Here are images of the upcoming Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon RF 600mm f/4L IS USM super-telephoto lenses.
The 400mm lens will launch at $11,999USD and the 600mm will launch at $12,999. These prices were somewhat expected.
The official announcement is soon.
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The old and new one look too much identical. And no control ring.
And this silver mount looks like it was pieced on afterwards.
It's actually so similar that I'm fully expecting Canon will offer a conversion service with these. It can't cost more than maybe $1000 to turn the EF versions into the RF mount.
Again, all of this makes sense when you consider that there will likely always be EF mount holdouts, and Canon will now be able to service those $12000 lenses for far longer than it the first RF mount versions replaced anything.
[SARCASM ALERT - please don't use superglue anywhere near your expensive lens]
In all reality, Canon could still get away with a $1000 dollar upgrade when the alternative is a $12,000 lens. They're going to want to sell new lenses alongside the old lenses, and the old lenses will make more sense if they can have their lifespan extended by a mount/barrel conversion
IIRC, its been noted in this site's forums that design of super teles doesn't benefit from shorter flange distance. Also, Canon has released new versions of the 400mm f/2.8 & 600mm f/4 in late '18, barely 2.5 years ago. That's a big R&D and manufacturing facilities investment Canon needs to recoup.
So I wouldn't be the least surprised if the RF versions upgrade would be limited to the mount electronics, control ring, AF motor, and 24mm extension.
The only reason they haven't radically redesigned it is because there's absolutely no need to. Don't expect a redesign for a decade.
Canon will release RF versions of the 300mm f/2.8 and 500mm f/4 in early 2022 [CR2]
Exactly, very good idea. This way photographers who are still using 7D, 1D, 5D bodies, can still buy the new versions and later convert it to RF mount.
Much more important than a complete redesign to save an extra 50g.
More likely that the 300 and 500mm lenses will get a complete redesign but the 400 and 600 will stay as it is, because those lenses are barely 2 years old. What could a complete redesign achieve?
But I guess that's asking for too much. And no cripple hammer. Too much?