Canon RF800/11 is STMN

Great lens and cheap for its length but requires practice to find targets quickly.

its a great lens to learn on for bird watching and astrophotography. its a lens that's good at a lot of things but not great at anything. It fixed f11 really hinders it from being perfect.

All things considered, I do like this lens. As with every piece of equipment, you need to know when and how to use it to get the best results. At first, I have to admit I wasn't impressed with this lens. But I was in a hurry the other day and didn't have the time or patience to take out my "real" 800, so I grabbed this one and, as things turned out, the pictures were amazing. Yes, you need really good light and have to know how to manage your shutter speed and ISO to accommodate the fixed f/11. But all that notwithstanding, the lens itself does what its supposed to do, and at less than 1/10 the cost of something better and bulkier. I'm glad I have this one1

I bought this lens refurbished from this Canon website for my new Canon R8. Active in bird photography, I wanted something to complement my EF 80-200mm IS L II with a 1.4x adapter. The EF zoom is outstanding, but 280mm from this lens/adapter combo just can’t get me close enough to the wildlife. The 800mm is shockingly light compared to my EF lens, and when I use the R8’s 1.6 crop option… I am able to get 1280mm from this setup. I’ve never used anything beyond 600mm in the past, so this lens allows me to obtain clear shots from very long distances. The stabilization with up to 4 stops works very well, as I primarily use this lens hand-held. I just set my shutter to 1000 to ensure the lens does not pickup my movement. Yes, with an f11, this lens is relegated to sunny days. The only other issue I encounter is the long minimum focusing distance (about 19 feet). I missed a few shots of birds landing closer to me; however, I realize this lens’ purpose… extreme long distance photography. In this capacity, this 800mm lens does an outstanding job!

Tested this lens under different conditions, as expected low light and birds in flight were rather difficult. So my final test was done with an R7 and the RF800 f11. my best results were with bright early morning sunlight, however there are some concerns about the focus "abilities" of this lens. I've added a few screen shots of the pictures in Digital Photo Professional software that shows the focus point. The camera did go to the eye but the focus is actually about 1 to 2 feet in front of the bird...pictures speak for themselves.

I've only used it to take shots of the moon so far but I'm happy with the results!

Purchased from the Canon Store. Owned it for a year now and have achieved good results when used under the right conditions. Works well for surfer shots from the beach. Light enough for hand held use,but I like it setup on a monopod or tripod.

Like others said, the AF randomly stops working. This 100% kills this lens for me. I have gotten decent photos but I simply don’t trust it- like at all. I originally had it paired with the RP body and thought it was the AF in the body causing issues, so I upgraded to the R6 and the problem is still there. I also have failed to get the AF to work at the 20’ mark. I really wish I didn’t buy this and sadly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, even for the price.

I have been using this lens for a little over a month. I bought it in the hopes that it would work on my birding photography, particularly birds in flight despite reading that it would be difficult to do so. So far I have not had any issues with it in that regard. I am really enjoying it and am amazed at its sharpness. I know it needs lots of light but I rarely if ever go out photographing on cloudy days so that’s not a problem for me. I do wish it used the full screen for focusing points but so far I have managed to work with what it offers. Overall I am extremely pleased with the results

I purchased this lens for wildlife photography realizing the lens aperture is fixed at f11. I figured I could work around that and I have. The pictures are mostly very sharp and I am impressed with the quality for the price, when it is working. I did not see at the time or it was not there when I purchased it as it is VERY tiny this Disclaimer; "^May lose AF functionality". I assure you it DOES! I have done some research and quite a few people have had the same issue I have. You will be using the AF capabilities of this lens and it will just stop auto focusing. I switched to manual focus and got it close and switched back to auto focus and it worked again a little and then stopped focusing again. I tried shutting off my R6 and turning it back on and it started working again until it stopped auto focusing again. Canon needs to fix this problem not just add a tiny disclaimer that is very easily missed. I would love to recommend this lens but I can not because of this issue.

Bought this 800mm for my R5, and since putting it on, I have not used my 100-400 mkii, with the 1.4 mkii ext. Center focus, not a problem. Do I miss some shot? Yes, but I get more. The two bird in-flight shots were missed focus, but because the F11, they were within the focal plane.

It's not all I bought it for but the terrain detail it reveals on a full moon is beautiful. The plain signs of moons of Uranus with front to back contrast from the sunlight and I even got a picture of Saturn showing the ring system, no detail, just the shape. That took a handful of shots due to the darkness and shutter times but that and the moon's earth are among my most pleasing shots.

This is a very light weight, super tele lens While I wish it was an f/8,I appreciate what it offers. it allow you to pack light, Carry anywhere , and it is comparatively very sharp! Yes it has its limitations, but for its price, it delivers unbeatable value.

Size, weight, sharpness, collapsibility - all are super features. I get bird pictures I never imagined I would be taking. My experience has led two other photographers to purchase this lens within the last year.

The f stop is only 11 Closest focus distance is 20ft.

This is a marvel of optics by Canon. I do wish they would have tried to bring the Fstop up a bit. I think if F11 got us this lens then an 8 would get us a larger, but still compact lens. It probably could not worth with the telescoping part of the lens, but I would like to see that lens.

The Canon RF 800mm f11 actually focuses faster than I thought it would. What I did notice is that you'll find atmospheric distortion your eyes don't see over longer distances but for objects within reasonable range it's nice and sharp. I used it on an R6 and was more than happy with it. A few years ago I rented a different brand 150-600mm and was not satisfied with it, then purchased the 100-400mm MkII Canon which works great on the R6 with the adaptor but I was looking for more reach for a birding trip to Eastern Oregon. At 800mm birds in flight take more practice but I'm also dealing with the after effects of a stroke so no heavy lens would do either. Glad I made the purchase, just wish I'd done it sooner for more practice time.

Great lens, but doc1152 is wrong. You are not using a 1280mm lens, you are cropping a 800mm lens to give you the FOV that a 1280mm lens would give you on a larger format. Your reproduction ratio, the size the image is projected on your sensor, is the same size regardless of that sensor size. The magnification is the same. Your crop camera crops a 1.6 ratio, it does not enlarge by 1.6. I rented one to use on my R5. This a great lens for someone that can't afford the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens. It will do everything you want it to so and then some. Great addition to the Canon lineup.

I have used the RF 800mm f/11 for several months and I thoroughly love shooting with it. There are obvious drawbacks (f/11) but the images are crystal clear and guess what: crop your sensor to 1.6 and boom, you have a 1280mm lens that functions beautifully. I have had some focus issues with the lens on the EOS R6, some because of my settings and some because none of these focus systems are perfect. The weight is actually unbelievable-I never feel the need for a monopod. All in all, this lens is a very nice performer at an impressively low price.

I rented the RF800mm lens to decide if I wanted to purchase the lens or not. I was very impressed by the sharpness of the images and how quickly it was to focus on the subjects and track them in flight. I ordered my lens 3 days into the rental and looking forward to creating more photos with this great lens.