OpticalLimits formerly known by camera review elders as photozone.de has produced their review of the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8.0
Without even really studying the review, it’s difficult to find fault in a telephoto 100-400mm that sells for $599 USD.
Key features of the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM include;
- RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
- Aperture Range: f/5.6 to f/45
- One UD Element, One Aspherical Element
- Super Spectra Coating
- Nano USM AF Motor
- Maximum Magnification: 0.41x at 400mm
- Optical Image Stabilizer
- Customizable Control Ring
- Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
In the review, OpticalLimits notes that the resolution is good throughout the range.
[T]he Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 USM IS is quite good for what it is. On the positive side, the broader center performance is very good throughout the range – and that’s what’s most important with such a lens.
Chromatic abberations seem to be a slight problem reaching up to 2 line pairs, but this is easily cleaned up in post processing, and if you really want to give this lens a shot in the arm, break out Canon’s Digital Photo Professional and run your RAW’s through DLO. In camera, unless you are frame rate limited in using DLO, make sure you have that turned on for JPEG output. Keep in mind that some Canon cameras will have burst rate, or buffer reductions when DLO is enabled. DLO means Digital Lens Optimizer, and Canon does a bunch of math knowing the focal, aperture, camera and lens to determine exactly how to mathmatically compensate for known lens abberations.
Overall OpticalLimits gives it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars for “bang for buck” price/performance and summarizes the lens as follows;
the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM may not be the most fancy lens around, but it has to balance price and quality. Unlike lenses with shorter focal lengths, the center of attention is usually near the image center, and the Canon lens is capable of delivering pretty sharp results here. The outer image field is less impressive at the long end of the range. The sweet spot in terms of sharpness is around the 200mm mark, with a quite even performance here. Lateral CAs are good at 100mm but increase quite a bit the more you zoom out.
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Overall, the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM is a good lens for the money, especially for those with a lower-megapixel camera body. If you want more … well … the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 USM L IS will cost you 5x this much.
Purchase the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8.0 IS USM from BHPhotovideo.
Source: OpticalLimits
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