Canon will soon announce the RF 600mm f/4L IS USM, RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro

AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,355
22,529
Yes you'll be fine with the vaccine for custom purposes after the 1st of may :)
And yes I don't doubt that 400 f/4 gets you sharp shots on puffins, but maybe hardly on bigger wingspan birds. Anyway as the background (sky or sea) is far away, it won't make any improvement on the picture to make it at f/4 IMO.
See you on the cliffs somewhere :D
I know it's off topic, but I visited Iceland once, 9 years ago, and took a 7D + 100-400mm (original version) and got this shot of a Tern feeding its chick in Reykjavik. The zoom was necessary as I had to zoom out and got good depth of field. I'll bring the RF 100-500 if I visit again.

Tern_5375Crop_1.10x.jpg
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: 8 users
Upvote 0
Canon makes new models because people buy them. If you went from the 600mm IS L I or II to the 600mm IS L III then you should know why people would upgrade their EF version to the RF model. I got the 300mm IS L II for the minor upgrade it was - and never regretted it. Neither did I regret going from the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L I to II to the RF 70-200mm IS L.
The 300 II was lighter and worked a lot better with TC's, the mk II 70-200 was a lot better optically across the board, and worked amazingly well with the 1.4x TC, they weren't minor updates. Their is nothing the RF versions of the 400 and 600 will offer. They have already been made as light as currently possible in mk III updates, and will bring basically nothing new to the table in terms of IQ.

Zero need for these two lenses at this stage. If they were releasing the 300 and 500 simulataneously then it might make sense.
 
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
The 300 II was lighter and worked a lot better with TC's, the mk II 70-200 was a lot better optically across the board, and worked amazingly well with the 1.4x TC, they weren't minor updates. Their is nothing the RF versions of the 400 and 600 will offer. They have already been made as light as currently possible in mk III updates, and will bring basically nothing new to the table in terms of IQ.

Zero need for these two lenses at this stage. If they were releasing the 300 and 500 simulataneously then it might make sense.
The MkII 70-200 is a horrible portrait lens, way worse than the MkI or the non IS versions. Sharper for sure, but a comparatively horrible portrait lens.
 
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
Why please.
They traded sharpness, and the MII is undoubtedly sharper, for a weird out of focus roll off. Look at a lot of sports photos, particularly if they have busy backgrounds, and you can tell the difference.

This is an example of the MkII that you just don’t get with the MkI https://www.ephotozine.com/articles...ns-review-16101/images/canon70-200mmII304.jpg

I shoot people more than sports so I never ‘upgraded’, if I were primarily a sports shooter and especially if I ever used TC’s on it, I’d get the MkII or III.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

justaCanonuser

Grab your camera, go out and shoot!
Feb 12, 2014
1,035
931
Frankfurt, Germany
That's a lot of assumptions.
This is exactly what CR is about.

I should emphasize that I still use DSLRs and like to work with optical viewfinders, since I also shoot with vintage gear and want to keep my eye and imagination trained. Plus, when I go for birding/ wildlife, I like to have a viewfinder through which I can watch with a tele lens if there is something e.g. in a nest is going to happen, without draining batteries.

But, Canon, like Nikon, has already hesitated about a decade to give their ML camera products a full go, since they depend on long-term customers who grew up with SLRs. Now, it looks like they exactly do that with the R system. It reminds me of the 80s, when Canon decided to switch from the FD to the EF mount, not looking back anymore. With that radical decision they lost some old customers but gained a clean mount design. Nikon tried to keep their F mount compatible, which caused technical problems (which I know from own experience).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Mar 17, 2020
436
322
The 300 II was lighter and worked a lot better with TC's, the mk II 70-200 was a lot better optically across the board, and worked amazingly well with the 1.4x TC, they weren't minor updates. Their is nothing the RF versions of the 400 and 600 will offer. They have already been made as light as currently possible in mk III updates, and will bring basically nothing new to the table in terms of IQ.

