Canon RF 200-800 Bird Photography with R6 Mark II 

It really is and I love that they are not impossible to find.

Thank you!

Thank you, Adrian! My lens has made it back home from Iceland and now I have sent it to Canon to see if the sharpness issues are normal for this lens or if I have a bad copy.

Thanks, Ron!

I hope you have great success this weekend!

Thank you, Ray!

Bummer. That tells me that B&H is not the place to get your gear if you want it near release. Did your 10-20 f/4 L ever come in? That one is on backorder everywhere too. I sent my 200-800 in to Canon repair hoping it was defective. Nope, my copy is good. I wish it was better.

@@PhilThach Yes, my 10-20 came in. It's OK, but after using it in real estate shots, I find myself yearning for the EF 11-24 that the 10-20 replaced.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

@@levelupfilming2791 It’s definitely a little less sharp at 800 mm and it’s definitely a little less sharp wide-open at F9 but at 742 or the next step down which is 707mm and stopped down to f10 you can achieve some acceptable results.

Thank you! I sent my 200-800 in to Canon to see if they could get it sharper or confirm that mine is in spec. We'll see.

@@PhilThach I'll be interested to hear how that works out. I think the 100-500 will serve me better on both my R5, R8, and R7. Yes I will give up some reach but that will be ok for how I use my Canon setup. Oh I just ordered a Nikon Z8 and the 180-600. It may be a while until I see the 180-600 we will see. Can't wait to get back in to Nikon I started my photographic journey with Nikon.

Thank you, Roger!

I sent mine in to Canon for repair, and they said it was operating properly.

Thank you! In my blind, it's 10 feet. In the wild 15-50 feet probably.

Hello! With the R7, I would get the 100-500 and use it without a teleconverter.

@@PhilThachagreed. You don’t need more than 500mm with a crop sensor.

I have the R7, R6mk2, and both of those lenses. In my opinion the best image comes from the R7 with the 100-500 IF you are close enough. However, in my testing the 200-800 is very close to the 100-500 and then the extra range just makes it more versatile. The R6mk2 I use for early morning or late evening shots for the better light but the lack of range and lower resolution do have to be considered. I more often reserve the R6mk2 for people portrait and video. I am waiting on canon to release the R5mk2 to see if its a good middle ground.

Would you mind share the settings on your canon R6 mark II thanks

For me up to now I do use the R6M2 with the RF 100-500mm 4.5-7.1 L and the RF 24-105 mm f4 L. Thinking about getting the Rf 1.4 extender to go on the RF 100-500MM. Looked at the other video's about the RF 200-800 and it seems not as sharp and stable. Problem do with the combo RF 100-500mm with RF 1.4 extender you lose the 100-300 mm and starts of from 300 × 1.4 = 420 mm.

I should have said the electronic shutter helps eliminate motion blur from shutter shock. There will still be motion blur from birds moving around if your shutter speed is too low. However, I highly recommend the electronic shutter with the R6 Mark II and even the R7 when making photos of perched birds. For birds in flight it is usually best to switch back to the mechanical shutter.

Thank you! All lenses are affected by heat haze. In my testing the 100-500 is demonstrably sharper than the 200-800. I did send my lens in to a Canon repair center as soon as it returned from Iceland to have them check it out and see if it is performing up to spec or if it has an issue that they can correct. I'll make a video soon with their findings. I hope they can improve it but I worry that mine is performing normally.

@@PhilThach It's a shame your sample is like this. I've spoken to many other users on facebook who find it a really sharp lens (myself included) I did a few tests comparing performance when it was warm and sunny (a rarity here in the UK) and on cool days and the results were better when there was less heat around. It would be interesting to know how well it performed in Iceland.

I slowly learned them over years of bird photography. I use the allaboutbirds.org website.

Thank you, Edward!

@@Into_The_Mystery_13 thank you!

Thank you!

You bought the better lens. I had my name on the waiting list at my camera store before it was officially announced. I got mine on the first shipment in December 2023.

@@PhilThach Thanks for reply. I am very satisfied with my "new" lens. Will post some Videos on my RU-vid channel. All my photos in my videos so far were taken with R7 & RF 100-400mm and 2x Extender. Now I have R6 Mark II and RF 100-500 L Lens and pictures are fantastic. Like your channel.

