TELEPHOTO ZOOM LENSES

If you're fired up by all of this year's sporting activities, here are the best telephoto zooms for Canon EOS R system and DSLR cameras. Grab the action!

For shooting sporting action, as well as for capturing wildlife and even for portraiture at weddings and other events, a telephoto zoom lens is an essential bit of kit. A couple of months ago in issue 220, we focused on 'budget lenses', which included no fewer than four Canon telephoto zooms. This time we're concentrating on the finest examples of the breed. And if your budget doesn't stretch that far, we'll revisit the best budget options at the foot of the following pages.

For shooting sports and wildlife, you'll often find you can't get close enough to the subject.

Long 'super-telephoto' reach pays dividends, so a zoom lens that stretches to anything from 400mm to 600mm at the long end can really cover the distance. For event portraiture, a 70-200mm zoom is generally considered the tool of choice. A 'trinity' zoom with a relatively fast constant aperture of f/2.8 is favoured by most enthusiast and professional photographers, while an f/4 lens is naturally a stop slower but tends to be much more lightweight and affordable.

A couple of lenses in this test group buck the time-honored trend. The Canon RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM stretches to a relatively mammoth telephoto reach. Then there's the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM | S (Sports), which covers everything from a standard viewing angle right up to really long telephoto power.

£1769/$1599 CANON RF 70-200mm F4L IS USM

The RF edition of Canon's 70-200mm F4 is ultra-compact thanks to its retractable design

Telephoto lenses often won't fit in a small kit bag but, amazingly, this 70-200mm is only about the size of a can of drink, at least for stowage, thanks to its retractable design.

That's great news if you like to travel light, less so if you fancy adding an extender, as the proximity of the rear element to the mount makes it incompatible.