The Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM is a versatile telephoto zoom lens designed for use with Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras. It is a great option for nature and sports photographers, as well as anyone who needs to zoom in on distant subjects. One of the standout features of this lens is its impressive zoom range, allowing you to shoot at focal lengths from 100mm to 400mm. This gives you a lot of flexibility in composing your shots, allowing you to get close-up shots of distant subjects without having to physically move closer. Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM Review
The lens also features an Optical Image Stabilizer, which helps reduce camera shake and allows you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without worrying about blurriness in your images. This feature is particularly useful when shooting handheld in low-light situations or when using the longer focal lengths.
The lens is also equipped with a fast, accurate, and quiet autofocus system, which helps ensure that your shots are always in focus. It also has a customizable control ring that you can use to adjust a variety of settings, including aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
One downside of the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM is that its maximum aperture is not as wide as some other telephoto lenses, making it less suitable for low-light shooting. Additionally, the lens is relatively large and heavy, which can make it a bit cumbersome to carry around for extended periods of time.
Overall, the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM is an excellent telephoto zoom lens that offers a great balance of performance and versatility. Its long zoom range, image stabilization, and fast autofocus make it an ideal choice for capturing distant subjects, while its customizable control ring and compatibility with Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras make it a versatile addition to any photographer’s toolkit.
There are some unique strengths of the RF 100-400 IS even relative to its much more expensive big brother. These include:
- Much lower price
- Much smaller and lighter (700g lighter!)
- Higher magnification level (0.41x vs 0.33x)
- Fuller compatibility with 1.4x/2x extenders
- Slightly higher stabilization rating (5.5 stops vs 5 stops)
That’s not to say that the L-series is outclassed in some way, as it has a long list of its own strengths, including:
- Bigger zoom ratio (5x vs 4x)
- Faster maximum aperture throughout zoom range
- Weather sealing and pro grade build
- Dual Nano-USM motors vs 1 Nano-USM
- More stabilizer modes
- Focus limiter
- Tripod collar
- Friction ring
- Included lens hood and case
- Much stronger image quality