Canon RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF 600mm F4 L IS USM Announced + Pre-orders Start

[Tim Mayo]

Canon has now officially announced the Canon RF400mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF600mm F4 L IS USM lenses and pre-orders have also started.

Full details can be found on their product pages here:

Canon RF400mm F2.8 L IS USM
Canon RF600mm F4 L IS USM

Park cameras also have a first look video up:

The designs appear to be almost identical to the latest EF versions, but with an RF mount instead. So if you already have the EF version there's probably little benefit to purchasing the RF version.

The RF 400mm F2.8 will cost $11,999.00 in the US and £12,449.00 in the UK. The RF 600mm F4 will cost $12,999.00 in the US and £13,409.00 in the UK. They are both expected to start shipping in July.

You can already pre-order both lenses today.

RF 400mm F2.8
US Affiliate Links
B&H Photo
Adorama

UK Affiliate Links
Wex Photo
Park Camera

RF 600mm F4
US Affiliate Links
B&H Photo
Adorama

UK Affiliate Links
Wex Photo
Park Camera

I might be tempted by the 600 F4 if I win the lottery, until then I'm pretty content with the RF 100-500

 

[RickH1]

Canon has now officially announced the Canon RF400mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF600mm F4 L IS USM lenses and pre-orders have also started.

Full details can be found on their product pages here:

Canon RF400mm F2.8 L IS USM
Canon RF600mm F4 L IS USM

Park cameras also have a first look video up:

The designs appear to be almost identical to the latest EF versions, but with an RF mount instead. So if you already have the EF version there's probably little benefit to purchasing the RF version.

The RF 400mm F2.8 will cost $11,999.00 in the US and £12,449.00 in the UK. The RF 600mm F4 will cost $12,999.00 in the US and £13,409.00 in the UK. They are both expected to start shipping in July.

You can already pre-order both lenses today.

RF 400mm F2.8
US Affiliate Links
B&H Photo
Adorama

UK Affiliate Links
Wex Photo
Park Camera

RF 600mm F4
US Affiliate Links
B&H Photo
Adorama

UK Affiliate Links
Wex Photo
Park Camera

I might be tempted by the 600 F4 if I win the lottery, until then I'm pretty content with the RF 100-500

I bet they are pretty awesome to use though , I wont be buying one any time soon , but the new Macro lens is definitely on my buy soon list .

 

[denver.mike]

Is anyone else disappointed that it seems like all they did is add the RF adaptor on these lenses? Not that they need much improvement, but I guess I was suspecting more from the RF line. Perhaps the biggest benefit will be its compatibility with the RF 1.4x and 2x

I couldn't afford either anyhow.

 

[PhotoJim58]

Hope I can put the funds together someday, either one of these would be my dream lens.

 

[cecilcopeland]

I've was on the phone with Canon a couple of weeks ago trying to order the RF 400 ... that inventory is not even in their system yet and won't be until July 8th (optimistically) .... and when I called, Canon couldn't even tell me when it might ship even if I could have ordered it .... I was trying to get all my selling and buying done before football started here in August, but don't know if that timeline will work now.

 

[Tim Mayo]

I've was on the phone with Canon a couple of weeks ago trying to order the RF 400 ... that inventory is not even in their system yet and won't be until July 8th (optimistically) .... and when I called, Canon couldn't even tell me when it might ship even if I could have ordered it .... I was trying to get all my selling and buying done before football started here in August, but don't know if that timeline will work now.

B&H has shipping down for July 8th, of course they might have already filled their first batch so definitely worth giving them a call along with a few other stores like Pictureline.com or your local stores.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Is anyone else disappointed that it seems like all they did is add the RF adaptor on these lenses? Not that they need much improvement, but I guess I was suspecting more from the RF line. Perhaps the biggest benefit will be its compatibility with the RF 1.4x and 2x

I couldn't afford either anyhow.

I can't afford them either but if I did have the money and desire to purchase one I wouldn't be happy with the silver adapter on the back no matter how well it performed. I'd probably grab a used EF version instead unless I had money to burn.

 

[cecilcopeland]

Just got my RF 400 2.8 yesterday and took it out for shooting this morning ....
As you would expect, it is an EXCELLENT lens !! (and, to be fair, I've never shot with a Canon 400 that was NOT an excellent lens)
It's the lightest 400 I've ever held (I've held some 300's that weighed more); it is the sharpest 400 I've ever shot with (and I go back to the version 1 non-IS lenses); fairly easy to hand-hold - and it's not the weight that's the issue with hand-holding it; it's the length - it's just awkward. I hand-held it for about an hour - and that would be about my limit ... but it's just a joy to shoot with !! I coupled it with my R6 and focus mode was Eye Detection (and the R6 does a great job with that!). The uploaded image is right out of the camera - I've cropped into it pretty deeply, but no other post processing done on this image .... (and I'm hoping it doesn't get too compressed in the display here) ....
Image specs: shot with Canon R6; ISO 1600; f4; 1/5000.
And there's also an image with the 400 mounted on the R6 .... aesthetically, I don't think that's at all off-putting nor displeasing .... (but I may be a little biased here .... )