Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
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p.2 #1 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
dorian wrote:
Well, that's a decision Canon shooters don't need to make. And Nikon shooters can buy both for around $5K. Use the prime when weight is at a premium (like walking around for birds); use the zoom when mammals are present (like in Africa).
Canon does have a 200-800 f/9 and a 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 both quite reasonable and interesting options if you want at zoom when mammals are present, and if they made a 500 f/5.6 they would have an interesting alternative to the 600 f/6.3 when weight is at a premium.
p.2 #2 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
dorian wrote:
They may as well do it proper and make it a 600/5.6 (or 6.3). Nikon made a 500/5.6 for the old mount but added 100mm for the Z mount. They understood that the overwhelming majority who liked 500mm would love 600mm. That 600/6.3 (or its 800/6.3 big brother) is best combo of reach, speed, weight, IQ, and price on the market today. Why Canon thinks a 500/5.6 is better is beyond me......
I don't think the Z 600/6.3 is going to be as popular as the 500/5.6 PF, as the 600 is almost 50% more expensive and the logic of many people online seems to be that since the 180-600 has the same maximum aperture at 600 mm and costs a third of the prime, they'll just get the zoom, as the prime does not, in this case, have an aperture advantage (though it has weight, focusing speed, and sharpness advantages). Personally, I sold my 500 PF and got a Z 400/4.5 instead, as I prefer the somewhat more "gentle" rendering of the non-PF optics and slightly larger aperture is useful in the forest when photographing mammals.
I think all of these options are useful and can find satisfied users; a 500/5.6 is not a bad idea at all, especially since Canon's 100-500mm has a maximum aperture of f/7.1 at 500 mm.
p.2 #3 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
Sorry for this rambling post - I have a 6-hour layover in Accra, Ghana (where I just wrapped a birding tour) and there isn't much to watch on the airport TVs!
Yeah, I have the EF 600/4 II and the RF 100-500. Both are great but I want something in the middle, something that's lighter/smaller than the 600/4 and faster/longer than the 100-500. If there was a 600/5.6, I could, on occasions, get away with only that lens as it would split the difference between the other two. I have no interest in slow(er) lenses like the 200-800, which would be heavier, however slightly, than a hypothetical 600/5.6. That and the bokeh is brutal on that lens.
For reference, I am an international birding and photo guide for Tropical Birding (hence why I'm in Ghana now). When I run photo tours, I take both lenses; when I run birding tours I take the 100-500 and my Swaro scope (and my bins, of course). On the birding tours, the zoom is used at 500mm 99% of the time, mostly to document and aid identification but occasionally for proper/artistic images. This is why I'm craving something longer and faster at about the same weight as the zoom. A 600/5.6 (or 6.3) would accomplish this perfectly while also being a capable and much lighter stand-in for my 600/4 in good light. A 500/5.6 is mostly redundant with zoom for my purposes.
I'm planning on upgrading my EF 600/4 (for something newer/lighter/better) and my R5 in the foreseeable future. I really, really don't want to switch systems, but Nikon's lenses are too attractive to ignore. That and Canon's unwillingness to make a high MP flagship like Nikon and Sony currently do. I'm also unwilling to drop 11K on the RF 600/4 as it's optically no better than my EF 600 II, but I'm also tired of waiting for a redesigned RF 600 (with or without integrated TC). Both the Sony 600/4 and the Nikon 600/TC are smaller than the RF 600 as well. The still-imaginary 300-600 is interesting, but I think it's gonna be very expensive and heavier than either a 500/5.6 or a 600/5.6. Anyway, this is just me venting, mildly frustrated with my current kit and yearning for additional lens options. I think the R52 looks great, but I'm not gonna buy that until Canon shows me some newer lenses.
p.2 #5 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
EB-1 wrote:
I thought TB folks were mostly using the OM lately.
EBH
Yeah, many (most?) of our guides do use OM, but I was an entrenched Canon shooter when I joined five years ago. Those on OM like it, but my perception is that it still isn't a full system; it feels more niche, but I could be wrong. That said, there's simply no substitute for a 600/4 for what I do, and Olympus don't offer one. I'm also not completely sold on the micro 4/3 thing. TB guides do receive a very steep discount on OM, so that's a big draw, particularly for the foreign guides who generally aren't playing with the same funds as Americans.
Apr 24, 2026 at 07:53 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.2 #6 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
dorian wrote:
Sorry for this rambling post - I have a 6-hour layover in Accra, Ghana (where I just wrapped a birding tour) and there isn't much to watch on the airport TVs!
