Best lens for the Canon R10

For sport, birds and kids who will not sit still, buy the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM. It frames like 160-640mm on the R10 and suits the camera's 15 frames per second. For travel and everyday shooting, buy the RF-S 18-150mm IS STM instead.

The R10 has a 1.6x crop, a 429g body and no in-body stabilisation according to Canon's spec sheet, so lenses with IS in the name do a lot of work here.

Reach, and what it costs you

At 400mm the RF 100-400mm is f/8. That is a small aperture, and in forest shade the camera will push the ISO up. You get a lens that weighs 635g and you can carry the pair for a whole safari. The RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L is brighter and longer, and at 1370g it is more than three times the weight of this camera.

For most R10 owners the 100-400mm is the better match. Save the L lens for when you have moved to a larger body such as the Canon R7, or to full frame.

Everyday and travel

The RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM frames like 29-240mm at 310g. It is the lens that stays on the camera. The RF 50mm f/1.8 STM at 160g frames like 80mm and costs little to add for portraits and indoor shots.

If you film in 4K 60p

The R10 records uncropped 4K at 30p, and its 4K 60p runs in a crop mode that Canon describes as an extra 1.8x. Multiply that in. The RF-S 10-18mm at 10mm frames like about 16mm normally and about 29mm in that mode, so it stops being a wide lens. If you need wide 4K, stay at 30p.

What to skip

Skip the RF 85mm f/2 Macro unless you specifically want close-ups, because at about 136mm of framing it is tight indoors. Skip the heavy f/2.8 L zooms too. They weigh 900g or more, and you pay for full-frame coverage this sensor does not use.

See the full list of lenses for the R10, or the R10 against the R50 if you are still choosing a body.

Before you buy

Long zooms are worth holding before you pay. Ask the shop to mount the 100-400mm on an R10, or bring yours, and raise it to your eye a few times. Weight is the thing that decides whether you carry it next time.