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An excellent lens for the price!

Started Aug 19, 2020 | User reviews
Nikon33
Nikon33 Senior Member • Posts: 2,539
An excellent lens for the price!
12

For some background, I currently own the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III lens, and have owned the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, so I am no stranger to long lenses.

I will admit that I purchased this lens just for the novelty of trying it out, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. I took it to the lake on the new R5 to take pictures of birds. To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. Eye-af indeed does work. I was even able to track flying barn swallows and kingfishers with this lens! I will dock the 1/2 star for the fact that autofocus is not covered across the whole range. 95% of the time I lost focus was because the eye/face of the bird fell outside my frame, and the camera decided to focus on the breast of the bird or a wing instead, leading to those slightly out of focus pictures I hate so much. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

 Nikon33's gear list:Nikon33's gear list
Nikon Z9 Nikon Z 100-400mm Nikkor Z 600mm F4 TC VR S
Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM
Telephoto prime lens • Canon RF
Announced: Jul 9, 2020
Nikon33's score
4.5
Average community score
4.0
Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM
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Wildlife Guy
Wildlife Guy Senior Member • Posts: 1,956
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

For some background, I currently own the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III lens, and have owned the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, so I am no stranger to long lenses.

I will admit that I purchased this lens just for the novelty of trying it out, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. I took it to the lake on the new R5 to take pictures of birds. To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. Eye-af indeed does work. I was even able to track flying barn swallows and kingfishers with this lens! I will dock the 1/2 star for the fact that autofocus is not covered across the whole range. 95% of the time I lost focus was because the eye/face of the bird fell outside my frame, and the camera decided to focus on the breast of the bird or a wing instead, leading to those slightly out of focus pictures I hate so much. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

I bought the lens and agree with you on most points. The lens is a lot of fun to shoot and provides great price, handling, weight, IS, and IQ. I was shooting on my R5 and had absolutely no issues with the operation/performance of this  of the lens. As long as you recognize the 1 downside (f11) of this lens, it is a very good lens option that will open up a new shooting experience for a lot of photographers. I do have the following observations:

  • People will not like the results if they use the full auto function of the camera with this liens.  Auto will push the shutter speed to low / ISO too high producing images with motion blur or high noise.
  • This lens will be most effective for someone who understands the two variables they can control to maximize performance - shutter speed and ISO.
  • I believe the lens will be challenged by early dawn / late dusk lighting conditions.
  • Strong backlight, sidelight or busy backgrounds can create some strange bokeh (think fence in the background).  I think this may be a carryover of DO optics.  

I took the lens to the Atlanta Zoo on a sunny day 9am-noon. The zoo has a mix of open/heavily shaded areas (primate area is heavily shaded). I decided that I would keep shutter speed to a range of 320-640 w/Auto ISO (set to -1). I took 302 shots and 70% were captured at ISO 6400-12800. I could probably have pushed this down to 40-50% by being more exact with shutter speed, but I have been burned with animal movement in the past. While the R5 has great High ISO performance and most shots were still usable, that is starting to push the bounds when you consider it was in strong daylight w/shaded conditions.

I am going to take another trip to the Zoo next week for more tests. I already have the RF 1.4x TC and should receive the 100-500 by the end of August. Even though the 100-500 + 1.4x pushes 700mm, I may keep the 800mm and use when conditions are appropriate.

I definitely agree this lens can deliver for a great price, but it will take a bit of skill - which you obviously possess.

David

 Wildlife Guy's gear list:Wildlife Guy's gear list
Canon EOS R6 Mark II Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 24-105mm F4.0-7.1 IS STM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM Canon RF 85mm F2 Macro IS STM +4 more
Nikon33
OP Nikon33 Senior Member • Posts: 2,539
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

David M. Anglin wrote:

Nikon33 wrote:

For some background, I currently own the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III lens, and have owned the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, so I am no stranger to long lenses.

