Canon teases series of cheap super telephotos like the f/11s – and a Canon RF 400mm f/8 could be next.
A Canon executive has teased that the recent 600mm and 800mm f/11 lenses might spawn an entire line – and that the next affordable, compact telephoto lens could be a 400mm f/8.
When they were first announced, the Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM raised plenty of eyebrows, both because of their incredibly low price and the fact that they features a fixed f/11 aperture.
However, while there were concerns that such a small aperture would be limiting and could cause performance issues, both super telephotos perform exceptionally well – and are among the best Canon RF lenses.
In fact, they're making such a stir that they could seriously revolutionize – or, at least, democratize – the world of telephoto wildlife shooting, which has previously been the preserve of those able to afford huge and hugely expensive conventional lenses.
So it should come as little surprise that Canon has been looking at producing more of these lenses. Sure enough, a company executive has teased that a line of such optics could well be on the cards – and a 400mm f/8 looks like it's next.
"As a future plan, I would like to consider lenses with reduced price and size than the 600mm and 800mm lenses," said Kengo Iezuka, a product planner at Canon's Image Communication Business Headquarters, in an interview with Mynavi.
"Actually, I was thinking about 400mm f/8. Of course, 400mm is included when it comes to super-telephoto lenses, but [before that] 600mm and 800mm have a greater impact, and I think it's a great pleasure to shoot things that I couldn't shoot before, so the first one is this lineup [600 and 800mm].
"The 400mm will be as small as the 600mm and 800mm, and I think it will be an attractive lens. I would like to think positively whether it is better to make a series, depending on how well the 600mm and 800mm ."
