Canon trying interesting things with the RF Mount Part 1: F/11 "Super Telephotos"

[pRICE cUBE]

Part 1, The F/11 "Super Telephotos"

600mm $700 f/11 https://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/..._11_is_stm
800mm $800 f/11 https://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/..._11_is_stm

As a person that lives in the 2.8 world of back breaking heavy lenses, I wasn't too interested. F/11 is not great for low light sports action. The lenses are very interesting however in their approach. They are meant to be cost effective hand held telephotos that are geared toward people that want reach but not looking to spend thousands of dollars. They also collapse down a bit to put back into your bag.

These lenses would be very impractical for SLR because at F/11, much less light is coming in for the operator to even see in the frame. Since mirrorless cameras don't have an optical pentaprism, the viewfinder image is brightened to compensate for the light loss. Basically, the camera will show you basically the same image with a F/11 lens as a F2.8 lens brightness-wise.

Higher and cleaner ISO in the latest cameras also change the game. You will find out very quickly that F/11 is quite a ways from even F/5.6 which used to be the final frontier for autofocus back in the film SLR days.

It will be interesting to see if their strategy pays off for Canon as they knock heads with Sony in the mirrorless market.

[mikebw]

Yeah, F11 is a non-starter for my a550 unless I am doing a timed exposure, and at those lengths you better have a solid tripod.

[mattkime]

Its interesting but that price is a little high.

[Gareth]

mattkime wrote:
Its interesting but that price is a little high.

I actually think these lenses are reasonably priced for what they are. Consider that the other way to get to 800/11 would be the 100-500 (which is supposedly 5.6 @ 400mm) for $2700 + the 2x ($600) = $3300.

I think these lenses are targeted to birders and are a great entry level option. You gotta get them hooked on the system before you can get them to shell out 13k for that 600/4!

[Gareth]

I had another thought on how to get to 800/11 on the RF system: EF 400/5.6 is a very sharp lens ($600-$900 used) + EF 2x III ($300-$400 used) + EF-RF adapter ($100, but the user might have this already) = $900 - $1400. If I was switching to RF, I might try this, since I actually have the 400 & 2x already, but someone new to Canon would probably be better served with the RF 800/11.