I will admit that I purchased this lens just for the novelty of trying it out, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. I took it to the lake on the new R5 to take pictures of birds. To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. Eye-af indeed does work. I was even able to track flying barn swallows and kingfishers with this lens! I will dock the 1/2 star for the fact that autofocus is not covered across the whole range. 95% of the time I lost focus was because the eye/face of the bird fell outside my frame, and the camera decided to focus on the breast of the bird or a wing instead, leading to those slightly out of focus pictures I hate so much. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

I bought the lens and agree with you on most points. The lens is a lot of fun to shoot and provides great price, handling, weight, IS, and IQ. I was shooting on my R5 and had absolutely no issues with the operation/performance of this of the lens. As long as you recognize the 1 downside (f11) of this lens, it is a very good lens option that will open up a new shooting experience for a lot of photographers. I do have the following observations:

  • People will not like the results if they use the full auto function of the camera with this liens. Auto will push the shutter speed to low / ISO too high producing images with motion blur or high noise.
  • This lens will be most effective for someone who understands the two variables they can control to maximize performance - shutter speed and ISO.
  • I believe the lens will be challenged by early dawn / late dusk lighting conditions.
  • Strong backlight, sidelight or busy backgrounds can create some strange bokeh (think fence in the background). I think this may be a carryover of DO optics.

I took the lens to the Atlanta Zoo on a sunny day 9am-noon. The zoo has a mix of open/heavily shaded areas (primate area is heavily shaded). I decided that I would keep shutter speed to a range of 320-640 w/Auto ISO (set to -1). I took 302 shots and 70% were captured at ISO 6400-12800. I could probably have pushed this down to 40-50% by being more exact with shutter speed, but I have been burned with animal movement in the past. While the R5 has great High ISO performance and most shots were still usable, that is starting to push the bounds when you consider it was in strong daylight w/shaded conditions.

I am going to take another trip to the Zoo next week for more tests. I already have the RF 1.4x TC and should receive the 100-500 by the end of August. Even though the 100-500 + 1.4x pushes 700mm, I may keep the 800mm and use when conditions are appropriate.

I definitely agree this lens can deliver for a great price, but it will take a bit of skill - which you obviously possess.

David

Agreed, full auto mode would be a disaster. I shoot completely manually, with the exception of autofocus, so I have control over things.

 Nikon33's gear list:Nikon33's gear list
Nikon Z9 Nikon Z 100-400mm Nikkor Z 600mm F4 TC VR S
BlueRay2 Forum Pro • Posts: 14,816
Re: An excellent lens for the price!
1

would have been nice and helpful if you posted a sample photo. we are just taking your word, as it is!

-- hide signature --

We are ephemeral dreamers, like surfers on evanescent waves!!!

Nikon33
OP Nikon33 Senior Member • Posts: 2,539
Re: An excellent lens for the price!
13

1Dx4me wrote:

would have been nice and helpful if you posted a sample photo. we are just taking your word, as it is!

Sure thing!

(Heavily cropped)

 Nikon33's gear list:Nikon33's gear list
Nikon Z9 Nikon Z 100-400mm Nikkor Z 600mm F4 TC VR S
Wildlife Guy
Wildlife Guy Senior Member • Posts: 1,956
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

1Dx4me wrote:

would have been nice and helpful if you posted a sample photo. we are just taking your word, as it is!

Sure thing!

(Heavily cropped)

Very nice!  Good light.

 Wildlife Guy's gear list:Wildlife Guy's gear list
Canon EOS R6 Mark II Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 24-105mm F4.0-7.1 IS STM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM Canon RF 85mm F2 Macro IS STM +4 more
MannyV
MannyV Senior Member • Posts: 1,055
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

Thanks for posting this review. My thoughts are the same as yours. It is sharp lens. I use it with RP. The AF is quick, and accurate. Tracking feature works well. I find the zone AF nails it 80 to 90% of the time. My best practice these days is - shoot in zone AF when I am capturing BIF. And I change it to single point AF when capturing perched birds. RP does not offer the eye AF (or I still haven't figured it out yet).

My initial concerns were on the MFD. Now having used the lens for a few weeks, MFD is not an issue. And I know I may regret it on that rare occasion where a human friendly bird may come closer than 6m.

Bottomline: I am happy with my lens. I still get goosebumps thinking of me slinging a 800mm prime lens while bicycling for a couple of hours. It has definitely opened up new opportunities. I enjoy this lens a lot.

-- hide signature --

Manny
Still draft and working towards it - https://www.digitalphoto.work

Nikon33
OP Nikon33 Senior Member • Posts: 2,539
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

MannyV wrote:

Nikon33 wrote:

To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

Thanks for posting this review. My thoughts are the same as yours. It is sharp lens. I use it with RP. The AF is quick, and accurate. Tracking feature works well. I find the zone AF nails it 80 to 90% of the time. My best practice these days is - shoot in zone AF when I am capturing BIF. And I change it to single point AF when capturing perched birds. RP does not offer the eye AF (or I still haven't figured it out yet).

