Roe Cole

I recently purchased a Canon EOS R with the newer RF mount. Great camera but I was surprised at the costs of those lenses. I’m retired on a fixed income so I don’t want to error on a lens purchase.

I’m looking for a lens for wildlife in the 600-800mm range. I’m considering a Canon RF 800mm that I can purchase new for $900 BUT this glass is fixed at f-11.

As background, I typically shoot at f-8 or lower for background blur in nature photography. I also want to step up the quality of my photos.

SO my question - is a fixed aperture lens at f-11 worth buying? Would I be disappointed at the image quality or lack of f-stop control of this lens?

Your constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

All the feedback on these cheaper primes says their wonderful, for the price. You'll probably get more from actual reviews than UHH henhouse chatter. Try google for video based images. Here's Bryan Carnathan's 600 review, with real image examples:

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-RF-600mm-F11-IS-STM-Lens.aspx

ELNikkor

Search "RF800 Reviews". I'm sure there are plenty out there, especially on Youtube. Jared Polin is one of my favorite reviewers, as he is blunt, honest, and humorous. Seems those new Canon lenses get good reviews. Just bear in mind, they are meant for good lighting, not dark scenes. I have an f11 1000mm Nikkor lens. When using it, I just bump up the ISO to accommodate lower light situations.

jpwa Loc: Inland NorthWest

Check with UHH member Regis.....he uses that lens and takes fantastic photos

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

In long lenses like that the cost goes up by huge increments as you bring the f-stop down. The cost, and the size and weight, go way up and up. And UP.
It's a trade off that most don't choose to make.

bleirer

I recently agonized over how to spend my $1000 for a telephoto for the RP, about half of your R5 pixel count, since that was my budget. Read a lot of reviews, looked at comparison images, etc. From all that I suspect you might be disappointed with the 800. It will be interesting to see what actual shooters say. Though the price is right.

If you can swing it the 100-500 with the 1.4x, or for less money a used ef 100-400 ii with a 1.4x, but my opinion is only based on research. Since you have IBIS you would also get very sharp images from the ef 400mm 5.6L with the 1.4x. I rented that one for a summer trip, very nice. Of course all of those options are more than twice the cost of the 800. I ended up with the version i 100-400 with a version ii 1.4x, that was within the budget, but I am still tasting the better lenses.


I spent a lot of time reading the reviews here.
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1513&Camera=1508&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=2

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Here is a Northrup Youtube video where they review both the 600mm f/11 and 800 f/11 lenses from Canon. You can skip over the first minute where they are selling their books.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiB5QE0sp2U

I use a D850 (and D500) along with a 600mm f/4G lens for wildlife / birding that they show in the beginning of the video. I nicknamed my lens behemoth for a reason. After watching this and a few other reviews, I am about to jump to the R5 and those two new lenses.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I would be very reluctant to buy that f/11 lens. Viewing through it will be on the dark side. You may have a hard time seeing your subject. That is compounded by having such a small angle of view. Another problem is that you will have to crank up the ISO which will create noise. At f/11, you will also have a slower shutter with increased motion blur. I do not know how sharp that lens is at f/11 but if you have to stop down a stop or two to increase the sharpness, then the noise and motion blur become that much worse.

I suggest that you find a conventional used lens instead. Consider the highly regarded and cheaper Sigma and Tamron lenses.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The lens is intended exclusively for EOS mirrorless full-frame cameras, where 'brightness of the view finder' is not an applicable issue nor concern. As modern and market leading digital technology, the ISO can be adjust to assure an excellent image with the shutter speed needed for the composition.

bleirer

Though with exposure simulation enabled in the R5, it will look perfectly normal in the viewfinder.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...UHH henhouse chatter..." priceless and precious... thank you CO

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

If you can find someone who owns one that you can adapt to your new camera to just try it out might be a good idea. I once did this. The lens was 800-1600 fixed aperture lens. I tried it with a full frame camera and an APS-C camera. I didn't find the images to be that sharp. At 1600mm, the lens tended to flex in the middle since it had to extend itself out in length. I found it easier to use with full frame since the wider angle view tended to make the image look a little sharper since the target seemed farther away. But it wasn't really any sharper.

I am attaching an image taken with a Full Frame Sony A99 and this image was taken at the 800mm end. I think I focused on the boat coming towards me. The house you see is about 1 mile away across the lake. I tried to improve it with DxO.

The 2nd was taken at 1600mm moments later. And I used Topaz Sharpen AI - Stabilize Mode to improve it. It actually seems rather sharp. I found that I couldn't use an APS-C camera at 1600mm.

The 3rd image was at 800mm on an APS-C camera. This lake was only about 1000 feet to the other side and I focused on the with pipe. If you look closely, you can see how fuzzy the image is.

Bottom line - I wouldn't buy one of these lenses for my own use. On this lens, I do think the lens wasn't sharp at all at 800mm and was sharper at 1600mm. But with the flexing in the middle, it was not easy to use at the long end.

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bleirer

That is certainly a good result. Going to make me think twice.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

My question is what are you shooting?