Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM

[Levina de Ruijter]

Nice shots!

Thanks!

Compared to the RF 800/11 the 100-500 with the RF1.4x, the 100-500 becoming a 420-700 you get that 300mm of zoom to get objects in the FOV.

True, but with the 100-500 you also get that limitation at the short end where you can't zoom out to 100mm. From what I remember that was problematic, right? A problem the 200-800 doesn't have. I don't think there are any right or wrong choices here. Just personal favourites. All these lenses are good to very good, it's just what do you prefer, or what do you need. Having said that, I know how hard it is to choose...

I was trying the old EF 300/4L this morning, just after sunrise, very low light. And I was surprised how well it performed on the R5m2. The AF was better, snappier than on the R6, not sure about the R6m2 as I haven't paired it with the 300, not that I remember anyway.

Speaking of decisions: I'm not sure I want to sell the R6m2...

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Speaking of decisions: I'm not sure I want to sell the R6m2...

Selling the R6ii could be good or bad. The R5ii does everything the R6ii does but has more megapixels so you can crop tighter, but because of the higher density of megapixels it is slightly worse in very low light and slightly worse dynamic range (per DP Review and others). The R6ii is slightly better in high ISO but cannot crop as tight.

I always want a backup camera, when I was doing film I had 2 Nikon F3HP's but then I used one for color and one for B&W at the same time, that is not an issue now. Now it is if your main camera fails. I have my R6ii and R7, depending what when and where and what I am shooting will decide which I take for backups I have the 7Dii (that one I will let people or family borrow) and the 7Dii I would use in the rain thinking its weather sealing is better than the R6ii and certainly the R7 and then finally I have the 5D classic.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Selling the R6ii could be good or bad. The R5ii does everything the R6ii does but has more megapixels so you can crop tighter, but because of the higher density of megapixels it is slightly worse in very low light and slightly worse dynamic range (per DP Review and others). The R6ii is slightly better in high ISO but cannot crop as tight.

I always want a backup camera, when I was doing film I had 2 Nikon F3HP's but then I used one for color and one for B&W at the same time, that is not an issue now. Now it is if your main camera fails. I have my R6ii and R7, depending what when and where and what I am shooting will decide which I take for backups I have the 7Dii (that one I will let people or family borrow) and the 7Dii I would use in the rain thinking its weather sealing is better than the R6ii and certainly the R7 and then finally I have the 5D classic.

I still have: 1D3, 1D4, 5D. And even the 40D. And they are all in good working order. Although I have no idea if all the batteries will still charge. I have a good battery for the 5D, that I know, because it's fairly new. Not sure about the batteries for the 1D bodies.

Like you I would really hesitate taking my R6m2 or R5m2 out in bad weather. The 1D3 or 1D4 can take it, but they're built like tanks. The R5/6/II not so much I think. They seem more vulnerable to me anyway. So having a 1D4 and a 5D classic is still nice. So, I don't really need the R6 mark II. I should sell it.

However, going back to a DSLR is hard. The other day I picked up the 1D4 and it was like going back to the stone age. Well... exaggerating of course, but yeah, not something I would like to do. But the camera is there should I need it. Still, having another mirrorless as back up, like the R6m2 is much better. Sigh...

Things were so clear in the past with DSLRs. I had my 1D camera (with the 1.3x crop factor) for birds. And the 5D for everything else. But now I can shoot everything with just the one mirrorless. The result is that all the DSLRs are gathering dust, the 5D included. A pity really, still a great camera. I loved the files.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Jeff, you have rekindled my interest in the 800/11. Today I tried it on some gulls. They were shot from home and they were very close indeed. It was hard locking on to them, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I came away with a great many good shots. Most are already deleted, but here are two that I particularly like.

It's truly amazing I managed to lock focus on them, mid flight, from such a close distance.

Lost the wing tip there. Yes, full frame shot.

Canon EOS R5m2 . RF800mm f11 IS STM . F/11 . 800mm . 1/3200s . ISO 2500​

This one was really close, lost both wing tips and decided to crop in a bit more.

Canon EOS R5m2 . RF800mm f11 IS STM . f/11 . 800mm . 1/3200 . ISO 1000​

 

[Jan1977]

Jeff, you have rekindled my interest in the 800/11. Today I tried it on some gulls. They were shot from home and they were very close indeed. It was hard locking on to them, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I came away with a great many good shots. Most are already deleted, but here are two that I particularly like.

It's truly amazing I managed to lock focus on them, mid flight, from such a close distance.

Lost the wing tip there. Yes, full frame shot.

