Canon RF 800mm F/11 IS STM Optical Image Stabilization Lens

Great lens and cheap for its length but requires practice to find targets quickly.

its a great lens to learn on for bird watching and astrophotography. its a lens that's good at a lot of things but not great at anything. It fixed f11 really hinders it from being perfect.

All things considered, I do like this lens. As with every piece of equipment, you need to know when and how to use it to get the best results. At first, I have to admit I wasn't impressed with this lens. But I was in a hurry the other day and didn't have the time or patience to take out my "real" 800, so I grabbed this one and, as things turned out, the pictures were amazing. Yes, you need really good light and have to know how to manage your shutter speed and ISO to accommodate the fixed f/11. But all that notwithstanding, the lens itself does what its supposed to do, and at less than 1/10 the cost of something better and bulkier. I'm glad I have this one1

I bought this lens refurbished from this Canon website for my new Canon R8. Active in bird photography, I wanted something to complement my EF 80-200mm IS L II with a 1.4x adapter. The EF zoom is outstanding, but 280mm from this lens/adapter combo just can’t get me close enough to the wildlife. The 800mm is shockingly light compared to my EF lens, and when I use the R8’s 1.6 crop option… I am able to get 1280mm from this setup. I’ve never used anything beyond 600mm in the past, so this lens allows me to obtain clear shots from very long distances. The stabilization with up to 4 stops works very well, as I primarily use this lens hand-held. I just set my shutter to 1000 to ensure the lens does not pickup my movement. Yes, with an f11, this lens is relegated to sunny days. The only other issue I encounter is the long minimum focusing distance (about 19 feet). I missed a few shots of birds landing closer to me; however, I realize this lens’ purpose… extreme long distance photography. In this capacity, this 800mm lens does an outstanding job!

Tested this lens under different conditions, as expected low light and birds in flight were rather difficult. So my final test was done with an R7 and the RF800 f11. my best results were with bright early morning sunlight, however there are some concerns about the focus "abilities" of this lens. I've added a few screen shots of the pictures in Digital Photo Professional software that shows the focus point. The camera did go to the eye but the focus is actually about 1 to 2 feet in front of the bird...pictures speak for themselves.

I've only used it to take shots of the moon so far but I'm happy with the results!

Purchased from the Canon Store. Owned it for a year now and have achieved good results when used under the right conditions. Works well for surfer shots from the beach. Light enough for hand held use,but I like it setup on a monopod or tripod.

Like others said, the AF randomly stops working. This 100% kills this lens for me. I have gotten decent photos but I simply don’t trust it- like at all. I originally had it paired with the RP body and thought it was the AF in the body causing issues, so I upgraded to the R6 and the problem is still there. I also have failed to get the AF to work at the 20’ mark. I really wish I didn’t buy this and sadly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, even for the price.

I have been using this lens for a little over a month. I bought it in the hopes that it would work on my birding photography, particularly birds in flight despite reading that it would be difficult to do so. So far I have not had any issues with it in that regard. I am really enjoying it and am amazed at its sharpness. I know it needs lots of light but I rarely if ever go out photographing on cloudy days so that’s not a problem for me. I do wish it used the full screen for focusing points but so far I have managed to work with what it offers. Overall I am extremely pleased with the results

I purchased this lens for wildlife photography realizing the lens aperture is fixed at f11. I figured I could work around that and I have. The pictures are mostly very sharp and I am impressed with the quality for the price, when it is working. I did not see at the time or it was not there when I purchased it as it is VERY tiny this Disclaimer; "^May lose AF functionality". I assure you it DOES! I have done some research and quite a few people have had the same issue I have. You will be using the AF capabilities of this lens and it will just stop auto focusing. I switched to manual focus and got it close and switched back to auto focus and it worked again a little and then stopped focusing again. I tried shutting off my R6 and turning it back on and it started working again until it stopped auto focusing again. Canon needs to fix this problem not just add a tiny disclaimer that is very easily missed. I would love to recommend this lens but I can not because of this issue.