Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L

Full Frame Mirrorless IS USM

Ultra Fast Autofocus

World's Smallest & Lightest 70-200/2.8

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

R3  R5  R5C  R6 II  R6  R  R8  RP  R7  R10  R50  R100

Bodies Compared  RF Lenses  EF Lenses  Flash

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM with Removable Tripod Collar (77mm filters, 41.9 oz./1,187g with collar as shown, 37.5  oz./1,062g without, 2.3'/0.7m close focus, $2,799, or about $2,250 used). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

July 2022   Better Pictures   Canon Reviews   Mirrorless   RF Lenses   EF Lenses   Flash   All Reviews

 

Sample Images       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

These are just snapshots and there are many more throughout the review; my real work is in my Gallery.

These are all shot hand-held as NORMAL JPGs; no tripods, FINE JPGs or RAW CR3 files were used or needed.

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

Fuzzy Plants, 5:28 PM, 26 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 135mm wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stop exposure compensation (LV 13.6), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

There's very little depth-of-field, but what is in focus is ultra sharp and you can see every detail in every piece of fuzz— and this is wide-open where lenses are softest.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

Palms, Fuzzy Plants and Mountains, 5:28 PM, 26 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 200mm at f/5 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.0), as shot. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Only the palms on the right are in focus.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

2017 Specialized Tarmac Comp 58cm, Torch Edition with orange Presta valve caps, Shimano Dura-Ace CS-R9100 12-25T cassette, Shimano Integra FC-R8000 175mm 46-36T crankset and Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100 pedals, 10:03 AM, 27 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 115mm wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/2,500 at Auto ISO 100, -1 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.4), as shot. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Ultra sharp, even wide-open where there's no depth-of-field to help us. It's easy to read the tiny print from my front tire:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters — bigger than life-sized) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

Palms, 7:33 AM, 28 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 70mm at f/11at 1/100 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sample Image File

Palms, 7:36 AM, 28 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 200mm wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.4), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.

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Introduction       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

New   Good   Bad   Missing

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

This is an ultra-sharp and ultra-compact professional telephoto zoom for Canon's EOS-R mirrorless system. On my EOS R5, autofocus is faster than my own eyes!

Fulfilling the dream of mirrorless and quite different from Sony's big, fat and bloated 70-200/2.8 GM, this Canon RF 70-200/2.8 is much smaller and lighter than any other 70-200 f/2.8. It's about half the length of other 70-200/2.8s. It's the lightest 70-200/2.8 ever made and focuses super close. BRAVO!

It's so light that it's trivial to shoot one-handed:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L on EOS R5. bigger.

It includes a removable solid-alloy tripod collar, but this lens is so small and light that it's not needed.

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

New       intro       top

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Smallest, lightest and closest-focussing 70-200/2.8 ever. (OK, the newer RF 70-200mm f/4 focuses closer and the huge Thai-made Nikon Z 70-200/2.8 can focus closer at 70mm, but not as close at 200mm where we need it.)

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com New tripod collar design comes off without the lens looking silly.

 

Good       intro       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Ultra sharp.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Super close focussing.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Ultra fast autofocusing on the EOS R5 (faster than my own eyes), and fast even on the EOS RP.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Small.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Light.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com So small and light you don't need the the included tripod collar!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Stops down to f/32.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Programmable third control ring.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Image Stabilization rated 5 to 6 stops improvement, real-world gives about 4 stops.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Includes a removable, solid alloy tripod collar.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Includes a great hood.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Includes case.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Made in Japan.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 100% U.S.A.-based high-quality technical support at (800) OK-CANON.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weather gasketed:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Gaskets

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM internal gasketing. bigger.

 

Bad       intro       top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Not free.

 

Missing       intro       top

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No always-responsive instant manual-focus override. EOS R cameras need a menu setting changed for manual-focus override, otherwise the focus ring is always ignored in AF. Find the "Lens electronic AF" option in your AF menu (AF 4 in EOS R5 or CAMERA 8 in EOS RP), and set it to either "One‑Shot‑>enabled" or "One‑Shot‑>enabled (magnify)." Now manual focus override works if you turn the ring while continuing to hold the shutter halfway, but only after focus locks in ONE SHOT.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No focus lock buttons; program one on the camera if you prefer.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nothing else missing, other than a lot of bulk and weight. Comes with a case and a great hood.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L without collar. bigger.

