This week I have been shooting primarily with the Canon RF 800mm f/11. This compact (for an 800mm) form prime lens comes with 4 stops of image stabilisation (in conjunction with the Canon EOS R5 or R6) and a constant aperture of f/11.
1/640 at iso 20000
Having been loaned the RF 800mm f11 for a week by Canon UK, my main goal was to test it out under the grey skies of Manchester during winter….I have no real interest in purchasing a lens which can only really be used for a limited number of days each year. So with that light limiting aperture of f/11, seeing the results from typical Manchester conditions was a must.
Using the RF 800 in conjunction with the Canon EOS R6 the lens performs admirably. Even though I was having to ramp up the iso to what would have been unthinkable levels five years ago, I was still getting usable images (some of which you can see on this post). And that is all part of the deal here. Canon have been able to develop and put out this RF mount 800mm lens at a light limiting fixed aperture of f/11 due to the ability of their mirrorless technology and the performance of their R series full frame sensors at high iso.
That being said though, increasing the iso will never be a replacement for getting more light into your camera. Capturing birds in flight means shutter speeds of 1250th - 2000th of a second. And at 11 stops, light is considerably limited. At this price point though, it is the only option and is workable…..the next step up is the Canon 800mm f/5.6 which runs at an eye watering cost of £13,000!!
So f/11 at £900 it is then!
(You can find the latest price for the Canon Rf 800mm f/11 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3W4nTKi)
During the course of the day I found that the camera iso was quite often up at 25,600 and even hit 51,200 for a couple of shots. These types of grey sky, dim light shooting conditions will never produce perfect photography (you can't beat the physics) and the shots at the 51,200 iso range are lacking in detail. But showing those images through on my You Tube channel, at 4k, the reception to them was nevertheless pretty good.....the compressions helping to make up for any loss of detail, horses for courses then.
Would these shots hold up as prints? Well, I wouldn’t print these type of shots, purposely taken on a grey overcast day, but as a test, I printed the Robin at iso 20,000 shown further up the page at A4 and it was more than acceptable. Better shots will come with better light, and it would be those types of photograph that I would print.
The Canon RF 800mm f11 starts out small and compact for stowing away but extends into this position for shooting.
The other downside the constant aperture of f/11 on the Canon RF 800mm presents is in its auto focus. The Canon R5 and R6 have splendid auto focus and the R6 did a great job throughout. However, due to the aperture, auto focus is limited to the centre area only. This is due to the physics of the lens. The camera can’t focus on areas it can’t directly see.
So in conclusion did the Canon RF 800mm f11 pass the test? Well yes and no. It is certainly usable and whilst f/11 is restrictive, for the price point, it is worth it.
However, I found that the focal range was, at times, a bit too much for this use. Bird photography is definitely not much more than an enjoyable past-time for me. My usage would likely be a quick trip to my local bird sanctuary, rather than anything any more exotic. And so getting fairly close to the wildlife is not too much of a problem.
1/250th at iso 8000
Maybe a focal length of 600mm, of which there is also a fixed f/11 Canon RF lens, may prove to be a better option for me. Thankfully I have that on the way to try out in the next few weeks, which will give me ample time to test out that theory.
One things for certain, I'm no longer too worried about the f/11 aspect of these RF lenses.
You can see the lens in action for yourselves here: Canon's 800mm BEAST | shooting f11 on the Canon R6 - YouTube
Dave
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