Day at the zoo. R5 with 600 F/11 lens.

Here are my first shots with the Canon R5 and Canon RF 600 F/11 lens.

PLEASE READ THE NOTES before commenting.

Notes:

1. I’m not paid by Canon, nor am I a Canon Ambassador. (I wish!).
2. I bought my gear from Kenmore Camera near Seattle WA and picked it up yesterday.
3. All shots were taken at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle.
4. I am NOT a wildlife photographer, which should be obvious from the photos.
5. ALL shots are with the R5 and the RF 600/11 lens.
6. Yes, even the ones with bokeh.
7. All shots are JPG, straight from the camera with NO adjustments other than some crops to show detail. They were shot on M resolution, as I knew posting them online would crush any high MP detail anyway.
8. Some shots are shown here just to show resolution or bokeh capable with the lens.
9. This post is really just about that lens, as I will need much more time with the camera to do a proper review of that.
10. Both camera and lens worked flawlessly. Of course I had shots that were operator error, but that’s my bad.
11. No, the camera did not overheat. Crazy to think it would when shooting photos.
12. Don’t ask me to go shoot 8K at ISO 25,000 while standing on my head for an hour. I’m a photographer and couldn’t care less about video.
13. If you want to do further testing, go buy or rent one yourself.
14. I know these aren’t great photos. If you want to flame away, go for it. I won’t listen anyway.
15. I’m happy to answer any questions about the lens.

Using the F/11 lens was interesting. When you connect it, you get a large square in the center of the viewfinder maybe covering 2/3rds center of the frame. As long as you keep the subject in that square, AF is fast and reliable. Outside it, forget it. Wasn’t designed to work outside the box.

The camera handled Animal AF really well. It did great with bird and cat species, absolutely nailing it. For other types of animals, it always seemed to figure out where the face was, but eye AF didn’t kick in as often. Of course Canon never said it was warthog AF

When you first pick up the lens, your first reaction is “Whoa, this is light!”. And for a 600mm lens, it truly is revolutionary. I applaud Canon for trying new things in their mirrorless lens line, unlike other manufacturers. Whether they’re for you or not is another story, but it’s great to see Canon innovating.

The bottom line you’ve been waiting for: Is it sharp? In my opinion, it’s impressively sharp for what it is. Seriously. Is it L glass sharp? No, but not far off. I wouldn’t expect it to be at this price.

So that’s it. Enjoy!

Looks great!

Oh, and all were handheld

Yes, if I was shooting for real instead of testing the lens, I would have used a polarizer  I purposely didn’t use one because I didn’t want it to influence the testing

Thank you! These are very informative.

Thnx so much!

Question:  were any of these shot through glass barriers and if so, please, which ones?

kopper

kopper wrote:

Thnx so much!

Question: were any of these shot through glass barriers and if so, please, which ones?

kopper

None of these posted are through glass or wire fence

I did try that, and it worked fine, but for this post I didn’t want anything between me and the subject

Nice shots

Lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Kwick1 wrote:

Here are my first shots with the Canon R5 and Canon RF 600 F/11 lens.

PLEASE READ THE NOTES before commenting.

Notes:

1. I’m not paid by Canon, nor am I a Canon Ambassador. (I wish!).
2. I bought my gear from Kenmore Camera near Seattle WA and picked it up yesterday.
3. All shots were taken at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle.
4. I am NOT a wildlife photographer, which should be obvious from the photos.
5. ALL shots are with the R5 and the RF 600/11 lens.
6. Yes, even the ones with bokeh.
7. All shots are JPG, straight from the camera with NO adjustments other than some crops to show detail. They were shot on M resolution, as I knew posting them online would crush any high MP detail anyway.
8. Some shots are shown here just to show resolution or bokeh capable with the lens.
9. This post is really just about that lens, as I will need much more time with the camera to do a proper review of that.
10. Both camera and lens worked flawlessly. Of course I had shots that were operator error, but that’s my bad.
11. No, the camera did not overheat. Crazy to think it would when shooting photos.
12. Don’t ask me to go shoot 8K at ISO 25,000 while standing on my head for an hour. I’m a photographer and couldn’t care less about video.
13. If you want to do further testing, go buy or rent one yourself.
14. I know these aren’t great photos. If you want to flame away, go for it. I won’t listen anyway.
15. I’m happy to answer any questions about the lens.