 

Compatibility       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This lens only works on Canon's EOS-R series of mirrorless cameras.

It won't fit on, and cannot be adapted to, any DSLR because a DSLR has too much distance between its sensor and its lens mount flange.

No teleconverters work with this lens. The RF 1.4× and RF 2× extenders both need to extend into the mount of the lens, and this lens has glass there so they interfere and won't mount.

 

Specifications       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

 

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Name

Canon calls this the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM:

    RF: Works only on Canon's EOS-R Mirrorless cameras.

    L: Expensive as L.

    IS: Image Stabilization.

    USM: UltraSonic (autofocus) Motor.

 

Optics       specifications       top

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 internal construction

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM internal optical construction. UD glass, Regular Optical Glass, Super UD glass, (IS Section), UD Aspherical and Glass-Molded Aspherical elements. bigger.

17 elements in 13 groups.

4 UD extra-low dispersion elements, which help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration. One of them is also aspherical.

1 Super UD extra-low dispersion element, which helps reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.

2 aspherical elements, one of which is also UD.

Internal focussing.

Multicoated, one surface sub-wavelength coated.

Front fluorine coating to resist dirt and smudges.

 

Filters       specifications       top

77 mm filter thread.

 

Coverage       specifications       top

Full-Frame (24 × 36mm) and APS-C (16 × 24mm).

 

Diaphragm       specifications       top

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. bigger.

9 rounded blades.

Electronically actuated.

Stops down to f/32.

 

Angles of View, Full-Frame       specifications       top

34º ~ 12º diagonal.

29º ~ 10º horizontal.

19.5º ~ 7º vertical.

 

Autofocus       specifications       top

Manual and Autofocus is with two Nano USM (UltraSonic) Motors. Each motor moves one of two internal focus groups. This internal focussing system means nothing moves externally as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in, and by using two groups the lens can be even more precisely corrected at different distances and focus insanely close, all with great performance.

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 internal construction

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM internal optical construction. bigger.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 internal construction

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM internal optical construction. bigger.

 

Focus Scale       specifications       top

Not on lens, may be shown in camera.

 

Infinity Focus Stop       specifications       top

No.

 

Depth of Field Scale       specifications       top

No.

 

Infrared Focus Index       specifications       top

No.

 

Close Focus       specifications       top

2.3 feet (0.7 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio       specifications       top

1:4.3 (0.23×).

 

Reproduction Ratio Scale       specifications       top

No.

 

Image Stabilizer       specifications       top

Rated 5 stops improvement on the EOS-R at 200mm.

Rated 6 stops improvement on the EOS-R5.

Actually gives about 4 stops in the real world.

 

Caps       specifications       top

E-77II 77mm front cap, included.

Rear Lens Dust Cap RF (p/n 2962C001), included.

 

Hood       specifications       top

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon ET-83F (WIII) Hood. bigger.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon ET-83F (WIII) Hood. bigger.

ET-83F (WIII), part number 3793C001, included.

It has a sliding port to let you rotate polarizers and grads, and a locking lever so it doesn't fall off on its own.

 

Case       specifications       top

Canon LP1424 Case

Canon LP1424 case. bigger.

LP-1424 carry sack, included.

 

Size       specifications       top

3.54" Ø maximum diameter × 5.75" extension from flange.

89.9 mm Ø maximum diameter × 146.0 mm extension from flange.

 

Weight       specifications       top

41.857 oz. (1,186.7 g) with tripod collar; 37.475 oz. (1,062.4 g) without collar, actual measured weight.

Collar alone: Collar: 4.385 oz. (124.5 g), actual measured weight.

Rated 42.3 oz. (1,200g) with collar; 37.7  oz. (1,070g) without.

 

Quality       specifications       top

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS without collar. bigger.

Lens and hood both Made in Japan.

 

Development Announced       specifications       top

11 PM Wednesday, 13 February 2019, NYC time, at which time it was promised for "later in 2019."

 

Announced and First Offered for Sale       specifications       top

12:01 AM Thursday, 24 October 2019, NYC time.

 

Shipping promised for       specifications       top

21 November 2019.

 

Included       specifications       top

70-200mm lens.

ET-83F (WIII) (part number 3793C001).

E-77II 77mm front cap.

Rear Lens Dust Cap RF (p/n 2962C001).

LP-1424 carry sack.

