A Capable Front-runner

The Canon RF 100–500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens covers a broad range of focal lengths, from short to super-telephoto. Shridhar Kunte tests it.

- Shridhar Kunte

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM Lens

Lenses having focal lengths ranging from 150mm to 600mm are very popular among amateurs as well as professionals who are into wildlife photography. In fact, third-party lens manufacturers have made this segment as their stronghold. The Canon EF 100– 400mm is a go-to lens for die-hard Canon fans. Taking this success ahead to their RF system, the company has introduced the RF 100–500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens.

Features

This is the first telephoto zoom lens from Canon dedicated to RF system cameras. Up until now, you only had a choice of EF lenses with an adapter for this range. Now you have three options— the RF 600mm, RF 800mm and the RF 100–500mm, the first two being of fixed focal lengths. The RF 100–500mm comes with the “L” tag, bringing with it many advanced technologies. In its optical design, there are six UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements and one Super UD element. This helps to minimise chromatic aberrations and colour fringing in order to provide greater clarity and colour accuracy. In front of the focus ring there is a configurable Control Ring that lets you adjust exposure settings, including ISO, aperture, and exposure compensation, from the lens itself. On older R system cameras, like the EOS R or RP, the lens offers five stops of image stabilisation, but when you use it with newer EOS R5 or R6 cameras, with their built-in stabilisation systems, it is possible to get the benefit of eight stops thanks to the bi-directional communication between the motion and gyro sensors in the camera body and lens.

Handling