Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens
In summary
The 70-200mm zoom range is a popular extension to 24-70mm zooms and works well for sports and wildlife shooting at longer focal lengths and portraiture at focal lengths between 70mm and about 105mm, where it provides a natural-looking perspective.
The constant f/2.8 maximum aperture provides plenty of scope for selective focusing, while the 9-bladed iris diaphragm has potential to deliver soft and attractive bokeh at wide aperture settings.
This is a really impressive lens in many ways, combining portability and great handling with superior autofocusing, stabilisation and imaging performance.
Vignetting might be seen as a potential weakness, but the in-camera corrections deal with it very competently and it’s easy enough to correct in raw file conversion software.
The built quality is superb and the tripod mount is easy to remove for hand-held shooting. Autofocusing is also as good as the best lenses we’ve tested – and a lot better than many.
Full review
Announced in October 2019, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM is the first serious telephoto zoom lens for Canon’s ‘full-frame’ mirrorless camera system (the RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM fits into the ‘extended-range zoom category). This lens is approximately 27% shorter and 28% lighter than its EF equivalent and utilises the wide diameter and short back focus of the RF mount to provide a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. Built-in stabilisation provides up to 5 stops of shake correction with Dual Sensing IS for stills and Combination IS for movies and the customisable control ring can be programmed to access aperture, shutter speed, ISO or exposure compensation adjustments.
Angled view of the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. (Source: Canon.)
The optical design of this lens is complex, with 23 elements in 19 groups including two aspherical, four UD and one Super UD element. Autofocusing is driven by two high-performance Nano USM motors that drive dual focusing groups to enable close focusing with excellent sharpness to a minimum distance of 70 cm at 70mm and 1.2 metres at 200mm.
This diagram shows the positions of the exotic elements in the lens design. (Source: Canon.)
This diagram shows the positions of the weather-resistant sealing in the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. (Source: Canon.)
Like its EF equivalent, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM is dust and water resistant and has a fluorine coating on the surfaces of the front and rear elements to resist oil and water and make them easy to clean with a dry cloth. The lens comes with a removable tripod collar, cylindrical lens hood, front and rear lens caps and a soft carrying pouch.
Who’s it For?
The 70-200mm zoom range is a popular extension to 24-70mm zooms and works well for sports and wildlife shooting at longer focal lengths and portraiture at focal lengths between 70mm and about 105mm, where it provides a natural-looking perspective. The constant f/2.8 maximum aperture provides plenty of scope for selective focusing, while the 9-bladed iris diaphragm has potential to deliver soft and attractive bokeh at wide aperture settings.
The minimum focusing distance of 70 cm provides a maximum magnification of 23%, which is close to ¼ life size. It’s a long way from true macro but adequate for taking close-ups of flowers and small animals.
Obvious candidates for this lens will be owners of Canon’s EOS R camera – and future high-end models in this line. Physically, it’s also quite a good match with the entry-level EOS RP, which we used for our tests although price-wise they’re poles apart. At an RRP of AU$4899 you’ll need deep pockets to pony-up for this lens.
Compared to the EF Lens
The RF lens is a totally new design, whereas the latest iteration of the equivalent EF lens is barely changed from its predecessor. Since they target the same end users, albeit with different cameras, we thought it was worthwhile to provide a comparison between them. The table below shows key specifications and we’ve provided an illustration of size differences below it.
RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM | EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS III USM | |
Announced | February 2019 | June 2018 |
RRP (AU$) | $4899 | $3199 |
Diameter | 89.9 | 88.8 mm |
Min. /Max. length | 146/204 mm | 199 mm |
Weight | 1070 grams | 1480 grams |
Stabiliser | Yes, 5 stops (CIPA standard) | Yes, 3.5 stops (CIPA standard) |
Optical design | 17 elements in 13 groups | 23 elements in 19 groups |
Exotic elements | 2 aspherical, 4 UD and 1 Super UD | 1 fluorite and 5 UD |
Lens coatings | Subwavelength Structure Coating and fluorine | Air Sphere coating and fluorine |
Focus drive | 2 Nano USM linear motors | Ring USM |
Minimum focus | 0.7 metres | 1.2 metres |
Max. Magnification | 0.23x | 0.21x |
Diaphragm blades | 9 | 8 |
Distance information | No | Yes |
Filter diameter | 77 mm | 77 mm |
Teleconverter compatible | No | Yes |
Canon says the designers of the RF lens were tasked with producing a lens that took full advantage of the benefits of the RF mount and matched the portability and mobility of a mirrorless camera system. It was also required to fit easily in a small camera bag.