 

Canon's Model Numbers       specifications       top

Model Number: RF70-20028LIS.

Product Code: 3792C002 in USA; 3792C001 in Japan.

JAN Code: 4549292-156263.

 

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

July 2022

$2,799 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield.

About $2,250 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

August 2020

$2,599.

 

October 2019

$2,699.

 

Performance       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus   Breathing

Bokeh   Distortion   Ergonomics   Falloff   Filters

Flare & Ghosts   Focal Lengths, actual

Lateral Color Fringes   Lens Corrections

Macro   Mechanics   Sharpness

Spherochromatism   Stabilization

Sunstars  Teleconverters   Tripod Collar

 

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Overall       performance       top

The RF 70-200/2.8 makes history as the smallest, lightest 70-200/2.8 ever made — and its optics, stabilization and autofocus are top of the line as well.

Bravo!

 

Autofocus       performance       top

Autofocus is just about instantaneous on my EOS R5. It's so fast that I compared how fast my own eyes could focus from 3 feet (1m) to infinity), and the 70-200 & R5 combination are faster!

It's fast on my EOS RP, but nowhere near as instantaneous as it is on my R5.

 

Manual Focus       performance       top

Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.

How to get manual-focus override.

 

Focus Breathing       performance       top

Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe because it looks funny if the image changes size as focus gets pulled back and forth between actors. If the lens does this, the image "breathes" by growing and contracting slightly as the dialog goes back and forth.

The image from this RF 70-200mm f/2.8 gets smaller as focussed more closely.

 

Bokeh       performance       top

Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is neutral. Blur circles are simply circles.

Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open:

 

At 70mm

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Bokeh Sample Image File

Scarecrow Owl, 12:34 PM, 28 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 70mm at f/2.8 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

 

At 200mm

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Bokeh Sample Image File

Scarecrow Owl, 12:34 PM, 28 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 70mm at f/2.8 at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.0), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 200mm at f/2.8 and get as close as you can.

 

Distortion       performance       top

The RF 70-200/2.8 has only minor distortion: mild barrel at 70mm, none around 100mm and mild pincushion from 135~200mm.

It's so minor that my EOS R5 doesn't bother correcting it by default.

For more critical scientific use, turn on your camera's automatic correction, or use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images.

These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.

On Full-Frame at 16' (5m)

Correction factor with uncorrected images

Correction factor to use with images made with correction ON in EOS R5
70mm
+2.00 ±0.00
100mm
-0.50 ±0.00
135mm
-1.80 ±0.00
200mm
-1.80 ±0.00

 

Ergonomics       performance       top

Shown without tripod collar:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

At 70mm. bigger.
At 200mm. bigger.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

At 70mm. bigger.
At 200mm. bigger.

Ergonomics are great; everything is right where we expect it.

Zooming is a direct mechanical ring.

Focus is entirely electronic. How to get manual-focus override.

It's not apparent, but there is a third programmable and detented control ring in white near the mount.

The slide switches cover everything (Focus Limit, AF/MF and Stabilizer) and are right where we expect them:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. bigger.

 

Falloff       performance       top

Falloff on full frame is invisible, and automatic (peripheral illumination) correction is ON by default.

I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:

 

Canon RF 70~200mm f/2.8 Falloff, correction at default of ON.

 
f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
70mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
100mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
135mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
200mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff

 

© 2020 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

If you go out of your way to turn the correction OFF, then it's still invisible in actual photos, except for wide-open at 200mm. Again shooting gray-on-gray greatly exaggerates this:

 

Canon RF 70~200mm f/2.8 Falloff, correction deliberately turned OFF.

 
f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
70mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
100mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
135mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
200mm
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 falloff

 

© 2020 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Filters, use with       performance       top

There's no need for thin filters. I stacked four filters on top of each other and had no vignetting at any setting on full frame. I probably could have stacked more, but that's all the 77mm I had at the time.

Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters.

 

Flare & Ghosts       performance       top

I see no problems. See examples at Sunstars.

 

Focal Lengths, actual       performance       top

At infinity where you need it, you get the full 70~200mm range.

Canon plays the usual optical tricks to get us ultra-close focusing throughout the entire zoom range, which means if you're weird enough to adapt a manual-focus fixed 200mm lens to your EOS R series camera and compare the two at close distances, of course this lens isn't quite 200mm at those close distances — but it's close and it's far more important to have close focussing. This effect is also seen as focus breathing.

