Words and Images by Jerred Zegelis
This lens made me smile when the folks from Rockbrook Camera put it in my hands and told me to go try it out. "Try out the Canon 600mm," they said and handed it to me. When I grabbed it I thought they were kidding and had switched lenses on me: this thing is small and light for a 600mm lens.
It's also awesome.
I went on several trips through some trails that I absolutely would not have wanted to go on with some of my other telephoto lenses, simply because of how big and heavy they are. The Canon RF 600 f/11 just feels so light and compact that it makes taking it on walks a joy.
Yes, the f/11 maximum aperture is a little limiting, but the trade-off that was made in order to make this lens as compact as it is will have to be something you weigh when you consider purchasing it.
For me, this 600mm lens was just fun to use. I felt confident in raising my ISO if I had to in order to get faster shutter speeds in windy conditions because the Canon R6 handles noise very well.
And the focus when matched with the R6 was fast and accurate. When I used the "animal autofocus" feature, it tracked the Egret below through weeds.
This is a truly "take everywhere" 600mm lens that’s well matched on the Canon R6 I used it on.
I can’t wait to get more time with it, but my initial impressions are extremely positive!
The Canon RF600 f/11 does a fantastic job of separating the subject from the background. Don't be afraid of the maximum aperture of f/11 - the telephoto aspect will make sure your backgrounds are blurry!
Mistakes can happen, and sometimes that's a good thing! I photographed this with the RF 600mm f/11 and didn't mean for the foreground to have green in it. It was a wild and windy day, so the tree branches near me would get in the way of my photographs. What's cool is that I like the photo better this way. In photography, you should OWN your mistakes!
What's your "go-to" walk about lens? Does it contain a telephoto? Believe it or not, the 600mm f/11 can absolutely be a walk-around lens because it's amazingly small and light for a lens with this much reach!
What animals do you love to photograph? Turtles are great to see on sunny days. They are cute, stay in place, and have hilarious expressions on their faces when they see you creeping up! Photographed here with the RF 600mm f/11.
What animals do you love to photograph? Turtles are great to see on sunny days. They are cute, stay in place, and have hilarious expressions on their faces when they see you creeping up! Photographed here with the RF 600mm f/11.
This Goldfinch was NOT very cooperative on this evening as I walked through a local forest. However, the Canon R6 has tremendous "animal autofocus" that was able to track this bird with the 600mm f/11 and I got this one shot before it flew away for good!
For more information about local photographer, Jerred Zegelis and to see his work, visit his website - https://jerredz.com/about/
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