View attachment 18655

This one was really close, lost both wing tips and decided to crop in a bit more.
View attachment 18682

Seems like the photos aren't showing....

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Seems like the photos aren't showing....

That was me, editing them. I wanted them in the gallery, but only images from the Photo Sharing forums are mirrored there, so I uploaded them again to the Birds in Flight thread and then removed them here and inserted the BBCode from the gallery. They should be here now.

 

[Jan1977]

That was me, editing them. I wanted them in the gallery, but only images from the Photo Sharing forums are mirrored there, so I uploaded them again to the Birds in Flight thread and then removed them here and inserted the BBCode from the gallery. They should be here now.

They show, and it was pretty close indeed

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Lesser black-backed gull. Another one with the RF 800/11.

• Canon EOS R5m2
• RF800mm F11 IS STM
• ƒ/11
• 800mm
• 1/2000s
• ISO 1000

 

[JohnPD]

Lesser black-backed gull. Another one with the RF 800/11.
View attachment 18903

Great shot with great image quality.

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Jeff, you have rekindled my interest in the 800/11. Today I tried it on some gulls. They were shot from home and they were very close indeed. It was hard locking on to them, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I came away with a great many good shots. Most are already deleted, but here are two that I particularly like.

It's truly amazing I managed to lock focus on them, mid flight, from such a close distance.

Lost the wing tip there. Yes, full frame shot.

Canon EOS R5m2 . RF800mm f11 IS STM . F/11 . 800mm . 1/3200s . ISO 2500​

This one was really close, lost both wing tips and decided to crop in a bit more.

Canon EOS R5m2 . RF800mm f11 IS STM . f/11 . 800mm . 1/3200 . ISO 1000​

Nice and sharp

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Nice and sharp

Yes, it worked well on these gulls, but not so much on the Godwits in the field last Friday. I was shooting a Northern Lapwing sitting in the field with the 800/11 when suddenly a group of Black-tailed godwits took off and started flying around. These birds are much faster flyers than gulls and they were chasing one another and they were very close. I simply couldn't focus on them with the 800/11. Only when they moved away a bit did I finally manage to lock on to them, but by then I had three in the frame a distance away instead of a single one from up close. If I had the 100-500 mounted I would not have missed those close-up shots.

So now I'm thinking I should maybe keep the R6m2, pair it with the 100-500mm for anything suddenly coming close and have the R5m2 with the 800/11 for stationary birds in the field, a distance away.

 

[jgoetz4]

I bought mine for $500 USD a couple of years ago. Primarily used on my R100 for moon shots, but the occasional bird of prey pops up once in a while.

• Canon EOS R100
• ƒ/11
• 800mm
• 1/100s
• ISO 100

• Canon EOS R100
• ƒ/11
• 800mm
• 1/800s
• ISO 400

• Canon EOS R100
• ƒ/11
• 800mm
• 1/800s
• ISO 400

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I bought mine for $500 USD a couple of years ago. Primarily used on my R100 for moon shots, but the occasional bird of prey pops up once in a while.View attachment 92039View attachment 92040View attachment 92041

I haven't used the lens much since getting the RF 100-500 but it's a very capable lens. The f/11 because irrelevant in shots like yours. It's truly amazing to have 800mm focal length at that price point. And it's also lightweight and easy to handle. All three shots are good but the moon is really exceptional. So sharp.

By the way, is that an osprey?

 

[jgoetz4]

I haven't used the lens much since getting the RF 100-500 but it's a very capable lens. The f/11 because irrelevant in shots like yours. It's truly amazing to have 800mm focal length at that price point. And it's also lightweight and easy to handle. All three shots are good but the moon is really exceptional. So sharp.

By the way, is that an osprey?

Thank you, Levina. The combination of the 800 f/11 (I also have the 600 f/11) & my R100 is very light compared to my old dslr setups. The moon shot is on par with my old 8'' 1200mm Dobsonian scope. That is a Hawk. We see them a lot.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Thank you, Levina. The combination of the 800 f/11 (I also have the 600 f/11) & my R100 is very light compared to my old dslr setups. The moon shot is on par with my old 8'' 1200mm Dobsonian scope. That is a Hawk. We see them a lot.

I bought the 800/11 together with the R6, my first mirrorless camera and liked the lens so much that I also bought the 600/11 but I think I had a bad copy because I couldn't get any sharp shots with it. And the camera also kept freezing. So I returned it. A pity because I had bought it especially for birds in flight as I can't shoot birds at 800mm. It's too long a focal length, field of view is too narrow so I have great difficulty finding them in flight. Or if I can find them, I will lose them all too quickly.