Location: Sepang, Selangor D.E
Date: 9/8/25 - 10/8/25
Body: Canon R6ii
I am so happy to receive my new Canon RF800 f11.0 lens on 6/8/25 after a few days ordering it online. This is the longest lens in my collection beating the Sigma 150-500 zoom lens and Canon EF400 f5.6 prime lens. My other zoom lens is Canon EF70 - 300 IS L lens.
I must say i thought they forgot to put the lens inside the package because it felt light for a package with an 800mm super-telephoto lens. I bought this lens because the price i paid for at RM3612 (US850) is dirt cheap, compared to the Canon RF800 f5.6 which costs between RM76,000 (US17,882) to RM81,760 (US19,237) in Malaysian market! Of course you are paying for an L lens, the best quality optically and built like a tank to withstand the elements in the field. The Canon RF800 f11.0 is made of engineering plastic which is tough enough but not weather or dust proof, well you get what you paid for , no complaint here. But it means i have to be aware of the incoming rain or get myself a lens jacket to protect it from rain.
The weight at 1260gram compared to the behemoth RF800 f5.6 at 3150gram is very noticeable and i will really appreciate it when carrying the whole day on my shoulder. There is no way you can shoot the RF800 f5.6 handheld for an extended period of time. I like to walk and shoot handheld, so the RF800 f11.0 is very ideal for me for distance small birds or eagles in the sky. Surprisingly the lens is quite balanced when hooked to the R6ii body, not like the EF400 f5.6 which is front heavy. Both lenses weigh almost the same. When it is closed it is very compact compared to the prime RF800 f5.6 lens, so it is very transportable in the bag. Canon does not give a lens hood with this lens, which is what Canon always does for most non L lenses ,but i purchased one from a 3rd party Chinese brand JJC for RM66 (US15) which is very cheap. The hood diameter is 101mm.
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| The length of RF800 closed is almost the same as my EF400 f5.6 |
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| 3rd party hood JJC brand from China |
The negative side for RF800 f11.0 lens is the unchangeable aperture at f11.0, which is double of the Canon RF800 f5.6, but the RF800 f5.6 costs at least 20 times more than the RF800 f11.0, what do you expect? Well, since i bought this lens specifically for shooting BIF and small distance birds in bright sunlight, i do not think it will be an issue in getting 1/2500sec to 1/4000sec shutter speed at f11.0. I set up my R6ii at Auto ISO max at 25600, so in bright sunlight the camera will probably set the ISO between 4000 - 10000? The R6ii can handle the high ISO very well with very little noise. Then there is the Lightroom post processing which can reduce the noise a bit more. Of course at f11 i will not get a smooth bokeh for the background which is closed to the birds, but if the background is far enough i am sure it will be blurred.
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| I used my Sigma lens camo coat on RF800 lens for now |
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| When extended the RF800 is less than 2 feet long including the body |
This lens was bought to solve the reach problem, because my new R6ii is a full frame body. Without the crop factor of 1.6 the images taken with my EF400 f5.6 and Sigma 150-500 looked tiny and lack of details. Of course using the 1.4x tele-converter will help, but the image quality will drop and look soft. Cropping the images can make them bigger but if the original images are soft then they are not usable.
Another negative for the RF800 f11.0 lens is the narrow field of view will make searching for the targets difficult, especially for fast birds in flight. Using a zoom lens like my Sigma 150-500 i can track at 150mm first and then zoom out to 500mm, but with the RF800 f11.0 i cannot do that. So, one technique i can use is by having both eyes open, my left eye to track the bird outside of the lens, and my right eye looking through the EVF to decide when to press the shutter. There are ways to counter the weaknesses of this lens in the field. It is not the end of the world to have an f11 only lens. Some photographers are put off by the f11 aperture. You can use higher ISO to get higher shutter speed for fast moving birds, or lower shutter speed to reduce ISO for slower or stationary birds. When i bought my new R6ii i already knew that i will have limitations from my slow lenses, so the good ISO performance is a must, and the R6ii delivers.
The last negative so far i learned is that the closest/minimum focusing distance (MFD) is about 20 feet (6.0 meters) which is more than my EF400 f5.6 at 12 feet (3.6 meters). This needs to getting used to especially when the bird subjects are closer, which the lens cannot focused on. One way to solve this is to have a 2nd body with my RF100-400 lens to cover the gap. This lens can focus close up to 3 feet. But this solution needs me to invest a couple thousands ringgit more, maybe an R7 body which costs around RM5400? However, carrying two sets of gear is a bit overkill i think. Maybe i use my EOS 7D2 with EF70-300 lens as a second body when i need it, and i do not have to cough out more money.
Here are some photos that i managed to capture in my first two days of testing with my new RF800 f11.0 in Sepang areas. I hope they can show you what you can achieve if the technique, settings and application are right. Of course you must lower your expectation a bit, because this is not an L lens!
Picture of birds taken on the 1st day:
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| Black-naped Oriole |
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| White-throated Kingfisher |
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| Pacific Swallow |
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| Pacific Swallow |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Yellow-vented Bulbul |
Pictures of birds taken on 2nd day:
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| Grey Heron |
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| Egret |
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| Purple Heron |
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| White-breasted Waterhen |
After the first trial in the field i have to say it is a joy to use the RF800 f11 lens. The focus was fast despite the f11 fixed aperture, and the images were mostly sharp in good light. When the light was low i reduced my shutter speed down to 1/320 or 1/400sec. The IS worked fine as i did not bring a tripod or monopod with me, all were shot handheld.
My next test will be in a jungle or edge of a jungle setting to see how well it copes with low light of the Frasers Hill. Until next time, happy birding and take care.
Thank you.
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