A very mixed experience with the RF 70-200 f2.8

BobNL wrote:

Hi everybody,

I'm a dancesport (and event and concert) photographer based in Germany. Since November last year, most of my work has been done with the EOS R. About 90% of the time I use the 70-200 2.8 is used for dancesport. So I was pretty excited when Canon announced the 70-200 RF. But it was a long wait and expensive! Because of the high price I thought I'd better try it out first on a real-life situation so I rented it for a weekend to shoot the Goldstadtpokal in Germany.

In the 2 days before I tried the lens out around the house and was very impressed with the optical quality and the image stabilization. It is actually phenomenal in that regard. I also liked the size very much and already saw myself going out and about with a considerably smaller bag for my kit.

Unfortunately, under stress, the lens turned out not to be what I hoped for. The first big problem is the throw of the zoom ring. It's too long and stiff. With my EF version, I use my thumb to quickly go from 70 to 200 and back. This is not possible with RF, it slowed me down a lot. Causing me to miss moments and cutting off limbs way too often. I needed at least two throws and the stiffness didn't make it a pleasant experience.

Secondly, the lens was slow to operate. Switching from one couple to another was taking up so much time. It took way too long until it focused on the next subject. As if it made a very smooth focus pull for video. And that is IF it immediately focused on the new subject. I often had to actuate the AF 2 of 3 times for it to properly focus. Causing me to miss unfortunately a lot of moments. I didn't have this problem with the EF version on the R.

So will I buy the RF 70-200? No probably not. But maybe it was some user error, some set-up mistake. Was maybe this single lens not good? Anyone here with different experiences?

And as the last (personal) note; as good as the lens is technically, it is very neutral and therefore lacks some character. The files felt a bit emotionless.

The throw is what it is.  I can see some sports pros not liking it; I think most people will gladly take it as trade off for the smaller/lighter package.

As far as AF.  What are you comparing it to?  Granted I only had the lens for a two day rental when I played with it, but it was noticeably faster than the EF III with adapter I regularly use.  If you’re experiencing it bring slower than an EF on an R body I’d think something was very wrong.