Canon has officially announced the first professional super-telephoto lenses with the RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 600mm f/4L IS USM. Both of these lenses are pretty much identical to to their EF mount brothers.
Press Release:
The Canon RF400mm F2.8L IS USM and Canon RF600mm F4L IS USM are both designed to be optically identical to their EF counterparts. The RF400mm and RF600mm weigh in at 6.37 and 6.81 pounds with a minimum focusing distance of 8.2 and 13.8 feet, respectively. Both lenses share many of the same critical features that help professional high-end super-telephoto lenses stand out from the crowd. Those features include:
- Ideal for a wide variety of shooting situations, including sports, aviation, trains, automotive, and wildlife, such as birding.
- Optical Image Stabilization with up to 5.5 stops6 of shake correction. Including three IS Operation Modes — still subjects, panning, and irregular movement.
- Proprietary Canon lens coatings, Super Spectra Coating (SSC), and Air Sphere Coating (ASC) help minimize ghosting and flaring. Lens placement and coatings are optimized to provide users with clear, high-contrast images even when there is a bright light source.
- Lenses include fluorite and super UD lens elements arranged in such a way to help correct chromatic aberration and make the models more compact. Like the latest Canon EF400mm f/2.8L IS III USM and EF600mm f/4L IS III USM lenses, released in the fall of 2018, weight on these RF-series super-telephotos has been significantly reduced vs. previous-generation Canon super tele designs.
- Compatible with Canon RF 1.4x and 2x extenders, and feature a customizable electronic focus ring, with manual focus capability during SERVO AF.
- A nine-blade circular aperture provides users beautiful bokeh and ideally blurred backgrounds when the aperture is stopped down.
- For added convenience when on a shoot, two focus presets are available. Users can instantly return to one of two memorized focus distances.
- Rugged Canon L-series dust and water-resistant design with vibration and shock resistance. The front element has been dressed with a fluorine coating for easy cleaning.
- Infrared reflective pigments with high reflectance and titanium oxide lens barrel coating with silica provide excellent UV weather resistance and heat reduction.
Canon RF Lenses Pricing and Availability
The Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon RF 600mm f/4L IS USM are scheduled to be available in July 2021 for an estimated retail price of $11,999.00 and $12,999.00, respectively.
It would have had more sense to develop a much needed updated version of the 500 f/4, IMHO.
I will wait to see, for the time being I'll keep my 300 II.
but yeah... same price is "ok" :D...I was thinking about 15k for complete NEW lenses o_O - but they aren't new at all.
Internally they might differ, of course...
Canon RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM
163 x 367 mm
2.890 g
MFD 2,5 m
EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM
163 x 343 mm
2840 g
MFD 2,5 m
Canon RF 600mm F4L IS USM
168 x 472 mm
3.090 g
MFD 4,2 m
EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM
Ca. 168 x 448
3.050 g
MFD 4,2 m
Finally, there are always new buyers of a lens, who will want it with the new frame.
It is clear that it was Sony who promoted the change in technology