Yeah, I have the EF 600/4 II and the RF 100-500. Both are great but I want something in the middle, something that's lighter/smaller than the 600/4 and faster/longer than the 100-500. If there was a 600/5.6, I could, on occasions, get away with only that lens as it would split the difference between the other two. I have no interest in slow(er) lenses like the 200-800, which would be heavier, however slightly, than a hypothetical 600/5.6. That and the bokeh is brutal on that lens.
For reference, I am an international birding and photo guide for Tropical Birding (hence why I'm in Ghana now). When I run photo tours, I take both lenses; when I run birding tours I take the 100-500 and my Swaro scope (and my bins, of course). On the birding tours, the zoom is used at 500mm 99% of the time, mostly to document and aid identification but occasionally for proper/artistic images. This is why I'm craving something longer and faster at about the same weight as the zoom. A 600/5.6 (or 6.3) would accomplish this perfectly while also being a capable and much lighter stand-in for my 600/4 in good light. A 500/5.6 is mostly redundant with zoom for my purposes.
I'm planning on upgrading my EF 600/4 (for something newer/lighter/better) and my R5 in the foreseeable future. I really, really don't want to switch systems, but Nikon's lenses are too attractive to ignore. That and Canon's unwillingness to make a high MP flagship like Nikon and Sony currently do. I'm also unwilling to drop 11K on the RF 600/4 as it's optically no better than my EF 600 II, but I'm also tired of waiting for a redesigned RF 600 (with or without integrated TC). Both the Sony 600/4 and the Nikon 600/TC are smaller than the RF 600 as well. The still-imaginary 300-600 is interesting, but I think it's gonna be very expensive and heavier than either a 500/5.6 or a 600/5.6. Anyway, this is just me venting, mildly frustrated with my current kit and yearning for additional lens options. I think the R52 looks great, but I'm not gonna buy that until Canon shows me some newer lenses.
p.2 #8 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
gkinard1952 wrote:
What happened to all the other lenses CR said were coming, not to mention the R7II which never got here. At this point I think all can agree Canon Rumors is strickly a clickbait site with absoutly no credibility.
You either did not read the article, or you did and you posted this to be intentionally disingenuous.
CR is reporting a patent filing, which is factual, and speculating about what it might mean, which is a reasonable editorial practice. No claims are being made about an impending 500mm lens. In fact, the author writes quite clearly:
"As always, published patent applications only show us what Canon is researching; they do not guarantee that any of these designs will eventually be released as consumer products."
Apr 24, 2026 at 09:33 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.2 #9 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
Alan Kefauver wrote:
What about the MZ 150-400 f/4.5 TC lens?
That lens is nothing like a 600 f/4 FF lens. It is actually a lot closer to the Canon RF 200-800. It of course has the field of view and depth of field of a 300-800 f/9 lens and although it has an f/4.5 aperture which can be useful for keeping shutter speed up, you can turn the ISO up quite a bit and have the same noise on FF and that plus the f/4 aperture allows a 600 f/4 to be used with a lot less light than the Olympus lens.
A good thing to note with any lens is the entrance pupil or the size of the hole at max aperture that let's in the light. That hole is 150mm for a 600 f/4. It is 89mm for the Olympus 150-400 f/4.5. That is a very large difference in the size of the hole letting the light in and that is what let's you use the 600 f/4 when the light is a lot lower.
p.2 #11 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
garyvot wrote:
You either did not read the article, or you did and you posted this to be intentionally disingenuous.
CR is reporting a patent filing, which is factual, and speculating about what it might mean, which is a reasonable editorial practice. No claims are being made about an impending 500mm lens. In fact, the author writes quite clearly:
"As always, published patent applications only show us what Canon is researching; they do not guarantee that any of these designs will eventually be released as consumer products."
It's a click bait site nothing more. Nothing less.
Apr 24, 2026 at 09:54 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.2 #12 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
gkinard1952 wrote:
It's a click bait site nothing more. Nothing less.
Some of the articles may well be offering very little of substance and hoping for clicks, but this one actually had real information--the patent filing--so in this case it was clearly something more than click bait. You can repeatedly claim this article is merely click bait, but that doesn't make it so. In this case, in fact, your characterization is clearly is a mistaken.
p.2 #13 · Canon Shows off RF 500mm F5.6 L IS in Latest Patent
gkinard1952 wrote:
It's a click bait site nothing more. Nothing less.
I showed how this particular article was factually-based and cited evidence for how the author was not trying to mislead anyone. No reasonable person would dismiss this as "clickbait".
