Recently, I had a chance to rent the new Canon EOS r6, along with a variety of the new RF lenses to go with it. One of the lenses I had the pleasure of testing was the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. The absolute coolest feature that makes this lens stand out is its incredibly compact form factor. When the lens is zoomed out to 70mm’s, it’s actually remarkable small. Of course, the lens extends a substantial amount when it’s zoomed to 200mm’s, but at its smallest, it’s quite a bit smaller than a lot of telephoto zoom lenses. If you’re interested, you can check the lens out here:
https://jerad.link/rf70200f28l
Specs and Features
For starters, this lens has a pretty solid focal range. It can go from f2.8 all the way to f32, which is pretty phenomenal. In addition to that, the lens also has 3 control rings which help it to stand out even more as a premium, high-quality option. The first ring controls the focal length or zoom, the second controls the focus and the third is actually a customizable ring that you can program to adjust whatever you’d like. I set mine to control the ISO so that I can adjust my exposure seamlessly without ever needing to look away from my view finder. I’ve also heard that other people prefer to use this ring to adjust the aperture, which is another pretty cool option.
The lens also comes with internal stabilization, multiple stabilization modes, an auto to manual focus switch, and a crop switch as well. This amount of features and usability really makes this lens stand apart from other lenses.
Photos I Captured
I took this lens out and shot some photos all around the town and valley that I live in. This includes some shots from Glacier National Park, which is an absolutely beautiful place to test a lens out. While the sky wasn’t very great the day I was shooting, this lens still took some really great options. You can see some of them here:
Things That Sound Out
A noticed a few very positive things while looking over the images this lens captured. First, the photos taken with this lens have very nice and smooth fall off when I’m shooting at a wider aperture. The edges also have very little loss in sharpness and maintain great detail even in the corners. I also noticed that the internal stabilization is fantastic as well. I can shoot with pretty slow shutter speeds and still get a remarkably stabile image. This is a huge plus to this lens. When shooting handheld at focal lengths up to 200mm, it’s absolutely vital that a lens can offer good stabilization, since there will be a lot more shaking when zoomed in that far. The lens also has a lock that allows you to lock the focal length at whatever setting you’ve got it set at. This is another helpful feature for lenses that can extend as far as this one can. If you have your camera upside down with the lens pointed at the ground, the weight will slowly extend the lens downward. The ability to lock the lens ensures that your focal length only changes if you want them to.
Is It Worth the Price?
Currently, this lens costs $2800 here in the United States. This is not a cheap price to pay. There are other options, like an 70-200mm f/4, which would save you about a thousand dollar, but I believe the added versatility of this lens is well worth the extra money. Being able to shoot in f/2.8 is amazing for lower light situations, and having a f/2.8-32 range is absolutely phenomenal. Overall, in my opinion, this lens is worth the money if you can afford it. Canon has done an amazing job with the new RF lineup, and this lens stands out as one of the top achievers.
Final Thoughts
The image quality, the compact size, the added features, and the overall build quality of this lens are top-notch. If you’re a Canon shooter and you’re looking for a telephoto zoom lens, look no further than this one.
For more content on other RF lenses, check out these videos below on the Gear and Light YouTube channel:
