Canon RF 200–800mm Review Is This the Ultimate Wildlife Lens?

Canon RF 200–800mm Review | Is This the Ultimate Wildlife Lens? 🦅📸

After a week and a half of shooting with the Canon RF 200–800mm f/6.3–9 IS USM, here are my first impressions of how this lens performs in the real world. In this field test I pair it with the Canon R5 Mark II for bird and wildlife photography around Melbourne’s wetlands — from hand-held birds-in-flight to slow-motion animal behaviour and an image editing walkthrough back in the studio.
We’ll look at autofocus performance, image stabilisation, sharpness at 800mm, and how it stacks up against the Canon RF 100–500 mm.
If you’re wondering whether this lens deserves a place in your wildlife kit — this is the video for you.

🎬 Chapters
00:00 – Introduction & setup
00:38 – Why I bought this lens
01:15 – Price, build & first impressions
02:15 – Tripod collar, handling & weight
03:14 – Heading out to the wetlands
03:58 – Using teleconverters (1.4× & 2×)
05:33 – Atmospheric haze & shooting challenges
06:19 – Birds-in-flight performance
07:38 – Image stabilisation & technique
08:32 – Autofocus performance (Nano USM)
09:43 – Comparing 200–800 vs 100–500 mm
11:34 – Capturing red-rumped parrots
12:35 – Background blur & f/9 discussion
13:57 – Video stabilisation & slow motion
15:06 – Sharpness at 800 mm
15:29 – Minimum focusing distance
16:05 – Working closer for sharper results
18:08 – Field impressions summary
18:44 – Back to the studio (Lightroom edit)
19:56 – Capturing fast wildlife moments at 30 fps
20:15 – Processing the image in Lightroom
26:06 – Final thoughts & conclusion

🦩 Gear Used
Canon R5 Mark II
Canon RF 200–800 mm f/6.3–9 IS USM
Canon RF 1.4× Teleconverter
Edited in Lightroom Classic & Topaz Labs

💬 Question for You
If you’ve been shooting with the RF 200–800 mm, how are you finding it so far?
Do you feel the extra reach outweighs the slower aperture — or would you still prefer the RF 100–500 mm or the extremely popular Sigma 150-600 for your style of wildlife work?
Let me know your experience and setup in the comments below ⬇️

🌍📷☕️ https://buymeacoffee.com/michaelevans

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