Conclusion
Pros
- Very compact and lightweight for a 100-400mm lens
- Well constructed lens with excellent control haptics
- Very fast and accurate autofocus
- Excellent optical image stabilizer
- Good sharpness throughout the zoom range
- Reasonably good bokeh for a consumer zoom
- Very good flare performance
- Excellent close-focus ability
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Slow maximum aperture
- Moderate lateral chromatic aberration
- Some edge softness at close focus distances
- No lens hood included
As I mentioned several times, I found the RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM to be a surprising lens. When it was first introduced, it was easy to dismiss as a slow, cheap consumer zoom that probably wasn’t very good. Well, it does have a slow maximum aperture, and it is fairly inexpensive, but it is pretty darn good. While it isn’t going to challenge the RF 100-500mm f/5-7.1L in ultimate image quality, the lens manages to produce images with very good sharpness, nice bokeh and overall high image quality. The lens also has an excellent image stabilizer, fast and accurate autofocus and is small and light enough to be a lens that makes it into your bag every day.
This last part is key. Before this lens, I usually dreaded carrying lenses longer than 200mm. With the 100-400mm, it’s a pleasure to have in my bag. It can fit in the vast majority of camera bags with no issues, and weighs less than the RF 24-105mm f/4L. This compact size, along with the excellent AF and good optics makes this a perfect lens to carry for daily shooting. It’s a great bargain and a lens most Canon R shooters should consider for their kit. Highly recommended.
Image Samples
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