My initial concerns were on the MFD. Now having used the lens for a few weeks, MFD is not an issue. And I know I may regret it on that rare occasion where a human friendly bird may come closer than 6m.

Bottomline: I am happy with my lens. I still get goosebumps thinking of me slinging a 800mm prime lens while bicycling for a couple of hours. It has definitely opened up new opportunities. I enjoy this lens a lot.

Believe it or not, that ended up happening to me when I was out shooting with the 800mm. A black crowned night heron ended up just about 8 feet away from me... Thankfully I had my EOS RP on me with the 600mm f/4L IS III adapted just in case!

 Nikon33's gear list:Nikon33's gear list
Nikon Z9 Nikon Z 100-400mm Nikkor Z 600mm F4 TC VR S
MannyV
MannyV Senior Member • Posts: 1,055
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

MannyV wrote:

Nikon33 wrote:

To my surprise, the 800mm f/11 is extremely sharp, and f/11 is not so big of an issue. However, at $899, this lens is a very good bargain, and I will deal with that one shortcoming happily!

Thanks for posting this review. My thoughts are the same as yours. It is sharp lens. I use it with RP. The AF is quick, and accurate. Tracking feature works well. I find the zone AF nails it 80 to 90% of the time. My best practice these days is - shoot in zone AF when I am capturing BIF. And I change it to single point AF when capturing perched birds. RP does not offer the eye AF (or I still haven't figured it out yet).

My initial concerns were on the MFD. Now having used the lens for a few weeks, MFD is not an issue. And I know I may regret it on that rare occasion where a human friendly bird may come closer than 6m.

Bottomline: I am happy with my lens. I still get goosebumps thinking of me slinging a 800mm prime lens while bicycling for a couple of hours. It has definitely opened up new opportunities. I enjoy this lens a lot.

Believe it or not, that ended up happening to me when I was out shooting with the 800mm. A black crowned night heron ended up just about 8 feet away from me... Thankfully I had my EOS RP on me with the 600mm f/4L IS III adapted just in case!

Nice capture.

-- hide signature --

Manny
Still draft and working towards it - https://www.digitalphoto.work

BlueRay2 Forum Pro • Posts: 14,816
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

1Dx4me wrote:

would have been nice and helpful if you posted a sample photo. we are just taking your word, as it is!

Sure thing!

thanks, Nikon33--nice shots, BTW.

(Heavily cropped)

-- hide signature --

We are ephemeral dreamers, like surfers on evanescent waves!!!

istimor
istimor New Member • Posts: 2
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

This is great!..

 istimor's gear list:istimor's gear list
Fujifilm X-T2 Canon EOS R5 Fujifilm XF 35mm F1.4 R Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS Fujifilm XF 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS +5 more
pkoenig2001 Contributing Member • Posts: 827
Re: An excellent lens for the price!

Nikon33 wrote:

1Dx4me wrote:

would have been nice and helpful if you posted a sample photo. we are just taking your word, as it is!

Sure thing!

(Heavily cropped)

Wow- beautiful!

-- hide signature --
 pkoenig2001's gear list:pkoenig2001's gear list
Canon EOS 40D Canon EOS R6 Canon EOS R7 Canon EOS R10 Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM +13 more
Frodro100
Frodro100 Regular Member • Posts: 386
Re: An excellent lens for the price!
3

Bottom line seems to be that the 800mm f/11 prime, and probably the same story for the 600/11, can do 80% of the things that bird/wildlife photography demands, and do the tasks reasonably well, and that's 80 more percent than the 0% of not having such a lens on hand. Seeing photos like the ones posted in this thread that look so good is very good to hear and makes me excited about future lens releases for the RF mount.

tdbmd Senior Member • Posts: 1,546
Re: An excellent lens for the price!
1

This lens is capable of great images and being able to play with 800mm of reach for the price is really fun.

 tdbmd's gear list:tdbmd's gear list
Canon EOS 7D Mark II Canon EOS Rebel T8i (EOS 850D) Canon EOS R6 Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM +11 more
EOSSpeedLite Contributing Member • Posts: 640
RF 800mm f11 Great for...gasp...Portraits!
1

Yes, it's true...the RF 800mm f11 makes a great portrait lens!!

And of course birds too...

-- hide signature --

The best photographers talk about pictures & techniques. Posers & Fanboys talk about brands.

 EOSSpeedLite's gear list:EOSSpeedLite's gear list
Canon EOS R5 Canon EF 135mm F2L USM Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Canon Extender EF 2x III Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II +12 more
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