The new Canon RF 100-300 super telephoto lens, starting at 12,000 euros

A few days ago the new Canon telephoto lens was announced RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM, the first of what should be a new genesis of professional optics. With a focal range of 100 to 300mm and a fixed aperture of f/2.8, the Canon telephoto RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM sets out to redefine the world of professional telephoto lenses. Let’s take a look at the features of this super optic costing over 12,000 euros.

A compact and innovative design

One of the characteristics that normally distinguish telephoto lenses is the often significant length of the lens body. Canon, aware of this limitation that often makes them unwieldy, offers this new tele RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM, weighing just 2.59kg, just 200g more than the fixed EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM. It therefore presents itself as the lightest zoom in its category.

Canon’s new telephoto lens RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM compared to the EOS R body

Proving the idea of ​​a new genesis of super optics, it is the first type of Canon professional lens to feature a control ring and a new button Customizable L-FN. This perspective therefore offers advanced customization, essential for the type of scenarios to which it is addressed, such as the fields of sport, journalism, fashion and nature photography. Precisely for this reason it was designed to resist humidity and dust, as well as the most extreme climatic conditions. This Canon telephoto lens is also compatible with the RF 1.4x and 2x extenders, which allow respectively to obtain an equivalent of a 140-420 mm F4 in the first case and an equivalent of a 200-600 mm F5.6 in the second.

Image quality and stabilization

A lens of this range could only offer an image quality capable of competing with fixed lenses, thanks to four UD lenses, which correct chromatic aberration, while an aspherical lens guarantees resolution and image sharpness very high. The optics, having a fixed aperture of 2.8, performs well in low light environments and, with its 9 blades and minimum focusing distance of 1.8m, offers the possibility of creating interesting portraits. The new Image Stabilizer (IS) system is then able to automatically detect the tripod and automatically deactivate itself. When used without a tripod it allows for 5.5 stops of stabilization which increase to 6 when paired with the camera’s in-body image stabilisation. If this is then combined with the practically instantaneous focusing guaranteed by the brand new Dual Nano USM motor. We refer to the article on the manufacturer’s website to view all the specifications of this new optic.

Canon’s telephoto lens system RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM

Neural network image processing

Finally, Canon offers its users in the dedicated package a new image processing tool based on an artificial intelligence system, capable of easily upscaling 200% of images. This tool is specially designed for Canon lenses and can therefore extract a greater level of detail than generic upscaling programs. This tool is part of Digital Photo Professional’s Neural network Image Processing suite or is available as a separate app, initially only for Windows 10 and 11.

The price

Well, such a light, versatile and at the same time performing optic is offered at a price of 12,599 euros. Too little or maybe too much? Let us know in the comments!