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Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS Review (a surprising lens and pretty darn good)

RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS review

Here is a Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS review. An affordable lens for the Canon EOS R system.

At a glance:

  • RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/5.6 to f/45
  • One UD Element, One Aspherical Element
  • Super Spectra Coating
  • Nano USM AF Motor
  • Maximum Magnification: 0.41x at 400mm
  • Optical Image Stabilizer
  • Customizable Control Ring
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

Admiring Light posted their Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS review. Says the reviewer in the conclusion:

[…] the RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM [is a] a surprising lens. When it was first introduced, it was easy to dismiss as a slow, cheap consumer zoom that probably wasn’t very good. Well, it does have a slow maximum aperture, and it is fairly inexpensive, but it is pretty darn good. While it isn’t going to challenge the RF 100-500mm f/5-7.1L in ultimate image quality, the lens manages to produce images with very good sharpness, nice bokeh and overall high image quality. The lens also has an excellent image stabilizer, fast and accurate autofocus and is small and light enough to be a lens that makes it into your bag every day.

This last part is key. Before this lens, I usually dreaded carrying lenses longer than 200mm. With the 100-400mm, it’s a pleasure to have in my bag. It can fit in the vast majority of camera bags with no issues, and weighs less than the RF 24-105mm f/4L. This compact size, along with the excellent AF and good optics makes this a perfect lens to carry for daily shooting. It’s a great bargain and a lens most Canon R shooters should consider for their kit. Highly recommended.

Check the review and sample images at Admiring Light

More Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS review stuff is listed here.

Canon RF 100–400mm F5.6–8 IS:

America: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM Overview

A versatile telephoto-zoom with a portable form factor, the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM is a nimble lens perfect for wildlife, sports, and travel shooting. With extended range, this zoom packs super-telephoto reach into a relatively sleek, lightweight design along with support for Coordinated IS to help control up to 6 stops of camera shake and Nano USM AF to promote faster focusing performance.

Optically, the lens uses specialized elements to control a variety of aberrations and produce images with high sharpness and clarity throughout the zoom range. Close-focusing performance is also possible, with a maximum magnification of 0.41x at the 400mm position, for close-up shooting of subjects as small as a credit card.

  • Long-reaching telephoto zoom lens is designed for use with full-frame Canon RF-mount mirrorless cameras.
  • Modest f/5.6-8 maximum aperture range promotes a relatively compact, lightweight form factor.
  • One Ultra Low Dispersion element is featured toward the front of the optical design and helps to reduce chromatic aberrations and color fringing throughout the zoom range.
  • One aspherical element helps control distortion and promotes a high degree of sharpness.
  • Super Spectra Coating has been applied to minimize flare and ghosting for improved contrast and color fidelity when working in strong lighting conditions.
  • An Optical Image Stabilizer helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake by 5.5 stops to better enable working in low-light conditions and with slower shutter speeds. Also, when working with select cameras, up to 6 stops of stabilization may be available with the Coordinated Optical Image Stabilizer and In-Body Image Stabilizer.
  • Nano USM system utilizes both a ring type USM and an STM mechanism to realize quick and accurate focusing that is also smooth and near silent to suit both photography and video applications. This focusing system also affords full-time manual focus control when working in the one-shot AF mode.
  • Close focusing capabilities are available throughout the zoom range, with a maximum magnification of 0.41x available at the 400mm position and a minimum focusing distance of 2.9′ possible at the 200mm position.
  • Rounded 9-blade diaphragm contributes to a pleasing bokeh quality.
  • Configurable Control Ring can be used to adjust a variety of exposure settings, including aperture, ISO, and exposure compensation.
  • Compatible with optional Extender RF 1.4x and Extender RF 2x teleconverters to further increase the effective focal length.
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