Review: Canon RF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM

February 27, 2021

Jordan Steele

Conclusion

Pros

Extremely compact and lightweight
Good overall construction quality with great control feel
Very sharp from f/4 and excellent cross frame sharpness at smaller apertures
Pleasing bokeh
Great control of longitudinal chromatic aberration and low lateral CA
Distortion and vignetting are well controlled
Flare performance improved from EF version
Effective Image Stabilizer

Cons

Field curvature limits corner sharpness at close focus and small apertures
Can’t take teleconverters
Expensive

The Canon RF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM is an outstanding telephoto zoom lens. It’s extremely compact, built well, and produces images with very high quality. The lens is sharp, with good bokeh, low chromatic aberration and good control of other lens aberrations. It’s really an excellent little package.

As with a lot of RF lenses, the biggest downside is the price. At $1,599, it’s a very expensive lens for an f/4 telezoom, and $300 more than the newest EF version of the lens. What you get in return for the price is what is perhaps the ultimate travel telephoto: a constant aperture lens that is barely larger than an f/4 standard zoom and will fit easily into almost any bag. It’s another great addition to the RF lens lineup.