 

Lateral Color Fringes       performance       top

There are no color fringes when shot as JPG with the default Chromatic Aberration Correction inside Digital Lens Optimizer left at ON.

if you go out of your way to turn this OFF (or shoot raw and then use non-manufacturer software to process that data into images) then there is just the tiniest invisible amount of green-magenta fringing at 70mm, none in the middle of the zoom range, and the tiniest invisible amount of magenta-green at 200mm

This is superb performance; bravo!

 

Lens Corrections       performance       top

Other cameras may vary, but my EOS R5, EOS R6 and EOS RP all have options to correct for falloff (Peripheral Illumination Correction), Distortion and a Digital Lens Optimizer which correct for a suite of other aberrations. The EOS R has this, too; I just don't have one handy to check the specifics with this lens.

Falloff and the Digital Lens Optimizer are ON by default.

This lens has very little distortion, so Distortion correction is OFF by default. Feel free to turn it on for critical use.

If you turn off the Digital Lens Optimizer, you are then offered à la carte ON/OFF options for Chromatic Aberration Correction and Diffraction Correction — at least on my EOS R5, EOS R6 and EOS RP.

 

Macro Performance       performance       top

Macro is great; the 70~200 focuses super-close, the world's closest-focussing 70-200mm zoom at 200mm, and it's super-sharp even wide-open:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Bokeh Sample Image File

Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 12:06 PM, 28 August 2020. Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS at 200mm at f/2.8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 10.6), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Bokeh Sample Image File

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

Mechanical Quality       performance       top

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. bigger.

This is made as Canon makes most of their pro lenses today: plastic on the outside for weight and to keep your fingers from freezing to it in the cold, and lots of metal on the inside where it counts.

As 70-200/2.8L lenses go, this RF lens is a very easy-to-carry and lightweight lens, completely different from the huge beasts that are Canon's other EF 70-200/2.8L lenses. Part of this is the use of a lot more plastic than on the other lenses; this RF lens is well made, and well made with a lot more plastic than other 70-200/2.8L lenses.

 

Finish

Tannish-white matte paint.

Canon and I usually whitewash it in pictures to show it whiter than it actually is.

 

Hood

Plastic bayonet with locking pawl.

 

Front Bumper

None.

 

Filter Threads

Plastic.

 

Hood Bayonet Mount

Plastic.

 

Front Barrel

Plastic.

 

Zoom Ring

Rubber-covered plastic.

 

Mid Barrel Exterior

Section with switches: plastic.

 

Slide Switches

Plastic.

 

Focus Ring

Rubber-covered plastic.

 

Rear Barrel Exteriors

All plastic.

 

Tripod Collar

Solid alloy.

Removable.

 

Identity

Lightly printed around front of zoom ring, also printed on top of barrel.

 

Internals

Metal and plastic!

 

Dust Gasket at Mount

Yes.

 

Mount

Metal.

 

Markings

All paint; except "70-200" on top of barrel is engraved.

 

Serial Number

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS without collar. bigger.

Laser engraved on bottom of barrel.

 

Date Code

None found.

 

Noises When Shaken

Mild to moderate clunking from what sounds like the focus and stabilization groups.

 

Made in

Made in Japan.

 

Sharpness       performance       top

Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.

This said, even wide-open at f/2.8 it's ultrasharp everywhere at every focal length. Just look at my Sample Images. BRAVO!

If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum 7,5,5) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 at ISO 1,600 at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L MTF

Canon RF 70-200mm MTF at 70mm (left) and 200mm (right) wide-open at f/2.8 at 10 cyc/mm (black) and 30 cyc/mm (blue). Sagittal (solid) and meridional (dashed).

 

Spherochromatism       performance       top

Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture. It goes away as stopped down.

It has a little bit of cool - warm spherochromatism, but nothing to get excited about:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Spherochromatism

Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at 200mm at f/2.8, 27 August 2020. bigger or camera-original © file.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Spherochromatism

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

Image Stabilization       performance       top

Optical Image Stabilization (OIS or IS) works great. I get perfect sharpness most of the time hand-held, standing with no bracing, most of the time at 1/8 at 70mm and 1/15 at 200mm.

I see no additional improvement with the EOS R5 and its in-body stabilization with firmware 1.1.0; I get the same results on my EOS RP.