This illustration shows how much smaller the RF lens is than its EF equivalent and how it can be fitted into a smallish camera bag. (Source: Canon.)
The optical design of the lens has played an important role in keeping the lens relatively small and light, aided by the advantages provided by the shorter back focus distance and wider ‘throat’ of the RF lens mount. The lens also contains fewer elements.
A floating focus system drives two lens groups using two Nano USM units that provide independent control over them. This enables users to shoot subjects from a physically closer distance, with a larger maximum image magnification and better close-up image quality.
This illustration shows the positions of the focusing and stabilisation groups of elements in the lens design. (Source: Canon.)
The image stabilisation system has also been redesigned and, unlike the systems in existing EF lenses, offers three IS modes, adding a third mode for shooting subjects that move unpredictably, which also provides a more stable viewfinder image. The lens can support up to five stops of shake correction and is compatible with Dual Sensing IS as well as supporting Combination IS in movie mode.
Build and Ergonomics
If you’re surprised by the high rating we’ve given this lens, we suggest you check out the Lens Rentals ‘tear-down’ of the lens here and compare it with their tear down of the previous two models. From them you can see that just about every possible weakness has been covered in the design and construction of the RF lens. Even though a considerable amount of plastic has been used in its construction, the conclusion of the technicians was: This is going to hold up better than a metal lens, it’s probably sturdier, and it weighs far less.
Side view of the RF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM lens without the tripod collar. (Source: Canon.)
Like Canon’s other professional telephoto lenses, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8 is clad in distinctive ‘white’ (actually pale grey) paint, which helps to minimise heat built-up when the lens is used outdoors in sunny conditions. This is just one step towards ensuring a stable image is produced.
The sliding hatch makes it easy to adjust angle-critical filters, even when the lens is being used hand-held. (Source: Canon.)
It also comes with a matching lens hood that reverses over the barrel for storage and includes a locking button and sliding hatch to allow users to adjust angle-critical filters without having to remove the hood. The tripod foot is also removable and colour-matched.
You unscrew the large knurled knob and pull it outwards to unlatch it, which releases the hinged arm. Simply loosening the knob is enough to allow the camera and lens to be rotated between portrait and landscape orientations. Once switched, the large knob is easy to tighten to hold the lens in place.
Unlike the EF equivalent, this lens has an extending inner barrel that increases its overall length by 58 mm as you zoom from 70mm to 200mm. In the past, such designs were often seen as ‘dust pumps’ but Canon has introduced ‘breathable’ dust- and moisture-resistant filters into the ventilation route that controls air flow to keep the lens dust and water resistant.
At the front of the inner barrel is a 15 mm long black area that carries the bayonet mount for the lens hood. The zoom ring is located on the outer barrel 5 mm behind its leading edge. It’s 40 mm wide and mostly clad in a ridged rubber grip band, with marks for the 70mm, 100mm, 135mm and 200mm focal lengths stamped on its smooth trailing edge.
Behind the zoom ring is a 22 mm wide fixed section of the outer barrel that contains the zoom lock around the right hand side, while to the left are located (in descending order) the distance range selector, AF/MF focus mode switch, image stabiliser on/off switch and, finally, the three-position stabiliser mode selector.
The 17 mm wide focusing ring is located just aft of this section with most of its surface covered by narrow rubberised ridges. Focusing is electronic and driven by signals from the camera so this ring rotates through 360 degrees when power is turned off.
The outer barrel then double-steps inwards to meet a 25 mm wide section of the barrel where the control ring is located. This 10 mm wide ring is the same ‘white’ colour as the rest of the barrel and has click-stops that give users a feel for how much it is turned. It can be programmed to adjust frequently-used functions like shutter speed and aperture settings. (It can be de-clicked by Canon’s Service Centre technicians – for a fee.)
The barrel then slopes in to the metal mounting plate with a red index dot at the junction for attaching and detaching it from the camera body. Just inside the junction is a rubber ring for excluding moisture and dust.
