Canon
800mm f/5.6
© 2008 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM. enlarge. I'd get mine at Adorama or Amazon. It helps me keep adding to this site when you get yours from those links, too.
June 2008 More Canon Reviews
I personally buy from Ritz, Adorama and Amazon. I can't vouch for any other ads.
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Introduction
Canon announced the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM on January 23rd, 2008. It started shipping in May, 2008. It is the world's longest focal length lens with an Optical Image Stabilizer system.
You birders will love this! There is no substitute; Nikon stops at 600mm, from which you'll need teleconverters.
Specifications
Name: Canon calls this the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM.
EF: Electronic Focus. Every Canon lens since 1986 has been this.
IS: Image Stabilization.
USM: Ultra-sonic motor. It doesn't make any noise as focused, and you just grab the focus ring at any time for instant manual override.
Optics: 18 elements in 10 groups. Two of these are fluorite, one is UD glass and one is super-D glass.
Close Focus: 19.7 feet (6m).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 1:7.1.
Filters: 52mm drop-in
Size: 18.1" long x 6.4" diameter (461 x 162mm).
Weight: 9.9 pounds (4.5 kg).
Barrel: Magnesium alloy. Gasketed against weather.
Teleconverters: EF 1.4x II and EF 2x II. Only some AF sensors might with with the 1.4x TC, forget it with the 2x.
Price: $11,999.
Announced: 23 January 2008.
Available: Since May 2008.
Performance
Do you think I'd trust myself borrowing this thing to review?
Years of experience tells me that lenses like this are the very sharpest lenses made by Canon or Nikon. The limits to sharpness are atmospheric seeing conditions: haze, humidity and heat shimmer.
Likewise, the biggest limitation to autofocus performance most likely will be having a sharp enough image, due to conditions, on which for the system to focus.
Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM. enlarge
Recommendations
You people know who you are. If I needed an 800mm IS lens, I'd get one.
On the other hand, I don't need an 800mm lens. For most people, a shorter lens, like the 400mm f/2.8 IS or 600mm f/4 IS are more flexible options because teleconverters can make these lenses into an 800mm f/5.6, but if you have an 800mm f/5.6, you can't convert it back into a shorter, faster lens.
The Canon 400mm f/2.8 IS has the same diameter, costs only half as much as the 800mm, is shorter, but weighs two pounds more.
The Canon 600mm f/4 IS also has the same diameter, costs 2/3 as much as the 800mm, is the same length, and weights two pounds more.
PLUG
If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
Thanks for reading!
Ken