Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM

A super-affordable super-telephoto

- Matthew Richards & Dan Mold 

Specifications

Mount: Canon RF

Full-frame: Yes

Lens construction: 12 elements in nine groups

Image stabilisation: 5.5 stops (six stops with IBIS bodies)

Min aperture: f/32 at 100mm, f/45 at 400mm

Maximum magnification: 0.41x

Min focusing distance: 88cm

Diaphragm blades: Nine

Weather-sealed: No

Filter size: 67mm

Dimensions (L x D): 165 x 80mm

Weight: 635g

The sheer number of Canon RF-mount super-telephoto lenses puts Nikon to shame. The RF 100-400mm joins a powerful yet easily manageable pair of RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and RF 800mm f/11 IS STM primes, along with the more pro-spec Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 IS USM zoom lens. Canon also has a pair of heavy-duty RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 600mm f/4L IS USM on its books – at a time when the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S is the solitary Nikon Z-mount super-tele on the market.

Despite its relatively small and light build for a super-telephoto zoom, the RF 100-400mm packs in a lot. Fast and virtually silent Nano USM autofocus is snappily rapid for stills, yet enables smooth focus transitions during movie capture. There’s a 5.5-stop optical image stabiliser, boosted to six stops when used with later EOS R-series cameras including the R5 and the R6. Typical of many Canon RF-mount lenses, this one has a customisable control ring.