"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness I get when I'm shooting hand-held while free-standing with no support or bracing. Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed. This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:

 

At 70mm on EOS RP

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
Stabilization ON
0
17
71
83
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
17
17
67
100
100

I see four stops of real-world improvement.

 

At 200mm on EOS RP

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
1/500
Stabilization ON
0
20
30
83
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
14
33
100
100

I see four stops of real-world improvement.

 

At 70mm on EOS R5      (with additional in-body stabilization and Firmware 1.1.0)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
Stabilization ON
0
5
17
50
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
33
50
100
100

I see only three stops of real-world improvement, worse than on the EOS RP with no in-body stabilization.

 

At 200mm on EOS R5      (with additional in-body stabilization and Firmware 1.1.0)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
1/500
Stabilization ON
0
14
28
50
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
83
83

I see four stops of real-world improvement, and not quite as good as on the EOS RP with no in-body stabilization.

 

Sunstars       performance       top

With a 9-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get pretty good 18-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at the smallest apertures.

Ignore any crazy rainbow effects; these are sensor artifacts caused by taking a picture directly of the sun and exposing for the dark underside of the palm tree. Likewise the vertical smear at large apertures is another sensor artifact called interline transfer smear; it's not a lens defect.

Click any to enlarge:

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 Sunstars

Click any to enlarge.

 

Teleconverters       performance       top

No teleconverters work with this lens. The RF 1.4× and RF 2× extenders both need to extend into the mount of the lens, and this lens has glass there so they interfere and won't mount.

 

Tripod Collar       performance       top

The tripod collar comes off.

It's all alloy.

It has no 90º clicks.

 

User's Guide       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

 

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Manual-Focus Override

By default, there is no always-responsive instant manual-focus override as we take for granted in our DSLRs.

EOS R cameras need a menu setting changed for manual-focus override, otherwise the focus ring is always ignored in AF.

Find the "Lens electronic AF" option in your AF menu (AF 4 in EOS R5 and EOS R6 or CAMERA 8 in EOS RP), and set it to either "One‑Shot‑>enabled" or "One‑Shot‑>enabled (magnify)."

Canon should have it set this way by default, but they don't. No big deal now that I figured it out.

Now manual focus override works if you turn the ring while continuing to hold the shutter halfway, but only after focus locks in ONE SHOT. The focus ring is ignored in SERVO.

 

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L

Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. bigger.

 

Full / 2.5m-∞ Switch       user's guide       top

This is a focus limiter.

Leave it in FULL.

The 2.5m-∞ position prevents the lens from autofocusing closer than 2.5 meters (8 feet). Use this setting only if you're having a problem with the lens attempting to focus on irrelevant close items, or if for some reason the lens is "hunting" from near to far looking for distant subjects.

 

AF - MF Switch       user's guide       top

AF: Auto Focus.

MF: Manual Focus only.

 

Stabilizer Switches       user's guide       top

ON / OFF

Leave it ON unless you're on a very sturdy tripod, or if you're making exposures longer than a second on any kind of tripod.

 

Stabilizer Mode 1 / 2 / 3

Mode 1: Normal.

Mode 2: Panning. 

Mode 3: Same as mode one, but saves power by only works when you take the picture.

 

Tripod Collar       user's guide       top

This lens is designed for hand-held shooting, so pull off the collar and leave it in the box for resale.

The lens isn't big or heavy enough to need a tripod collar; I just attach my camera to the tripod and I'm good.  Of course that's just me; do what you want; just don't use this lens for years hand-held with the collar in your way.

The collar comes off by loosening the thumb screw and then pulling it out to unlatch the collar. Tighten the thumbscrew to lock rotation.

There are no 90º clicks; look at the marks on the collar and the nearly invisible indent on the lens.

 

Recommendations       top

Sample Images   Intro   Compatibility

Specifications   Performance

User's Guide   Recommendations

The RF 70-200/2.8L IS USM offers full f/2.8L-grade performance in the smallest package ever, and focuses super-close.

I got my RF 70-200/2.8L IS USM at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.

The best protective filter is the 77mm Hoya multicoated HD3 UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.

For less money, the B+W 77mm 010 is an excellent filter, as is the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters or the 77mm Nikon Clear (NC - UV), but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.

Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt, and will outlast this lens.

All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used lens. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

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25 July 2022, 26, 28 August 2020, 24-25 October 2019, 12-13 February 2019