Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Review & Comparison With Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3

Canon released two unique lenses with the Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM and RF 600mm f/11 IS STM. Here is a review for the former.

Brent Hall reviews the Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM and compares it with the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Which one is the best budget wildlife lens?

At a glance:

• Super-telephoto prime is designed for use with full-frame Canon RF-mount mirrorless digital cameras
• Fixed f/11 aperture contributes to the sleek and portable form factor as well as a balanced mixture of depth of field and sharpness
• Gapless dual-layer diffractive optics contribute to a marked reduction in chromatic and spherical aberrations as well as benefit the design of a relatively compact and lightweight lens
• Retractable/extendable design, with a locking lens barrel, offers an impressively compact form factor considering the super-telephoto design
• An Optical Image Stabilizer helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake by up to four stops to better enable working in low-light conditions and with slower shutter speeds
• STM stepping motor offers fast, quiet, smooth, and accurate autofocus performance that is ideal for video recording as well as still shooting
• 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.

Also interesting: an interview with the engineers who made these unique lenses.

Canon RF 600mm f/11

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, 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 800mm f/11

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, 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

From Canon’s press release:

Canon RF600mm and 800mm F11 IS STM
The Canon RF600mm and RF800mm F11 IS STM lenses are the first fixed focal length super-telephoto RF lenses and are incredibly compact and lightweight. The portability of the new lenses is made even greater due to the ability for the lens barrel to retract and lock in place when the lenses are stowed away and not in use. Diffractive Optics technology helps to reduce the necessary number of lenses and greatly diminish the cost of the lenses, making them affordable for a broader group of photographers. Additional features of the Canon RF600mm and RF800mm F11 IS STM lenses include:

• Lightweight – the RF600mm weighs approximately 2.05lb and the RF800mm weighs approximately 2.78lb, respectively
• Compact size, RF600mm measures approximately 7.85inch and RF800mm with measures approximately 11.09inch when retracted, respectively
• Fixed f/11 aperture
• Optical image stabilization of five stops* for the RF600mm and four stops* for the RF800mm of Shake Correction
• Lead screw-type STM enables smooth auto focusing for still-image and video shooting
• Customizable control ring that allows photographers to adjust exposure compensation, shutter speed, aperture or ISO
• 12-pin Communication System
• Compatible with the new 1.4x and 2x RF lens extenders