RF 800mm F11 IS STM Lens - Super telephoto lens ideal for wildlife and travel

Having read mixed reviews about the Canon RF 800mm F11 I was a little reluctant to buy one but I need the extra reach so when Amazon dropped the price I took a punt. Well I'm glad I did. Image quality from the RF 800 is noticeably better than my Sigma 150-600 with 1.4x converter. AF is better too despite the slow F11 fixed aperture. On my Canon EOS R6, the AF is acceptably fast and accurate. Whilst the AF is not as fast as say a Canon EF100-400 or even the Sigma 150-600 without the converter, it is fast enough for me to use for motorsports and aviation. I suspect it might not be quite quick enough for wildlife photographers wanting to shoot birds in flight and other fast moving animals but for reasonably predictable things like cars and bikes racing around a track it seems to work fine. The photos attached were taken with this lens on my R6 with servo AF and vehicle tracking. Out of the camera the images lack a little contrast and need a little sharpness boost. I have sharpened them and applied auto-contrast as well as increasing the the saturation by 5% using XnConvert. That gives me the results I'm looking for. The big bonus with this lens is the weight...or lack of. It is incredibly light for a lens of this focal length which makes it easier and less tiring to hand hold and carry around for long periods. Coupled with the excellent image stabilisation it makes it a joy to use all day. One thing to note; if you want to use the Canon ET-101 lens hood (or JJC alternative) and a UV filter at the same time you need to use a UV filter with a VERY slim frame. The only one I've found that works is the Urth 95mm UV Lens Filter (Plus+) here: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088C3RFQT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1. Most other UV filters have frames that are too big for the hood to go over. The only thing I don't like about this lens is the tripod socket. It's small and badly positioned when the lens is fully extended in the shooting position. Also, the build quality feels a bit cheap and plastic compared to my other Canon / Sigma lenses but only time will tell if it stands up to heavy use. Apart from that I'm loving it! It's a cracking lens. P.S, on the EOS R6 with it's excellent low light performance, the fixed F11 aperture is a non-issue. Just use Auto ISO with either TV or M mode to keep your shutter speed up.

I have now used this RF 800 mm F11 lens on R camera quite a few times. I find it delivers sharp images in right conditions. For best sharpness in lower light tripod is recommended. Exposure times of 1/80s are ok with the very effective image stabiliser function. I have obtained nice images of moon (using tripod) and distant birds and animals. No issues with any optical aberrations. These are handled also by the in-camera processing, I understand. The lens has fixed aperture F11 and has no aperture blades. So the background blur is natural and smooth. F11 does require bright light conditions for shorter exposure times and for handheld images. The lens is is quite long, when operated (44 cm with a hood attached), but can be shortened for placing in rucksack. It is relatively lightweight. This is certainly a good value alternative to the heavy and costly wide aperture L-lenses.

Good buy

This is a brilliant lens you can see things close up far in the distance in crystal clear photos the quality is good it's very light for such a big lens the auto focus is very good on it it was very good value at a reduced price that I paid for it overall a great lens for buildings and birds and wildlife and people

If you understand it can only operate at f/11 and needs good light, then you won't be disappointed by the Canon 800mm f/11. It's not ideal for fast moving action. But for static shots, it's unparalled in its price range. It's also ridiculously light (though it lacks any weather sealing). If you want the Canon 'L' f/5.6 version, it costs >£19k.

Bought this lens for my new R5. The f11 does require an increase in iso in poor light conditions but even at high ISO’s the lens produces pin sharp images. Very very impressive. I hand held this lens in very poor light on a grey overcast drizzly day at 1/400 and every shot was sharp with no shake which is astonishing. It’s also very easy to carry compared to a traditional prime lens of 800mm. Overall I’m delighted and it’s great on the incredible R5.

It did not fit the camera and after nearly a week since it went back we are still waiting for the £1018 TO BE RETURNED TO OUR ACCOUNT this sort of thing is not very fair as we willingly paid straight away when we ordered When the Evri driver picked it up we got no receipt despite it being a valuable purchase

Has a restricted focus area due to focal length but I can only see me using it on bright sunny days. Value for money not sure but 800mm fixed at f11 comes without difficulty can’t see it out of the box except for bright Sunny days.