I've also never had a problem. The AF is quite decent. It's not the absolute fastest in the world, but it's quite quick for an STM motor. Honestly my only real complaint with the lens is that it doesn't have a panning IS mode.
I checked out some of the few of the B&H complaints. You have to remember that there will always be some lemons out there (both lenses and users). More so among the cheap ones (mostly lenses), but any batch of lenses will have some variation, mostly from very good to even better, but one or a few bad among tens of thousands. Looking at the distribution of the reviews, well, if you chose to go by the very few two-star or even the few three-star, you will never be able buy a product. Look at the huge majority that are very satisfied and this among 130+ reviews, _that_ says it all.
One saying that his(?) RF 100-400 is better than his 800/11. Ok, thats is _one_ opinion. My RF 100-400 and 800/11 are equally very good, incredibly good for the price as well as for the weight.
The main surprise/challenge with the 800/11 is that it is such an extreme lens. That narrow field of view, especially on crop bodies with the 1280mm field of view, you HAVE to do your part with sharp shooting technique. Otherwise you get mush and blur and high ISO due to f/11 or too slow exposure etc. Unless the light is there, you will start to struggle. It is rather easy to get not so satisfying results if you fail to bring your A-game when shooting. Easier to accuse the lens than admit ones fumbles...
Fledgling Bald Eagle trying to look as intimidating as it could to scare the small birds that were buzzing by trying to get it to leave. Near Hannibal and the Mississippi River.
Z250SA wrote:
However, there is a forgotten gem around, the 600/11 STM! I got such a good deal on one that resistance was futile. On crop it is 960mm and it is _very_ handy compared to the 800/11. The difference is substantial! This lens should have a thread of itīs own, but it would die instantly due to lack of users, probably with some stupid comment about inability to totally destroy, sorry, _blur_ the back ground from some f/4 nut as the last nail.
There is nothing forgotten about it. Since most wildlife photographers are getting these lenses for the most reach, why would they want the 600 f11 instead of the 800 f11, other than for having a smaller and lighter lens.
Now if that was a 600 f5.6 or f7.1, there might be more buyers.
An unexpectedly good result from an indoor shoot of my son's graduation, using the 800mm hand-held. I had used the 100-500 for the stage pictures from another location, but that lens did not have enough reach from the back of the stage towards the event hall. Event security mandated a transparent backpack, and the largest I could find was 12" x 16", which was just large enough for the 800mm (can't say enough about the genius of the telescopic system), 100-500mm and 24-105L + the camera body and spare battery.
This picture is the out-of-camera (R6mk2) jpeg with just some brightening and size reduction. The wide field photo was taken with an iPhone 14 (about 26mm equivalent) to put this in context.
Imagemaster wrote:
There is nothing forgotten about it. Since most wildlife photographers are getting these lenses for the most reach, why would they want the 600 f11 instead of the 800 f11, other than for having a smaller and lighter lens.
Now if that was a 600 f5.6 or f7.1, there might be more buyers.
Yes, perhaps overlooked or disregarded would be better words to describe the situation of the 600/11. None the less the 600/11 would be such a handy as well as powerful package especially with the new crop bodies at a budget level never seen before.
There would indeed be more buyers of any 600mm f faster than f/11 until too high a price would limit them/us at somewhere around f/5.6. And the 600/11 would sell as hot digicoin if there were no 800/11. Rather sad actually, as the 960mm reach on the croppers is exceptional compared to anything on the common mans side of the big income divide before the 600/11 and the present gen Canons.
Methodical wrote:
I'm not surprised by the quality of the lens. I knew it would be a nice lens in the right hands, just like the 100-500 lens.
I was actually very surprised by the image quality of the 800/11. When I got the R5 I had to wait several months for the 100-500, so I grabbed the one 800 available. Yes, the reviews were largely positive despite most compared the 800/11 to the 600 f/4 and of course found the f/11 somewhat lacking...
One characteristic I really like with the f/11 is that it keeps some background context in the images. Warning: I find those totally blurred f/4 backgrounds boring after looking at just a few images. And I dare speak out!
I rented the 800/11 recently, intending to take it to a local air show I've shot many times before. I've never shot a long prime or anything beyond 560mm. I own an R6 and EF 100-400 II with a 1.4x TC III.
The 800/11 is shockingly light. It isn't, but it feels half the weight of lens above, so it is very easy to use, even for someone unaccustomed to such a long focal length.
I did a few side by side shots against the 100-400 in the back yard, shooting utility poles and distance signs. Once I got used to 800mm, 400mm seemed incredibly short. But the cropped 400mm shots looked very similar in terms of sharpness and detail to the 800mm shots. Yes, it's probably not fair to compare a relatively cheap lens to an L lens, but that's how I'd personally be evaluating a potential purchase.
I took it to a wetlands to shoot some birds. For stationary or very slow moving birds in good light, this lens is very good. I almost always use servo focusing with tracking. The 800/11 managed to deliver in-focus shots, but the AF squares didn't inspire confidence. Instead of maintaining a square around the subject, it seemed to jump between that, multiple squares, and a big box around the entire focusing area. I tried tracking a few flying birds but didn't have much luck. It can take a while to rack the focus and by then the birds were long gone.
I practiced tracking some more distant planes and found a weird behavior. I acquired the plane in the viewfinder, engaged AF, physically tracked the plane, then hit the shutter. After the last shot in a burst, the plane would jump ahead in the viewfinder. It's like the EVF wasn't being updated during the burst. I use EFCS and H+ and no camera settings changed between lenses. I'm not sure what caused that.
I think this lens would be excellent for someone wanting to get into the long telephoto game for very little money, provided your subjects are slow moving. If you already have a high quality long telephoto lens, then there isn't a lot to be gained from the 800/11 except weight savings.
Mike_5D wrote:
I. If you already have a high quality long telephoto lens, then there isn't a lot to be gained from the 800/11 except weight savings.
And that is the reason I have one alongside my EF600mm F4mk3. Sometimes it's just easier to carry the 800mm when I would have left the 600mm behind.. I end up having the reach I need in an amazingly light and inexpensive lens that punches way above it weight class
Mike_5D wrote:
I think this lens would be excellent for someone wanting to get into the long telephoto game for very little money, provided your subjects are slow moving. If you already have a high quality long telephoto lens, then there isn't a lot to be gained from the 800/11 except weight savings.
The photos I posted on page two of this thread shows the lens is quite capable of tracking fast-flying birds when used with the right body. To expect it to perform as well as a 600 f4 or 800 f5.6 is ridiculous. F11 is giving you nowhere near as much light on your sensor for AF as f4 or f5.6.
And of course if you bought the 800 f5.6, you spent $16,000 more.
I took my 800 f11 out yesterday because I was going to specifically take subjects that were far away and I wanted to carry less weight than my PF 100-500. It worked well for that, but it was a bummer when that little mink came closer to me than the MFD of twenty feet.
Shot below is with the 1.4x TC attached and a 50% crop, handheld. Not bad for a $1,000 lens, IMO.
Canon EOS R6m2RF800mm F11 IS STM + EXTENDER RF1.4x lens1120mmf/16.01/2000s1250 ISO-1.0 EV
