Canon has announced the new Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z lens, which follows in the high-tech footsteps of the Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z, boosting Canon’s hybrid lens line, alongside the new Canon RF 24mm f/1.4L VCM and Canon RF 50mm f/1.4L VCM hybrid prime lenses also revealed today.
These RF hybrid lenses, with their dedicated aperture ring, sit between standard Canon RF lenses, cinema and broadcast lenses – borrowing the best bits from each category to create crossover lenses that satisfy every kind of shooter.
Canon says the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z will help professionals "reach both sides of the story", by enabling you to capture both high-quality stills and video. It told me that 80% of hybrid shooters come from a photographic background, and that around 65% of today’s photographers shoot video as part of their work – including commercial and advertising, live events, corporate, weddings and news.
The new RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z offers filmmaking features such as electronic parfocal performance and focus breathing suppression, plus servo zoom via the optional Power Zoom Adapters, a built-in 5.5-stop Optical Image Stabilizer and dedicated Iris Ring for smooth aperture control.
The classic 70-200mm focal length is very popular with photographers, and there are already three of them in Canon’s current lineup: the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM mirrorless lenses, and the older EF 70-200mm f/2.8L III IS USM for EOS DSLRs.
Interestingly, Canon's hybrid L-series Z lenses have a unified size – so the new RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z has the same dimensions as the RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z, with maximum diameter and length of 88.5 x 199mm and matching 82mm filter threads.
This is supremely useful for videographers, who need uniformity when using gimbals, cages and filter systems – although it could make quickly differentiating identical-looking black lenses in your camera bag more difficult. So the fact that it is available in the traditional "big white" L-series color could help with this!
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The black version is Canon's first ever non-white 70-200mm f/2.8L, and is likely to suit photographers and videographers who want to remain inconspicuous while shooting events or weddings indoors, for example. The white version is designed to help with heat deflection when shooting outside, and when you’re not trying to stay out of sight.
For some reason the white lens weighs slightly more, at 1,115g compared to 1,110 grams for the black lens. Perhaps the famous L-series white paint gets more coatings! Both are noticeably lighter than the RF 24-105mm, which weighs in at 1,430g!
The new Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z has a constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom range, an 11-blade circular aperture, for creative bokeh in backgrounds, and a minimum aperture of f/22.
It offers Dual Nano USM AF, and the lens’ closest focusing distance is 0.49m at 70mm and 0.68m at 200mm. The maximum magnification is 0.3x at 200mm, and it offers 5.5 stops of Optical Image Stabilization, and up to 7.5 stops when using the lens on EOS R cameras with in-body image stabilization.
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z spec highlights
• Excellent image quality and weather sealing provide added durability for shooting in all weathers
• Sharp high-contrast images thanks to two Super UD lenses, one UD lens, three aspherical lenses plus ASC and Super Spectra coatings
• Professional electronic parfocal focus capability and focus breathing suppression maintains a consistent field-of-view when shooting movies
• Internal zoom operation means the barrel length is constant, which is better for rigging, weather resistance, and has a smoother operation
• Smooth iris ring operation has 32 steps between stops (no clicks) and a lock release switch for the 'Auto' position
• 11-blade circular aperture offers great artistic control of bokeh and highlights
• Compatible with Canon’s optional RF teleconverters
Compared to the existing RF 70-200mm f/2.8L (which is collapsible, and notably is not compatible with teleconverters), Canon claims that the image quality of the new lens is very similar at 70mm but is optically better at longer focal lengths.
The lens has a smooth manual Iris Ring, which provides silent aperture operation in movie mode, though currently it only works for stills with the Canon EOS R1 and R5 Mark II (but Canon hopes that firmware will bring compatibility to non-2024 cameras in the future).
It has a "short" 70° zoom throw, so you only need to twist the zoom ring a small amount to zoom in from 70mm to 200mm. It has a customizable Control Ring and lens function buttons, and you can use it with the optional Power Zoom adapters for more control when zooming for video work.
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z comes at a premium price of £3,639 / AU$5,399 (US pricing to be confirmed), with sales due to start November 14.
Check out the best Canon telephoto lenses and the best telephoto lenses from all manufacturers.
