Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS coming on November 2, 2023

Apr 29, 2019
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Same price range as the competitors, but without weather sealing and with poorer build quality.
Seems also to me that Canon ends up further and further behind.

A wildlife lens without weather sealing is not a wildlife lens in my opinion.
(And I would have preferred a little extra weight to get internal zoom.)
Me shooting wildlife (and other stuff) since decades under all conditions:
Some of the lenses were weather sealed, others not. The only lens which stopped working due to internal water was a water sealed L-lens ...
Those long lenses are super easy to protect if protection is needed during shooting.
 
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Canon Rumors Guy

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Me shooting wildlife (and other stuff) since decades under all conditions:
Some of the lenses were weather sealed, others not. The only lens which stopped working due to internal water was a water sealed L-lens ...
Those long lenses are super easy to protect if protection is needed during shooting.
Most unsealed lenses are still closed pretty tightly and can take some light rain. There will be a bevy of "weather coats" made for the lens if you're really concerned about water. Most water damaged lenses that I have experienced either took a bath, or high humidity got them.
 
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Both the 600 and 800 f/11 use DO elements (albeit not hyped at all). DO is clearly cheaper to implement at this point than fluorite, so very likely it will have DO. Fluorite is being used sparingly these days. My EF 800 f/5.6 has a fluorite front element (huge) with clear glass protection in front. The RF 800 f/5.6 has the fluorite elements moved to the back (much smaller) and it is not quite as good (particularly with extenders). A BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive) element (as used in the RF 85mm f/1.2 is another possibility for CA correction.
I hear what you are saying, however some of the RF version are a weird parts bin special.
All of the EF mkIII super whites aren't quite as good as the mkII's are from an optical point of view. But the mk III's have better balance due to the re-arrangement of the internal elements, moving the heavier elements further into the lens shell, making a better balanced and light lens.
The EF 600 f4 II L and mk III have two flourite elements and the only ones that I amaware of that do. The RF versions are pretty much the EF versions with an integrated EF to RF adapter. The RF 400mm F2.8 LIS and RF 600mm F4 LIS are in fact re-worked EF mk III versions. So they are optically slightly worse then their EF mkII cousins, but balnce better and are a lot lighter.
The current RF teleconverters are slightly worse than the mkIII EF versions optically.
The current RF 800mm f5.6 is a parts bin "special" using a EF 400 III LIS with a custom integrated 2x TC and the filter holder placed after the TC group. Weirdly, the EF 400 f2.8 mkII and a mkIII TC is actually slightly superior than the native RF version...go figure. The same is true for the new RF 1200mm f8, it's a EF 600 f4 mk III mated to a custom 2x TC with an integrated EF to RF adapter. Similarly, the EF 600mm f4 mkII with a 2xTC mkIII and an adapter is slightly superior optically than the parts bin / Cobbled together RF 1200mm LIS.
 
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For me, at that price point it has to offer a lot more than the RF 600mm/ 800mm F11 lenses. It should have a...
- faster AF motor
- weather sealing to some degree
- full AF capabilities (unlike the 600/800mm where the AF only works in the center square)
Under Canon's current pricing, $2.5K is the new standard for their high volume bread and butter lenses.
It's a similar price point to a RF 24-70mm f2.8 LIS, but this is a 200-800mm lens!
Canon are now shifting a lot more exotica than they used to.
However, our perception of value is being influenced by the black log of older S/H top tier lenses available to us.
I'm amazed how much more common it is to see 600mm prime lenses these days. Heck, even old EF 200mm f1.8 L's are more accessible now.
A lot of photographers these days have access to previously rare and exotic lenses like the EF 85mm f1.2 IIL at a really low price point.
When we can buy a mint S/H one for £700 and a new RF version is £2.5K.....sure the new one is optically and mecahnically better, but the old EF version is 95% the same thing, yeilding pretty much the same images.
 
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Me shooting wildlife (and other stuff) since decades under all conditions:
Some of the lenses were weather sealed, others not. The only lens which stopped working due to internal water was a water sealed L-lens ...
Those long lenses are super easy to protect if protection is needed during shooting.
I had moisture problems inside my RF 100-500 due to cold and damp weather. Those lying next to me this day with the Z 180-600 had zero problems. I reckon this is typically internal vs external zoom.
To protect the upcoming RF 200-800, I then need both a rain cover and a lens warmer. Not very practical to carry around and use.

