The Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM has been a terrific selling lens for Canon. We’re big fans of its performance and price performance. It has allowed so many photographers get reach without selling their car or a kidney.
Unfortunately, we have now seen multiple reports of a possible weak point in the construction of the lens, and it may not be an ideal lens in challenging environments.
What Happened?
Joshua Holko, who some of you may know or remember a few articles he has written for the site. He is currently in Svalbard, which is a challenging environment, and his RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM split in half while in a backpack.
The Canon 200-800 is a very sharp lens. It does offer amazing bang for buck performance for those who need reach on a budget. However it is NOT an L series and not built to withstand the same punishment. This lens (not mine) was not dropped, it was in the camera bag on the back of the snow mobile safely secured. Plastic internal construction instead of magnesium makes all the difference…
Joshua Holko – Wild Nature Photo Travel
Not an Isolated Incident
We have also seen two others that have been split in half. One of the lenses was hit off the side of a safari vehicle in Zambia and the front half fell out of the vehicle. Smacking a lens off things in safari vehicles isn’t unusual. Sometimes one has to move quickly, or space is tight.
My gear has a lot of scars from African fun times.
The third report involved the lens also breaking in half, but the shooter has no idea what happened. He was out shooting birds in some wetlands of Florida. He thinks it’s possible the lens was banging off something in his bag. He wasn’t using it at the time and discovered it when he opened his bag.
Canon did fix his lens under warranty.
What’s the problem?
It looks like the lens halves are mounted using a standard sort of plastic. This isn’t an unusual material choice in non-L lenses.
Is this a design flaw or do we have to realize the 200-800 isn’t built to the same standard as a lens such as the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7L IS USM? You are paying for how L lenses are put together and the materials used inside the lens along with the optical elements.
We aren’t slamming the RF 200-800, we just wanted to let you know what we have seen over the last few months. It’s a great lens, but getting this sort of information out there is a good idea for everyone. Know what you’re shooting with!
Summary
If you’ve had a similar issue with the lens, we’d love to hear from you. We we want to stress that we’re not trying to cause a ruckus, we just think it’s important to let people know when we find something that could ruin one’s day out shooting.
|
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works. |
The lens broke in the same place. I'll let you imagine how the Canon salesman looked, especially as there were a lot of people there to test the lens...
Thank you for that input. I'm waiting to hear back from some rental houses to see if they have experienced this.
I think this is worth knowing about.
And he said it was a pre-production lens :D wasn't a video about this too or did I read about it somewhere?!
But, this is an optically very good consumer level lens.
Their first 70-200 f/2,8 had a very weak aluminium flange used to assemble the 2 lens\' halves.
Guess what could (and did) happen.
But honestly, not being an L lens shouldn\'t be an excuse. This is what in French is known as \"faire des economies de bouts de chandelles\".
Approximate translation: Making candle end-bit savings.
* Lens Teardown of the Complicated Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS: Part I
* Completing the Teardown of the Sony FE 70-200 f/2.8 GM OSS: Part II
* The Secret of the Broken Element: A Canon RF 100-500mm f4.7-7.1 Teardown
Ideally, I'd want what Sony did with the 200-600. Or even the Sigma DG DN version if Canon would license it. Not holding my breath for that anymore. Maybe it's time to get a Sony body for wildlife and just grab the 200-600.
And of course, my 500mm with the 1.4 X is sharper too. But that thing is a beast to carry.
I guess I'm just spoiled by the L glass.