Canon’s new RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM and RF 1200mm F8L IS USM super-telephoto lenses give professional photographers new ways to capture subjects from great distances. Despite their 800mm and 1200mm focal lengths, the lenses are designed to combine groundbreaking optical performance with portability.
With powerful optical image stabilization and wide apertures, these premium L-series RF lenses support subjects ranging from sports and nature to journalism and surveillance. Paired with a camera, they can capture distant action in razor-sharp detail—even under highly challenging conditions.
Users can extend this already exceptional reach by up to two times by pairing the lenses with the RF 1.4x or RF 2x extenders while retaining autofocus and image-stabilization functionality. With the RF 1200mm F8L IS USM, photographers can capture sharp details from more than 400 meters away.
The design is both smaller and lighter than that of traditional super-telephoto lenses in this class, making the lenses substantially more compact than their EF counterparts. At just over 3.1 kg, the RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM was Canon’s lightest and shortest 800mm L-series lens to date. The RF 1200mm F8L IS USM was the smallest lens ever released with these specifications: at 3.34 kg, it weighs only 1/5 as much as its predecessor, the EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM, while being more than 13 kg lighter and 30 cm shorter.
The RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM offers up to 4.5 stops of image stabilization, while the RF 1200mm F8L IS USM offers up to 4 stops, reducing camera shake and producing sharp, detailed images. The 800mm lens also offers a wide maximum aperture of f/5.6 for this focal length.
The RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM and RF 1200mm F8L IS USM work with the EOS R3’s AF system to track subjects at shooting speeds of up to 30 fps. A Ring USM drive, Dual Power Drive, high-speed CPU, and optimized AF algorithm provide fast, smooth, and quiet autofocus—ideal for capturing fast-moving animals. User-customizable AF-stop buttons on the lenses provide even greater control when focusing on subjects.
The RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM and RF 1200mm F8L IS USM were scheduled to become available in May at suggested retail prices of €20,249.99 and €23,799.99, respectively.
