, released in 2022, is the redesign, and for a while it set the standard for what this kind of lens could be.

The headline is weight. The GM II weighs about 695 grams, down from roughly 886 grams for the original. That’s around 20 percent lighter, and on a long wedding day it’s the difference between a sore wrist and not thinking about the camera at all.

If you shoot Sony or Nikon full frame and you’re watching your budget, the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2 is probably already on your shortlist. It should be. It’s one of the best-value lenses of the last five years. Fast f/2.8 aperture, sharp, light, and priced at about $880 at launch, compared with more than $2,000 for the brand-name equivalents.

The G2 version arrived in late 2021 for Sony E-mount, replacing Tamron’s hugely popular original 28-75mm. A Nikon Z version followed in 2023. It’s the lens that many A7 IV and Z6III owners bought instead of the kit zoom, and few regret it.