I think they went to Grimsey Island which is about 40km off the north coast of Iceland.

@@PhilThach If they went by boat, I feel for them. Being the North Atlantic the sea can be a little rough. 🤢😂

Thank you!

Thank you!

Hi JP! I hope it works well with R5 Mark II.

@@PhilThach I think it will. i also think the RF 100-500 will be amazing on the new body as well. 💖

Thank you!

Thank you!

I got mine in December. I had my name on a waiting list at my camera store before the lens was actually announced so I got the very first one that my camera store received.

Thank you! I hope you get yours soon.

The Jury is still out on 800 f/11 VS 200-800. I sent my 200-800 in for service to see if it is in spec. R6 Mark II is better with the 200-800 but R7 with 100-500 is better than R6 Mark II with 200-800. Autofocus is not as consistent though with the R7 but when you get a sharp one it is the best. I actually don't use Photo AI, I do use Topaz DeNoise AI which I don't think they support anymore. I run the photos through DeNoise AI after I complete my edit in lightroom. I use the default auto settings and am almost always happy with the results.

I haven't used the Sigma 160-600. Sorry.

That is very kind of you. Maybe I will get to go there someday.

@@tomdoolin2415 thank you!

Thank you. We do have some interesting birds here just as you do in Australia.

Thank you! Me too! It arrived there Monday and so far all their website is telling me is "Ready to Repair". I don't know if that means they have it but haven't diagnosed it yet or if they have diagnosed it but they are waiting on parts. Their repair site is pretty vague. Nikon's is no better. I'm more than halfway expecting them to tell me my lens is performing normally.

I'm glad you finally got it.

Thank you!

Thank you!

It’s in very high demand and I don’t know if they’re making a lot of them or not very many but they certainly don’t stay at a store very long. I just wish mine was a little bit sharper. Hopefully when it gets back from Canon service, they will have a problem and fixed it. My biggest worry is that they will say there is nothing wrong with it.

Thank you!

Thank you! They are similar for sure. We don't get Hooded in my part of the country.

Thank you!

I sent mine to Canon right after it came back from Iceland. I don’t think they were able to find anything wrong with it. Which means the level of sharpness I’m getting is about as good as you can get with it. Honestly, I find that a little bit disappointing. But I am going to keep it. I’m pretty sure.

@@PhilThach and you are not the first person who I have heard say this. Yet most folks say that it is at least as sharp as the 800 F11, which to my eyes, is plenty sharp. Also JMPO, but by the time a shot is sized down from 24 or 32 mp, to 3 or 4 for posting digitally (99% of peoples uses nowadays) the sharpness of these lenses.... and heck, you can go on and include a $13K 600 F4, or $16K 800 F5.6... Is virtually indistinguishable from one another. {when each of these lenses and camera combos do their best} I have a good friend who is a pro photographer and birding guide. Earlier this year, he took his 800 F11, his 200-800, and his 500 F4 + 1.4 TC to Costa Rica. He got great shots with all these lenses (as he always does). After the trip, he posted shots from each. Nobody could tell which shots came from which lens. I believe the variances of sharpness (and especially the consistency) from shot to shot, have more to do with the body, and how well the AF and EAF perform. I have read that the R6 Mk II is really great ! Better than my R7's for sure. Too bad it is a FF, and only 24mp's. I'm super hopeful about the R7 Mk II ;) PS, Keep in mind, I did rent the 200-800 for a week, and so part of my opinions on this lens are from first hand experience. I took about 6000 shots with it, about 12 of which made it all the way to my Flickr page :) Freaking LOVED that lens. I rented the 100-500 too. It was never long enough, and sucked with TC's. None of those shots made it to my Flickr page :(

Thank you, Dan!

Thank you!

I agree, I bet some of these birds have landed in my yard and I’ve never seen them.

Have you used the Merlin Bird ID app? You can listen to bird sounds and will come up on your screen with the bird it identifies. It doesn’t alert you but if you are sitting outside just listening, you can at least watch the screen as it captures the calls and see the birds.

@@chiliverde66 Never used it. But I do want some genius to make it even easier for me. But thanks for the tip. When one is taking a Nap, that's exactly when those critters show up.