The EOS R100 is Canon's cheapest EOS R mirrorless camera to date, and perfectly priced for beginners. With its 24MP sensor and Dual Pixel CMOS AF autofocus, it's a really attractive option for anyone just getting started in photography. But what are the best lenses for the Canon EOS R100?
The EOS R100 is Canon's cheapest EOS R mirrorless camera to date, and perfectly priced for beginners. With its 24MP sensor and Dual Pixel CMOS AF autofocus, it's a really attractive option for anyone just getting started in photography. But what are the best lenses for the Canon EOS R100?
First of all, we have to point out that Canon's APS-C EOS R system is still in its infancy. We think these are destined to become some of the best cameras for beginners, best cameras for travel and maybe amongst the best camers for vlogging too. There are no fewer than four cameras in this sub-range now, including the EOS R100, the EOS R50, EOS R10 and EOS R7 (you might also want to check out our Canon EOS R100 vs EOS R50 comparison), but the issue is that there is still a pretty limited selection of lenses designed for this smaller sensor format.
This is only a problem if you're looking for an ultra-wide zoom lens because Canon has yet to bring one out for this format. Otherwise, you do have a choice of two standard zooms or 'kit' lenses, a powerful telephoto zoom and a selection of affordable single focal length 'prime' lenses.
Canon RF vs RF-S lenses
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Canon lenses designed specifically for its smaller format cameras are designated 'RF-S', while those for its full frame cameras are simply 'RF' lenses. The lens mount is physically the same, so you can fill full frame RF lenses on the smaller camera bodies without any problem, though the smaller sensor format effectively 'crops' the image to give a narrower angle of view. This so-called 'crop factor' means that you have to multiply a lens's actual focal length by 1.6 to get its effective focal length on the EOS R100. Don't worry, though, because we've quoted these effective focal lengths in our specs for each lens.
Now normally, the best Canon RF lenses are a big, heavy and expensive option for APS-C cameras, but that's not the case here because Canon makes a range of lightweight and affordable full frame RF prime lenses that work really well on the EOS R100, and we have included three of them in our list. Best of all, if you decide to upgrade later on to a full frame EOS R camera, these lenses will fit the larger format just fine.
Just keep in mind that while you can fit the smaller format RF-S lenses on full frame Canon bodies, they won't cover the full sensor area – it will be 1.6x smaller – so you will lose a lot of the resolution (megapixels) of the full frame sensor. It's not something that most users would do.
There's one more thing to note. Unlike Canon's latest full frame models like the EOS R6 II and EOS R5, the EOS R100 does not have in-body stabilization. That means it's an advantage to have lenses with their own in-built IS. All three of the Canon RF-S lenses in this list do have IS, but some full frame Canon RF primes don't.
So that's enough tech talk. Let's get on with our list of lenses!
Best lenses for the Canon EOS R100 in 2023
This is the standard kit lens for the Canon EOS R100, so if you've bought this camera you probably have this already. But if you've yet to buy and you're still weighing up the options, you probably want to know whether this lens is any good or not. Well it is! As a compact companion to the Canon EOS R100, or Canon's other APS-C EOS R models for that matter, the RF-S 18-45mm is a fantastic option for everyday stills and video shooting. It's obviously not going to give the same performance as L-series or even mid-rage glass, but it still delivers solid image quality, along with with fast autofocus and solid stabilization. Best of all, it's really compact and light, just like the EOS R100.
If you're interested in longer-range sports or wildlife photography, you can fit any of Canon's full frame telephoto zooms straight on to the EOS R100. But that's a pretty expensive option, especially when you've got this much cheaper telephoto option designed specifically for the smaller format. This telephoto zoom is entirely in keeping with the compact, lightweight theme while adding serious reach, equivalent to 88-336mm in full-frame terms. That’s no mean feat for a lens that weighs in at just 270g (9.5oz) and fits in the palm of your hand. It has fast autofocus and highly effective optical stabilization, the only real downsides being that it has a fairly ‘slow’ aperture rating and pretty basic handling.
The regular Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens is a great general purpose kit lens, but what if you want a longer zoom range? The RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM is a bigger and more expensive alternative, but it does give you the equivalent of a 240mm telephoto at its longer focal length. You may see this lens as a bundled option for the EOS R100, but it's more likely you'll have to buy it separately. You might think that no lens with a focal length this broad is ever going to produce sensational image quality, but the Canon RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM nevertheless performs very well for a superzoom optic. It's a great all-purpose, all-in-one lens for Canon APS-C cameras like the EOS R100.
This is really popular lens with full frame Canon users because it offers a really wide angle of view and a really low price! But it works really well on the smaller format EOS R100 too, with a slightly wider angle of view than the kit lens and a much wider maximum aperture. Despite its pocket-sized build, this lens delivers impressive image quality and boasts a speedy, unerringly accurate autofocus system. Canon really has come up trumps with this lens, which ticks all the right boxes and is incredible value for money at the price. On full frame cameras, the definition does drop away somewhat at the edges of the frame, but the advantage of using it on the smaller format EOS R100 is that you're only using the central part of the lens, where any lens performs at its best.
A cheap 'nifty fifty' is a popular first buy for camera owners building a system, but while this is a full frame lens, it's equally useful on the smaller format EOS R100, where it can take on a completely different role. The smaller sensor means that this lens has an effective focal length of 80mm and this, combined with the fast maximum aperture of f/1.8, makes it a great 'portrait' lens for the EOS R100 – and at a bargain price. The Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM is quite simply an essential lens for every camera bag; small and light enough to go anywhere, fast enough to shoot in low light and snap into focus in a heartbeat, and silent and smooth enough to be used for video work.
Here's another full frame Canon prime lens that's well worth a look. This one is a little more expensive because it has a couple of extra features. The first is in-built image stabilization, which is really useful on a camera like the EOS R100 which doesn't have IBIS, and the second is a 'macro' capability that offers up to 0.5x magnification. That's not quite as much as a genuine 1x macro lens, but it still lets you get very close to small subjects. We do see some price variations, so that this lens can be significantly more expensive in the UK than the US, for example, but you are getting a lot for your money in terms of a wide maximum aperture, image stabilization and that 0.5x close-up capability.
This is another full frame Canon RF prime lens and one of the newest. What's interesting about this one is that it's a super-compact 'pancake' design, so that if you fit it to the EOS R100, which is pretty small itself, you've got a combination you can just slip into a coat pocket. The 28mm focal length gives you an effective 45mm angle of view on the EOS R100, so this could be a great general-purpose 'standard' lens. The Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM has really captured our hearts. It's pocket-friendly in terms of both size and price, but doesn't compromise on performance. While its a worthy optic on both full frame and APS-C bodies, it truly comes into its own when paired with the Canon EOS R50 or R100 – where, as the niftiest nifty fifty, it becomes an essential prime lens for everyday shooting, travel, street photography and video work.
