Lens recommendation for Iceland (travel + aurora photography)

[nohoho]

Hello All,

I am planning a trip to Iceland for end of November, and I am confused about the lens that I should buy for the trip for my Canon r50 apsc camera.

I want something that helps me capture the northern lights and the majestic landscapes. For this purpose, I have short listed:

Canon rf 16 mm f2.8,

Rokinon 14mm f2.8, and

Tokina 11-20mm f2.8.

My concern is that Rokinon and Tokina seem to flare up when exposed to a beam of light, show a bit of vignetting and chromatic aberrations. And, Canon rf 16mm might be narrow, given the 1.6x crop factor of my apsc lens. Therefore, I would like to get some advice on what best lens to buy.

Additionally, I am looking for a lens for travel photography, and I wonder if any of the above lens would suffice. If not, I was thinking to canon rf28 mm or Canon ef24 f2.8.

Please advice! My budget is $500-600. And, at the moment, I just have the Canon rf18-45 mm kit lense (something that I already find pretty boring)

[Tronhard]

What do you find 'pretty boring' about the RF 18-45?  Is it the range, the aperture or something else?
If you are travelling to Iceland, you will want a range of focal lengths to capture the gamut from wide skies and scenes, to pulling in waterfalls that you can't get to.  Also Iceland has some unique and interesting wildlife.

First off, you need to know that 3rd Party lenses are not supported by Canon, and they are not designed for the Canon MILC focusing system, so if you have questions or issues about them, you will need to go to those lens makers.  The exception is the set of lenses currently being released by Sigma.  These are well-proven optics for APS-C bodies like yours that have been licensed by Canon to work with their R-series bodies.  They have an excellent optics and build, but they are not image stabilized, so you will have to have a steady hand and good holding technique if you are going to Iceland in November, when it is quite dark a lot of the time.
SIGMA Canon RF Mount lenses | Contents | SIGMA Corporation (sigma-global.com)

Of the group, I would recommend the SIGMA 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | Contemporary.  You can get it from reputable dealers for just within your budget.

Your budget is, TBH, too small to get the range of lenses you really need because I suspect you will also want a lens with more reach.  However, you could try this combination:
RF16mm F2.8 STM (canon.com) ($299) and the RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM (canon.com) ($499)
This pairing will give you a super wide angle, fast lens and the second will give you a much wider range of subject possibilities.  New, they would come in at $800, but if you go refurbished - usually over-stock but new, unboxed but unused, demo or show units, but 'good as new' with a warranty, you can get a deal:
Shop Canon Refurbished RF16mm F2.8 STM | Canon U.S.A., Inc. - saving $60.

Since the 18-150 will render you 18-45 obsolete, just sell that to help with the cost.