Zero need for these two lenses at this stage. If they were releasing the 300 and 500 simulataneously then it might make sense.
I'm not buying any of the three lenses just announced as I want to start with the 300mm f/2.8 first. But they apparently make sense to build for Canon - otherwise Canon would not - regardless of how it fits our perspectives. And people will be buying them. I myself have low expectations to the pure optical improvements Canon can bring to the RF 300mm f/2.8 IS L. A little extra functionality and weight and I'm good.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Feb 22, 2019
64
101
The reported 1.4x magnification, which should be written 1.4:1, not 1:1.4 reproduction ratio would be interesting and useful. However, as a specialist field macro photographer for a long time this is not enough. It doesn't even give the frame filling power on FF that you get with a 1:1 lens on a crop body, an effective 1.6x magnification. This is not enough to fill the frame with an average sized fly, let alone a smaller insect or flower part. 2x magnification would be much more useful. It's always been a difficult task using the MP-E 65mm and a 1:1 macro lens like the 100mm L IS f2.8, because you have this abrupt jump from 1:1 to greater than, and a lot of subjects span this gap. Even if you use 2 bodies you have to keep switching from one to the other. So you have to use extension tubes or close-up lenses, because the 100mm L won't take a converter.
 
Upvote 0

Steve Balcombe

Too much gear
Aug 1, 2014
283
223
Not quite sure about that, the version III telephoto primes are less than 3 years old at this point, and they've really made them as light as possible. The focusing system already has fly-by-wire manual focusing just like the RF lenses.

Yes, the EF 600/4 L III basically feels like an RF lens.

It could be no coincidence that last week's firmware update has made electronic FTM work properly at last - it's very important for long lenses.
 
Upvote 0

Steve Balcombe

Too much gear
Aug 1, 2014
283
223
The reported 1.4x magnification, which should be written 1.4:1, not 1:1.4 reproduction ratio would be interesting and useful. However, as a specialist field macro photographer for a long time this is not enough. It doesn't even give the frame filling power on FF that you get with a 1:1 lens on a crop body, an effective 1.6x magnification. This is not enough to fill the frame with an average sized fly, let alone a smaller insect or flower part. 2x magnification would be much more useful. It's always been a difficult task using the MP-E 65mm and a 1:1 macro lens like the 100mm L IS f2.8, because you have this abrupt jump from 1:1 to greater than, and a lot of subjects span this gap. Even if you use 2 bodies you have to keep switching from one to the other. So you have to use extension tubes or close-up lenses, because the 100mm L won't take a converter.
Was discussing this with a friend at the weekend. The most useful upgrade to the 100L would be 2x macro while retaining infinity focusing. And the most useful upgrade to the MP-E65 would be increasing the range to 0.5-5x. But if I understand correctly, creating a lens which crosses the 1:1 'barrier' poses significant design challenges. I imagine this is why so few lenses actually do that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0

koenkooi

CR Pro
Feb 25, 2015
3,574
4,110
The Netherlands
Was discussing this with a friend at the weekend. The most useful upgrade to the 100L would be 2x macro while retaining infinity focusing. And the most useful upgrade to the MP-E65 would be increasing the range to 0.5-5x. But if I understand correctly, creating a lens which crosses the 1:1 'barrier' poses significant design challenges. I imagine this is why so few lenses actually do that.
I wouldn't mind giving up a bit on the MP-E ranges, I rarely go beyond 3x. The 2x setting is what I use most for solitary bees and ladybugs, which is why I was considering the Laowa 100mm EF version, Laowa removed electronic aperture for the RF version :/
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Aug 26, 2015
1,380
1,042
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
I´ll fetch the 600mm and sell my EF version III, if the sharpness is on the equal level than my EF II Version.
Sadly, my copy of the 600 III is noticably not as sharp and not as highend as my older II version. Especially in the center.
It is welcome for my old hands, that it´s weight has been reduced.
But for 13999 European bugs, I would have liked to see better IQ.
I hope, the upcoming >100MP bodies will force Canon to get the image quality back on top - for the same price.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
Out of curiosity, what do you expect it to offer, that the TS-E 24mm w/ adaptor don't?
Well there are several big possibilities. It could have a built in rear filter slot, it could have more shift and they certainly need a lot more tilt, and the lack of a mirror box means all those are possible. It could have shift and tilt registration in EXIF which would mean you could do vignetting corrections in DPP. It could have AF and auto assisted tilt.

There are lots of areas the usability and functionality could be enhanced over and above IQ.
 
Upvote 0