Travelling light: exploring Norway's breathtaking coastline with the compact Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM lens

As a child, Canon Ambassador Richard Walch dreamed of going to Nordkapp, Norway's most northerly point. His family holidays often involved travelling from his home in Germany to Scandinavian locations, but this remotest of places remained tantalisingly out of reach.

Since that time, Richard has gone on to a successful 25-year career in action sports photography, indulging his passion for travel by shooting sports around the world, yet never making it to northern Norway. So when he got married in May 2019, Richard and his wife decided to take a cruise along the spectacular Norwegian coast.

It was the ideal opportunity for Richard to use his latest lens, the Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM. Instead of having to take a whole set of lenses, as he would for a sports shoot, it gave him a wide range of focal lengths in a single lens, to capture everything from majestic landscapes to intimate portraits.

The lens’s compact 112.5mm length and light 750g weight made it perfect for travel. Paired with the lightweight, compact Canon EOS RP body, it made a light and portable yet extremely versatile combination.

Capturing every scene with the Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM lens

Although Richard began the trip by photographing the cityscapes of Bergen, the scenery rapidly changed over the following days and became more wild and remote. Also, the further north the ship travelled, the longer the days became. After they passed the spectacular Lofoten archipelago – one of the journey's highlights – it didn't get dark at night for the rest of the trip, meaning more time to take photographs.

The versatile Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM lens enabled him to shoot all the subjects he encountered, from wide-angle views of expansive landscapes or harbour scenes to telephoto shots of landmarks or seagulls in flight.

He could even capture macro shots of small subjects such as flowers. Meanwhile the fast AF made it ideal for capturing wildlife in action.

Handling and customising the lens

Like all of Canon’s RF lenses, the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM includes a control ring on the lens barrel that can be customised to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO or exposure compensation. On this lens, the ring can be switched between control and focus, and is close to the camera body for easier access. "It's in the perfect spot," says Richard. "I can hold the camera with one hand and use the control ring with my thumb, so that works really nicely."

When mounting the lens on the Canon EOS RP, Richard found the Extension Grip EG-E1 a useful accessory: "With the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM fitted, the body and lens combination balances nicely in your hand and feels really good. I'd highly recommend it."

The journey took in a stop to admire views of the midnight sun at Nordkapp before the ship reached the town of Kirkenes and began the return trip.

Looking back on the images he shot during the 12-day trip, Richard finds the overall quality of these pictures far superior to those produced by other superzoom lenses he's used in the past.

"About 15 years ago, I had a 35-350mm lens, and though I was impressed by its versatility, the image quality seemed too much of a compromise," he says. "But if I look at the files produced by the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM, the image quality doesn't feel like a compromise any more.

"I'm pretty amazed how sharp the lens is, and how brilliant it is. You can see the details in the shadows, and there are some really nice highlights and dark tones. Canon has really found the magic for its lenses. I'm really impressed by the quality in every new Canon lens I try.”

With full-frame image quality and powerful 10x zoom, Richard says the combination of the EOS RP and the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM is "the ultimate travel combo – small, light and powerful. I will definitely use them for these kind of trips in the future."

And as for his dream trip: after wanting to visit the north Norway coast for so long, Richard was delighted with what he found. "The scenery was really beautiful and we saw so many fantastic and interesting places on the journey," he says. "It was perfect!"