Performance
Our Imatest tests showed the review lens to be a top-notch performer. Even though the resolution of JPEG files fell a little short of expectations for the 26-megapixel sensor in the EOS RP we used for testing, raw files captured at the same time had resolutions well above expectations. However, even more importantly, centre and edge resolution remained close throughout the tests as shown in the graph of our test results below.
Resolution remained high from f/2.8 through to f/11, where diffraction began to take effect. The highest resolution at all focal lengths was f/4, which is to be expected for a premium lens.
Lateral chromatic aberration remained well down in the ‘negligible’ band for both JPEGs and CR3.RAW files, confirming this lens is effectively free of this problem. We found no coloured fringing in test shots taken with this lens.
Autofocusing was fast and almost universally accurate. The only times we found it less than perfect were with very low contrast subjects when a close item (like a post) came between the lens and a subject we were tracking. But even then, hesitation was barely detectable and the only fault was a very slight softening of the focus on the subject.
Once the tripod foot was removed (a quick and easy process), shooting hand-held with this lens was a delight, thanks to the excellent stabilisation system. The fast maximum aperture also ensured the camera’s EVF obtained plenty of light to deliver a bright viewfinder image.
Because the camera provides built-in corrections for common aberrations, these were switched off when we carried out our tests and assessments of vignetting and distortion were, as usual, carried out on uncorrected raw files. Slight vignetting could be seen in wide-aperture shots taken at 70mm and it became increasingly evident as focal length was increased.
By 200mm the effect was quite noticeable in uncorrected raw files, although the in-camera corrections totally eliminated it from JPEGs. Stopping down to f/4 reduced, but didn’t eliminate the corner darkening.
Slight barrel distortion was observed in uncorrected raw files captured at 70mm. It was effectively eliminated by the 100mm and 135mm focal lengths and transitioned to very slight pincushion distortion at 200mm. Again, this aberration is fully corrected by in-camera processing.
The deep, cylindrical lens hood eliminated most traces of ghosting and flare in backlit subjects and it was quite difficult to force the lens to flare when a bright light source was included within the frame. It’s worth noting that the atmospheric conditions prevailing when our tests were conducted might have impacted slightly on colour rendition in our test shots.
Bokeh was generally smooth and attractive with little in the way of outlining and smooth out-of-focus rendering. Highlights tend to remain as circular discs across most of the frame with a slight shift towards an elliptical shape near the corners. This is a normal effect of vignetting and not serious enough to affect normal perception. Focus transitions were generally very smooth.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 34 to 12 degrees (diagonal)
Minimum aperture: f/32
Lens construction: 17 elements in 13 groups (including 2 aspherical, 4 UD and 1 Super UD elements)
Lens mounts: Canon RF
Diaphragm Blades: 9 (circular aperture)
Focus drive: Two linear Nano USMs (one for each focusing group)
Stabilisation: Yes (5 stops)
Minimum focus: 70 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.23x
Filter size: 77 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 89.9 x 146 mm
Weight: 1070 grams (1200 grams with tripod mount)
Standard Accessories: Removable tripod collar, ET-83F (W III) lens hood, front and rear lens caps, LP-1424 lens pouch
Distributor: Canon Australia; 1800 021 167; www.canon.com.au
TESTS
Based on JPEG files taken with the EOS RP camera.
Based on CR3.RAW files recorded simultaneously.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 70mm, f/2.8.
Vignetting at 100mm, f/2.8.
Vignetting at 135mm, f/2.8.
Vignetting at 200mm, f/2.8.
Rectilinear distortion at 70mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 100mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 135mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 200mm.
70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/320 second at f/5.6.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/5.6.
Crop from the edge of the above image enlarged to 100% showing no coloured fringing.
Crop from the centre of the above image enlarged to 100% showing high resolution.
Close-up at 70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1250 second at f/2.8.
Close-up at 200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/640 second at f/2.8.
Selective focusing; 200mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/250 second at f/5.6.
200mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/320 second at f/2.8.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/6.3.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/6.3.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/800 second at f/5.6.
128mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/640 second at f/7.1.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/800 second at f/5.6.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/6.3.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1250 second at f/7.1.
Crop showing how well the AF system locked on to the main subject when it was moving quickly towards the camera.
200mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1250 second at f/7.1.
Crop showing how well the AF system locked on to the main subject when it was moving quickly across the field of view.
Rating
RRP: AU$4899; US$2699
- Build: 9.3
- Handling: 9.0
- Image quality: 9.0
- Versatility: 8.9
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