The competitors have both weather sealing, internal zoom and a lower price. I am now really seriously considering changing systems, after using Canon for 25 years
 
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Sep 17, 2014
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I had moisture problems inside my RF 100-500 due to cold and damp weather. Those lying next to me this day with the Z 180-600 had zero problems. I reckon this is typically internal vs external zoom.
To protect the upcoming RF 200-800, I then need both a rain cover and a lens warmer. Not very practical to carry around and use.

The competitors have both weather sealing, internal zoom and a lower price. I am now really seriously considering changing systems, after using Canon for 25 years

Will be quite pathetic to buy a $2500 lens and not to receive a lens hood because it's not an L lens.
 
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Birdshooter

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Looks like my Christmas present to me. It will be interesting to see what it actually looks like. To make 800 f/9, it will need 89mm objective, so at least a 95mm filter. Still way lighter than the big whites and 2/3 of a stop faster than the 800 f/11. Probably about the size of the Tamron 150-600, but maybe longer, or if they use DO, maybe shorter.
Difference with the big whites, is I can still shoot at 600 at F/4 and not a ridiculous ISO of 10,000 lol
 
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john1970

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Canon giving up the pros' market? Lenses like the 28-70 2.0 and the 100-300 2.8 are making pros going Canon.
Nikon's burst of 400mm+ lenses will not bring any new enthusiast into the market, they are to establish a niche.
Canon's 600/11, 800/11, ultra compact 100-400, 200-800 are to conquer new enthusiasts into the market.
Those "switching from Nikon" are on the path to die out anyway.

We will witness something new in the 500-600 range for the "pros" in the future, I guess something different as we did with the 100-300 2.8 replacing the 70-200 2.8 and the 300 2.8 with a single shot, which was a very smart move.
I would expect the 200-500 mm f4 L lens to be announced by Q1 2024 at the latest.
 
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Snapster

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Nov 28, 2022
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Looks very interesting, but couldn't be a normal WHITE canon lens??

I am the only one who thinks this black designs are very ugly?
According to Jan Wegener on YT, it will have the color of an L lens without being an L lens.

Sounds like the Sony 200-600 which is great and relatively affordable but not labeled as GM.

Would be fantactic if that would pave the way for more midrange designs for RF lenses. The 600 and 800 f/11 are ultimately disappointing because of their weak AF. The 200-800 should have USM and weather sealed construction even if that means a few extra hundred €.

If they don't put a lens hood in the package with a 2.5k lens that will just be next level cheap.
 
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Canon Rumors Guy

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I had moisture problems inside my RF 100-500 due to cold and damp weather. Those lying next to me this day with the Z 180-600 had zero problems. I reckon this is typically internal vs external zoom.
To protect the upcoming RF 200-800, I then need both a rain cover and a lens warmer. Not very practical to carry around and use.

The competitors have both weather sealing, internal zoom and a lower price. I am now really seriously considering changing systems, after using Canon for 25 years
It's just a matter of acclimating lenses properly for extremes. When coming inside from cold and damp, the lens should be in a bag and left in the bag for an hour or so once inside a warmer environment. Always have silica packs in your bag as well.

Yes, there is more air needed to move in and out of the lens when zooming externally.
 
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koenkooi

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Feb 25, 2015
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Will be quite pathetic to buy a $2500 lens and not to receive a lens hood because it's not an L lens.
Prepare to be disappointed, as much as I would like to have lens hoods included on everything over $200, I expect people will need to buy the JJC hoods. Since Canon seems to be persistently unable to get the hoods in stock when the lens launches.
 
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Prepare to be disappointed, as much as I would like to have lens hoods included on everything over $200, I expect people will need to buy the JJC hoods. Since Canon seems to be persistently unable to get the hoods in stock when the lens launches.
Non-L lenses that launched at a price higher than $1000 (TS-E 45/2.8, TS-E 90/2.8, and 70-300 DO) included the hood and pouch.
 
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It's definitely a great or terrible lens.
It's going to cost $2000 or maybe $3000.
It's a 200-800 or possibly 200-600, or even 300-800 or something else.
It's going to include a hood and also not include a lens hood.
It's going to be black or possibly white.

And yet we have some people claiming it's not as good as the opposition and also others claiming it's the lens they've been waiting for.

Phhh - I'll wait until the 2nd before commenting further :)
 
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