Using the F/11 lens was interesting. When you connect it, you get a large square in the center of the viewfinder maybe covering 2/3rds center of the frame. As long as you keep the subject in that square, AF is fast and reliable. Outside it, forget it. Wasn’t designed to work outside the box.

The camera handled Animal AF really well. It did great with bird and cat species, absolutely nailing it. For other types of animals, it always seemed to figure out where the face was, but eye AF didn’t kick in as often. Of course Canon never said it was warthog AF

When you first pick up the lens, your first reaction is “Whoa, this is light!”. And for a 600mm lens, it truly is revolutionary. I applaud Canon for trying new things in their mirrorless lens line, unlike other manufacturers. Whether they’re for you or not is another story, but it’s great to see Canon innovating.

The bottom line you’ve been waiting for: Is it sharp? In my opinion, it’s impressively sharp for what it is. Seriously. Is it L glass sharp? No, but not far off. I wouldn’t expect it to be at this price.

So that’s it. Enjoy!

Hi Kwick..

I am sorry, i am not agree with your notes number 14.
These are a beautiful photos and really make me wish to have this lens..

Thank you for sharing.

I thought you could post any file size here, even full res 🤨

Is Canon DLO used?
I guess that should be on Default?

Nigge wrote:

Is Canon DLO used?
I guess that should be on Default?

Whatever the default was, that’s what it was  I didn’t change it

You took some really nice images. I think your examples show that many times you have to use high ISO (if not using a tripod) which means you lose a lot of fine detail (though shooting RAW may help some). However, I was surprised at how much detail there was in your first flamingo image since it was shot at ISO12800.

Curious if you wish you had something like the Sigma 150-600mm over this after you shot with it? Since they are in similar price brackets I think that's going to be the question. Whereas this lens is light and portable, the f11 fixed aperture will be a determent to some.

HaroldC3 wrote:

You took some really nice images. I think your examples show that many times you have to use high ISO (if not using a tripod) which means you lose a lot of fine detail (though shooting RAW may help some). However, I was surprised at how much detail there was in your first flamingo image since it was shot at ISO12800.

Curious if you wish you had something like the Sigma 150-600mm over this after you shot with it? Since they are in similar price brackets I think that's going to be the question. Whereas this lens is light and portable, the f11 fixed aperture will be a determent to some.

Just jumping in here. I don't know the OP's thinking but I have an RF 800mm due any day. I was thinking about a Tamron 150-600 G2, I have an Original R and wanted every advantage I could get. I wanted the best image I could get with a very long reach at a great price. The 800 is 200mm monger and right now it's $500 less expensive. I have also seen pics of the Canon lens mounted on an R camera and the photos looked impressive. I also know that it will focus fast and accurately and that the camera will fully support the Canon lens whereas you're hoping the 3rd party guys get it right. And they do for the most part. I realize I'm giving up the zoom and a little speed but a Prime will have less distortion and Chromatic aberrations and canon post processing software will at least support the lens. This is important because I'm noticing the DXO and Lightroom and getting pretty non-responsive on 3rd party lens support for the R series. I trust Canon to give me a Solid user experience even if there's less bells and Whistles. Also, the lightness and compact size seem like a great feature to me as well.

During Covid, there's not a lot in my area to photograph except for small wildlife and birds, but the 800 will certainly help me to do that.

I debated about the 800 vs 600 too.  In the end, I decided on the 600 due to the lower weight and smaller size.  If I need extra reach, I can use a teleconverter.  Still lighter.