Okay, not everyone hates the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8. That's a wee bit of an exaggeration. But more often than not, when I'm using this lens or it comes up in conversation, photographers will say something like, "Oh, that lens?"
They're referring to the love-it-or-loathe-it signature of the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens: the telescopic zoom design.
Unlike most 70-200mm lenses, which are a fixed lens with an internal zoom mechanism, the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is a short, snub-nosed lens that extends as you push it past 70mm.
If you've never seen the lens, here's what I mean:
When Canon first showed me this lens at a secret location in early 2020, I remember thinking, "This is brilliant." And I thought that for multiple reasons.
Firstly, I'd recently come back from a wildlife shoot where I'd had to buy a new bag to fit a couple of giant DSLR zooms – so it was fresh in my mind just how big and inconvenient these lenses are. But as part and parcel of that, the main thing about the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 was that it answered a core criticism of the EOS R system.
Cast your mind back to the real dawn of the mirrorless era. When Olympus and Panasonic, followed by Fujifilm, showed us that the future of photography wasn't chunky DSLRs and bazooka-sized lenses; it was this new breed of mirrorless cameras that were compact and lightweight.
Fast-forward to 2018 and Canon started giving us mirrorless cameras that were only slightly smaller than their DSLR forebears. But the lenses were somehow just as big, if not bigger… and considerably heavier. Case in point, the second lens Canon ever gave me to put on my brand new EOS R was the RF 28-70mm f/2 – one of the most hulking lenses I've ever held!
Point being, we were sold a mirrorless dream of smaller, lighter kit – but the reality was gear that was every bit as burly as the DSLRs we'd been told to abandon. And then, this: the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8.
What many saw as a weakness, I saw as a strength. "People complained that pro lenses shouldn't have a collapsible zoom," they complained, while simultaneously complaining that "Mirrorless lenses are still so big." Honestly, you really can't please some people.
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 was, to my mind, an incredibly elegant solution to the "the future isn't as small as we told you it would be" quandry.
Here was a bloody fantastic 70-200mm lens, but 27% shorter and 28% lighter than the DSLR version. A lens that I could now put in a sling bag and take with me everywhere – finally liberated from oversized camera backpacks that slow you down and get in the way and tell criminals that you are definitely someone worth robbing.
I love the fact that I can take the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 with me casually, whether I'm going to the zoo or to watch friends play ball or just to sightsee a cool city. I no longer have to weigh up the pros and cons of bringing a 70-200; this one is so small and light that I can just throw it over my shoulder, on the off chance a shot arises.
I get it, some people think that the telescoping zoom feels a bit "kit lensy". But if the best camera is the one you have with you, then the same goes for the lens – and you know what, I'd much rather have this bad boy with me than a kit lens.
Now, if only the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 worked with teleconverters…
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Take a look at the best Canon RF lenses and the best Canon telephoto lenses – and don't forget that you can easily adapt the best Canon lenses for DSLRs to mirrorless cameras.
