Saw this and honestly, the budget wide-angle market for the RF mount is pretty disappointing right now. I struggled with this too because I didnt want to spend 2k on one lens. Most options under 300 come with some annoying trade-offs.

• Canon RF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM
• This is a crop lens. While it physically fits, your R6 II will automatically crop the sensor. You end up with a much lower resolution photo which isnt ideal for those big mountain views. It feels like a waste of a full frame sensor tbh.
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
• You can find these used for cheap, but youll need an EF-to-RF adapter. Unfortunately, this lens shows its age on a sensor as good as yours. The corners are usually pretty blurry and soft compared to modern stuff. Its kinda rough because the R6 II is such a high-end body, but the budget glass just doesnt quite keep up... just something to keep in mind before you head to Zion.

Yo, congrats on the R6 Mark II! That is a total beast of a camera. If you are looking to capture the scale of Zion without breaking the bank, you basically have one main option that fits your $300 limit. I would suggest looking at the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM. It is super light and tiny which is nice for hiking, but you gotta be careful with how wide it actually is. 16mm is no joke... it sees almost everything in front of you. One quick tip tho, since you said you are new to lenses: lower mm numbers mean wider views. Your current lens probably starts at 24mm or maybe even 50mm, so 16mm is gonna feel like a massive jump. Just be careful with the distortion on the edges of the frame. If you put a person or a tree right at the very edge, they might look a bit stretched out. Also, make sure to check your lens correction settings in the camera menu. Since it is a budget lens, it relies on the cameras software to fix some of the fisheye look. It is honestly a steal for the price, but yeah, just watch those corners. It also takes 43mm filters if you want a polarizer for those Zion skies, which is a weird size, so keep that in mind before you buy extras.

Just jumping in here to say you picked an absolute beast of a body! The sensor in that thing handles shadows like a dream. Regarding what #1 said about the 16mm, it really is the go-to for your budget. > I just need it to see more stuff at once... Exactly! At 16mm you get a massive 108-degree field of view. To put that in perspective, your standard kit lens usually starts at 24mm (about 84 degrees), so this is a huge jump for those Zion peaks! The Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM is basically a pocket-sized wonder. It only weighs 165 grams! Seriously, you wont even feel it. If you can stretch your budget just a tiny bit or find a sale, definitely look at the Canon RF 15-30mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM too. It has built-in Image Stabilization (IS) which is amazing for handheld shots when the sun starts going down in the canyons. Both lenses use that super quiet STM motor which I love. Youre gonna get some epic shots!

Just catching up on this thread and it honestly reminds me of my trip to Glacier a few years back. I was so focused on finding a deal that I grabbed this random cheap lens I found on a forum. I was hiking up to the Hidden Lake overlook and the thing just... stopped communicating with my body. Error 01 every single time I tried to fire the shutter. I spent half the trip trying to clean the contacts with a t-shirt while my friends were getting these insane shots of the peaks. It was a total nightmare because I didnt have a backup and I was basically stuck with a brick for the rest of the week. You really gotta be careful with how much you trust some of these cheaper builds when you are miles away from a shop. Tbh it totally changed how I look at gear reliability now. Still stings thinking about those missed shots because I tried to cut corners on the budget...