TLee

I own a canon R6 and just bought the 100-500 canon lens. I love it but considering adding a 1.4x extender and according to others it’s a must have to reach out for bird photography and same time retain the clarity and color.

User ID

Surely you’ve noticed that the “advice” that was proffered cites no actual user experience at all. Apparently based on “armchair expertise” so seeking a real world user recommendation would be rather pointless. Rotsa ruck widdat :-(

MtManMD Loc: Beaverton, Oregon

I was unable to get my Tamron 150-600 G2 to focus anywhere close to right with my R5 body. Gave up on it and sold it. Now I'm the happy owner of both a RF 100-500mm and 800mm f/11.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

If you can handle the weight the 300-800 f5.6 Sigma can be had in Cannon mount. I have one in Nikon and I love it. 300-800 gives a major amount of flexibility. These were shot off a tripod the hawk was hand held.

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There’s essentially NO DoF at 800/f11. No need to worry about busy backgrounds. I don’t use that exact same lens. Mine are 1000/f11 and 500/f5.6, which brackets an 800/f11 very closely. Zero DoF in practical terms. Worry more about getting most of the subject in focus and never mind about the background !

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I would not sell your 70-200mm lens it has a very useful focal length range for many things. Others have suggested a Tamron or Sigma 150-600mm lens for longer reach. Remember longer lenses can be quite big and heavy. They can also be very expensive. For occasional use consider renting.

I have a Panasonic 100-300mm f4-5.6 (200-600mm FF equiv.) for my Olympus cameras. It is a very ordinary sized lens that is easy to handhold. Olympus and Panasonic have a few other lenses with long reach and rather light weight.

Canisdirus

Blurred backgrounds depend on the distance of the background from the subject...and also governed by aperture.
So...any lens that is shooting over f/8...f/9... does not perform well (background wise) in all shooting aspects...where as a faster lens...can.
Which was my point.

speedmaster Loc: Kendall, FL

Sorry to meddle. I use the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary in a Nikon Z with FTZ adapter. Using mid of the ground aperture the lens is not bad. Of course it won't be fair to compare with a 5 to 10k US$ lens but depending on your need it is a pretty good bargain as you can find it new for US 799.00.

500mm, F8, ISO 1200 @ 1/1000 sec. Originally in JPG.

JhnMhn

The Canon RF 100-500 is the most versatile lens I have ever used…for everything from close-ups of butterfly’s, flowers, mushrooms, etc. to birds in flight, wildlife, and scenics, with outstanding image quality, image stabilization, and rugged construction. It is surprisingly light and small for all of this versatility that allows me to carry fewer lenses in the field. Add a 1.4 extender and you have a 750mm lens that still focuses just as close as before…this is significant since other long teles have much greater minimum focusing distances making them much less versatile eg: the Canon RF 800 f11 can’t focus closer than about 20 feet, a deal breaker if close focusing is important. Coupled with the R5, I am able to shoot in much lower light than I expected and have sold my 70-200mm lens as it simply was no longer used.

Frank Bruno

I have the R5 and the RF glass is amazing... I recently purchased another lens, the 800mm f11. It's quality is outstanding. I highly recommend it at it's very low price.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

LOL. My Sigma Art lenses seem to do just fine on an R5, so do my Canon FDs and FLs not to mention a few select old Pentax lenses.

cactuspic Loc: Dallas, TX

Once I purchased my Canon RF 100-500, I found that I did not shoot my 70-200 f4. I found the 100-500mm to be a wonderfully versatile lens that performs well at 100, at 500, and at everything in between. It also is is a joy to use with the 1.4 RF teleconverter. At 500mm, the zoom was sharper than my older 500mm IS prime lens, which shocked me. But I did three tests and the results were clear each time. so I sold my 500mm prime. I have also loved shooting with the 800mm f/11. Because of the extreme focal length, the background blurs rather quickly. It is very sharp and exceptionally light....a joy to shoot even though it is a fixed aperture.

Irwin

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

All 150-600 zooms drop to f/6.3 at their longer focal lengths, smaller than f/5.6.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

You probably won't do any better than the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 IS USM. At $2800 it ain't cheap, but will get you close to what you want. Then you can either crop a little (if needed) or add an RF 1.4X teleconverter (which can only be used on the 100-500mm at the longer focal lengths, but that's the only focal lengths where it makes sense to use a teleconverter anyway).

Of course, the RF 100-500mm is considerably bigger and heavier that your 70-200mm f/4....

BUT, the RF 100-500mm is actually a half pound lighter than the EF 100-400mm II... it's actually about the same weight as EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM II or III.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/compare/Canon_RF_100-500mm_f_4.5-7.1L_IS_USM_Lens_vs_Canon_EF_100-400mm_f_4.5-5.6L_IS_II_USM_Lens_vs_Canon_EF_70-200mm_f_2.8L_IS_III_USM_Lens_vs_Canon_EF_70-200mm_f_4L_IS_II_USM_Lens/BHitems/1547011-REG_1092632-REG_1414599-REG_1414598-REG

I use the heavier 100-400mm II a lot, shooting sports hand held for hours on end. So the RF 100-500mm would be a nice relief for me!

A lot more info about the RF 100-500mm here: https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-RF-100-500mm-F4.5-7.1-L-IS-USM-Lens.aspx

I am sure I'll be getting an RF 100-500mm when I switch to the R-series mirrorless from my Canon EF mount DSLRs.

EDIT: There are almost no third party lenses available in Canon RF mount yet... So you would have to adapt any of the Sigma or Tamron 100-400s, 150-500s or 150-600s. While this might work fine, I would not expect the same autofocus and image stabilization performance or the image quality possible with the Canon RF 100-500mm.

tgreenhaw

I vote for the 100-500. I have the 100-400 EF and it is an indispensable workhorse.