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Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Review (good sharpness, nice bokeh & pleasing rendering)

RF 800mm F/11 IS STM Review
The Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM

Here is a fresh Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM review.

At a glance:

  • RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Fixed f/11 Aperture
  • Retractable, Locking Lens Barrel
  • Gapless Dual-Layer Diffractive Optics
  • STM Stepping AF Motor
  • Optical Image Stabilizer
  • Customizable Control Ring
  • Compatible with RF Extenders

The Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Review comes from Admiring Light. The review is rather positive, comes with sample pictures. From their conclusion:

The Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM continues the trend of unique and relatively high quality consumer-grade lenses from Canon. […] When the lens was first announced, like many I dismissed it immediately as too slow and limited. If you are in that camp, and you want a lightweight and compact lens with a lot of reach, I would strongly recommend trying out this lens.

I was quite pleased to see that image quality is very good for such an optic. While not reaching the lofty heights of Canon’s big white supertelephotos, the RF 800mm f/11 produces images with good sharpness, nice bokeh and an overall pleasing rendering that punches above its price point and weight. The biggest compromise for that size, cost and reach is the fixed f/11 aperture, which means that this lens is going to require higher ISOs for fast shutter speeds, especially in lower light situations. The slow aperture also limits the autofocus area, which can make it a little more difficult to track subjects.

Read the review at Admiring Light…

Also interesting: an interview with the engineers who developed the lens. Also, Canon already said there will be more such lenses. For more Canon RF 800mm f/11 review stuff have a look here.

Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM

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

Super long reach, super compact design, the Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM is a unique telephoto prime featuring a distinct mixture of focal length and form factor. Characterized by its retractable design and a fixed f/11 aperture, this lens’s sleek profile makes handheld super-tele shooting a very real possibility, and four stop-effective optical image stabilization further helps to achieve sharp imagery when working in difficult lighting conditions. Also contributing to the reduced size is a distinct optical layout, which uses gapless dual-layer diffractive optics instead of multiple heavier individual elements, which also effectively controls color fringing and chromatic aberrations for high clarity. Complementing this design is an STM stepping motor that delivers quick and quiet autofocus performance that is suitable for both stills and video needs. Additionally, a Control Ring is also integrated into the lens design for intuitive control over exposure settings from the lens itself. If you decide you need more than 800mm, this lens is compatible with the 1.4x and 2x RF Extenders for an equivalent focal length of 1120mm or 1600mm, respectively.

  • 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.
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