This is the longest telephoto lens among Canon's lineup, and a terrific choice for any long-distance application-outdoor sports, wildlife, news photojournalism, and so on. It's actually lighter than Canon's EF 600mm f/4L IS lens, weighing just under 10 lbs. It uses a refined optical design, with two fluorite lens elements, one UD element, and one Super-UD-glass element, for outstanding correction of color fringing and superb contrast and sharpness. This super-telephoto lens uses magnesium-alloy barrel construction to enhance its light weight, and has weather-resistant gaskets throughout for use in harsh conditions. It's compatible with both the EF 1.4x II and 2x II tele extenders for even more reach: EOS cameras with 45 AF points will continue to provide autofocus at the center AF point when the lens is used with the 1.4x extender. Finally, it's image stabilized, providing up to 4 stops of correction for camera shake. This makes it even more practical in many situations.
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Canon EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM
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Photo 6: EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM |
Development objectives
The EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM (Photo 2) is a L-seriesL-series
super-telephoto lens with a newly developed image stabilization unit
intended to enhance our line of super-telephoto lenses. This lens's
specifications allow it to be used for hand-held photography - thanks
to its lightweight design and image stabilization function - despite
its 800mm super-telephoto focal length.
The primary development objectives of this lens are given below.
Feature 1: Top picture quality suitable for an L lens
Using fluorite, super UD, and UD lens elements in this lens allowed us
to make it compact: its overall length, even with a 800mm focal length,
is about the same as the EF 600mm f/4L IS USM. This optical design also
delivers the high-fidelity, high-contrast images one expects from an
L-series lens while minimizing chromatic aberration and eliminating
color fringing (figures 4 and 5). |
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Figure 4: Optical assembly of the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM |
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Figure 5: MTF characteristics of the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM |
Feature 2: Four f-stop stabilization gain
Image stabilization on this lens is achieved with a mechanism that
shifts the compensation optics (G11, G12, and G13). The
high-performance IS unit - which is responsive to even subtle blurring
- and the gyro-sensors - which precisely detect blurring - together
with an optimized image-stabilization algorithm, give the lens a
stabilization gain equivalent to roughly four f-stops* of shutter speed. This lens's image stabilization function has the following outstanding features:
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Two selectable image stabilization modes - Mode 1, for still shooting, and Mode 2, for pan shooting |
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Image stabilization when using a monopod is equivalent to hand-held image stabilization |
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Image stabilization available when using a tripod** |
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Image stabilization can be used with the EF 1.4x II/EF 2x II extender attached*** |
*The minimum unaided hand-held shutter speed is roughly [1/focal length] seconds.
**In certain shooting conditions and with certain tripod types, it is better to work with image stabilization off.
***Not possible with all camera models. See Table 2.
Feature 3: Lightweight design
We kept the weight of this lens to 4,500 grams by designing the major
components from lightweight magnesium alloy, in addition to using a
compact optical system. This makes hand-held shooting with this lens
possible even though it is an 800mm super telephoto.
Feature 4: Superior waterproof and dustproof construction
Waterproof and dustproof construction (Figure 6) around the mount, the
switch panel and switches, the AF stop buttons, the focus-recall and
focusing rings, and the drop-in filter prevents dust and moisture from
getting into the lens, making it suitable for taking pictures in harsh
conditions.
*Be sure to use the lens with a weatherproof/dustproof camera body.
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Figure 6: Waterproof and dustproof construction on the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM |
Feature 5: Optimal optics for digital SLRs
The lens configuration and coatings have been optimized to ensure
excellent color balance as well as to minimize the flaring and ghosting
found with digital SLRs due to surface reflections from the imaging
sensor.
Other features
• Manual focusing in AF mode
After the one-shot AF operation, the full-time mechanical manual focus
construction allows the user to continue to focus manually without
leaving the AF mode.
• Fast, silent autofocusing
The lens's
inner-focusing system, ring-USM drive, high-speed CPU, and optimized AF
algorithms enable fast, silent autofocusing performance on par with the
EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM.
• AF stop function
The AF stop function allows the user to stop the autofocus at any time.
• Focus preset function
The lens comes with a focus preset function that instantly moves the lens to a previously stored focus position.
• Circular aperture produces beautiful bokeh blurring effects
The lens features an electro-magnetic diaphragm with a circular aperture that provides attractive bokeh blurring effects.
• Switch shapes designed to prevent accidental settings
The switches on the switch panel have been shaped to prevent the
switches from being moved accidentally while shooting or during
transport.
• Large hood provides more effective light blocking
The inner wall of the large circular ET-155 hood has been flocked for
superior anti-reflective performance, vastly reducing harmful
reflections.
• Environmentally friendly design
The lens optics use only lead-free glass in consideration of the environment.
Furthermore, the lens design meets the environmental requirements of
the European Union's RoHS Directive (Directive on the Restriction of
the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment). |
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Photo 7: The telephoto/super-telephoto large aperture L-lens series |
This concludes this month's look at our two new high-performance
L-series lenses. With the addition of these two new lenses, our EF lens
line now features six large-aperture L-series lenses that cover
telephoto and super-telephoto ranges (Photo 7).
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