Location: Frasers Hill, Pahang
Date: Day 1 -16/8/2025
Gear: R6ii body + RF800 f11.0
Well, this time i decided to try the same setup i used in the first test in the bright coast area setting in Sepang, in a hilly forest where light is inconsistent and the weather is ever changing. The goal is to see whether the fixed aperture of f11.0 makes this lens totally unusable for this setting, or it still can deliver good photos with a little bit of adjustment in the camera settings and shooting techniques.
As you notice that i have put a camo lens coat i made myself by wrapping some camo fabric that i have with some old lens coat straps to keep it in place. Some hand stiching was also involved here. In my last field test in Sepang i noticed that this RF800 lens gets hot quickly in the hot sun, so this diy coat will protect it from the sun and also some light rain. It will cost between RM250 to RM450 to buy the lens coat online.
The first day of test in Frasers Hill was trying to shoot some species in the thick secondary jungle along the road. Below are some shots taken using low shutter speeds and high ISO because it was quite dark ,eventhough it was around 1.30p.m:
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| 1/250sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld - White-tailed Robin |
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| 1/320sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/250sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/160sec f11, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/640sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/640sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/400, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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| 1/400sec, f11.0, ISO25600, handheld |
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1/800sec, f11.0, ISO 16000, handheld - Grey-chinned Minivet
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Day 2: 17/8/25:
The second day of testing started at 9.30a.m. along the Pine road when the day started to brighten up. So the ISO can be kept low in open areas to get a reasonable shutter speed, however in shaded area the ISO still went up high.
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1/250sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld- Little Cuckoo-Dove
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| 1/250sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld |
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| 1/1000sec, f11.0, ISO5000, handheld- Chestnut-caped Laughing thrush |
Back to the shaded area along the road where light was ever changing and low to medium:
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1/160sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld - Blue Whistling Thrush
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1/100sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld
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1/80sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld
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1/80sec, f11.0, ISO8000, handheld - Female Large Niltava
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In conclusion, i found that through this test in hilly forested area where the available light is low and ever changing, and the forest is densed, it is possible to use the RF800 f11.0 super telephoto lens to take good photos of birds, sometimes with blurred background despite of the f11.0 aperture, depending on the distance of the background.
The shutter speed can go as low as 1/80second shooting handheld which shows that the
4- stops IS of the lens works. The ISO can be kept low by having low shutter speed but the noise still needs to be reduced in Lightroom in post. The AF struggles a bit when focusing dark colored birds in dark bushes but you still can get some focused shots with the high fps.
I started to love this lens the more i use it, as its AF is very fast in good light, the reach of 800mm is very good that i do not need to bring my 1.4x teleconverter anymore, the image quality is very sharp compared to my old lenses, and the weight is so light when paired with my R6ii is less than 2kilograms, i can carry the whole day. The lens is also very affordable compared to the equivalent reach of Canon RF800 f5.6 which costs 20 times more! Of course, you need to lower down your expectation a bit as it is not an L lens. I fully recommend this lens to Canon shooters who need this kind of reach but do not want to break the bank to enjoy bird and wildlife photography.
Until next time, happy birding and take care.
Thanks
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