Why I Own The RF400mm f/2.8 lens. 4 Years With the Canon R Mount

Published: 17 August 2024
on channel: Matthew Starling Photography
3,320
115

The 400mm f2.8 is for professional sports, action and wildlife, and is essential for low light demanding situations that require a fast and bright aperture.

The 400mm f2.8. It’s a fixed focal length lens meaning I can't zoom in or out, it’s fixed at 400mm, so you have to be very selective of your subject when deciding to get this out of the case. It’s also insanely expensive at around $12,000 brand new and maybe $9-10,000 used.

This is the lens I use for professional sports. It produces ultra sharp, clean and bright images in the most extreme of situations. This lens is not cheap as I mentioned, but if you want to be amongst the best photographers then having 400mm focal distance at f2.8 is where you need to be!

The old EF lenses will also work with the EF-RF adapters, with the first generation lenses going for about $2-4,000 dollars, but they will be heavily used with noticeable chips and marks but probably optically fine. Make sure to check the lens thoroughly before buying so avoid buying them online, always check them out physically for things like mould, fungus and dust inside the lens barrel.

It can be used with teleconverters, so a 1.4x converter will give this lens a 560mm fixed focal length at f4. That's still quite amazing, a 560mm lens at f4. With the 2x converter it will be 800mm at f5.6, however, with slightly degrading optical quality. Still absolutely insane to think this lens can be adapted to reach 800mm at f5.6 and still be small enough to fit in to airline approved carry-on luggage when travelling.

As I mentioned this is my primary lens for pro level sports as it just delivers exceptional results wide open. Even then I don't mind shooting at f4 as this gives even sharper results, but if the light is challenging then it's f2.8 all the way.

When the lens is not in use I place it in a hard shell storage case, so when i've finished working with the lens it goes straight back in to that case, which is full of silicon gel to help keep it dry and moisture free.

I have a bag made by Neewer. It's a sort of airport roller luggage case and is very useful for taking to stadiums for those sports matches mainly because I can move around with it much quicker. The lens fits nicely even with the huge lens hood, and there's plenty of room for another two cameras and lenses.

I also have the Lowepro Pro Trekker BP550 back pack. It's a bit more a squeeze to fit the 400mm in and, unfortunately the lens hood doesn't fit so that has to be packed separately. Both are airline approved carry-on luggage so no issues with getting these on board an aircraft.

This has been an absolutely fantastic lens to use for a number of subjects in challenging lighting conditions, for safari and wildlife trips, but mostly for professional sports.

#canon #canonrf #canon400mm #canonr

Canon R5 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Full-Fra...
Canon R6 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Full-Fra...
Canon RF15-35 f2.8 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-RF-15-35...
Canon RF28-70 f2 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-RF-28-70...
Canon RF70-200 f2.8 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-RF-70-20...
Canon RF100-500 f4.5-7.1 - https://www.amazon.com/Canon-100-500m...
Canon RF400 f2.8 - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=RF400mm&am...


Watch video Why I Own The RF400mm f/2.8 lens. 4 Years With the Canon R Mount online without registration, duration hours minute second in high quality. This video was added by user Matthew Starling Photography 17 August 2024, don't forget to share it with your friends and acquaintances, it has been viewed on our site 3,320 once and liked it 115 people.