Impressions of the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z
I remember being very impressed when the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z was released exactly one year ago. At that time, I was working on the initial impressions of the Canon Multi Camera Control application, which was released around the same time, and was in various discussions with Canon when I learned about the release of this lens and had the opportunity to test it. After a year, the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z telephoto zoom lens from the same series will be released.
For this review, I was asked to test it thoroughly, so I had the opportunity to test it for about three weeks.
Task At Hand for this Review
The difficult task presented to me was to “create and show us a video example using only the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z” and “take the stage at Inter BEE 2024 and give a one-hour talk about the impressions you gained from the video.” I hesitated for a moment, but thinking about it, I had never produced a video using only a 70-200mm lens before, so I decided to accept the offer, thinking of it as a challenge. I also considered the opportunity to gain enough knowledge to talk for an hour using only this one lens as a challenge to myself, so I took on the challenge.
Against this background, I set out to create some sample images using the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z and conducted an in-depth review, which I would like to share with you here.
Guest Reviewer Seiji Tanaka’s Demo Video with the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z
Please note that in this impression article, comparative specs will be kept to a minimum and the impressions will be focused on points that have emerged from practical use.
First, please enjoy this short drama “My Next Stage” about 4 and a half minutes long, which was shot and edited by myself using RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z + Cinema EOS C400. I didn’t use any special equipment, just a tripod, and I wrote the script after I was asked to do this.The settings on the C400 were Canon 709, a unique Canon look, with all lens correction settings turned off, and the footage was recorded in 6K-RAW + 4K-XFAVC 60P dual REC. The 6K-RAW was recorded just to be on the safe side, with the exposure and color precisely determined using 4K material. The material was then shot and edited in 4K-30P in FCP. No color grading or adjustments were done whatsoever.
What do you think? I learned a lot from making a drama using only one 70-200mm F2.8 lens, and personally I feel like I enjoyed it. It took only four days from scriptwriting to editing. It was all done with just this one lens (extender was used). I hope you can feel the charm of the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z from this record.
Unraveling the concept of the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z
Canon already has the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM and the RF 70-200mm F4L IS USM in the 70-200mm range for the RF mount. Both have been on the market for several years, so I would like to start by considering the background to why they decided to create new models again.
Before the existing RF mount F2.8 and F4 models, there was the EF mount 70-200mm in both F2.8 and F4. The renewal concept was clear: to make the most of the short flange back to make it small and lightweight, and the lens’s intended use was clearly “photography.” This sparked controversy, but because the front lens was designed to extend with the zoom operation, the lens was designed to be compact and portable, and instead of doing so it abandoned the non-retractable inner zoom mechanism of the EF mount era.
This telescoping design is good for making the lens small and compact for easy portability, but when it comes to video production, for example when a matte box is attached, it can cause problems in operation due to balance changes caused by zooming. This is the reason why the inner zoom EF 70-200mm is still highly valued in video production.
The RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z uses an inner zoom, which eliminates any change in overall length during zoom operation, and has achieved a weight reduction of 1,110g (excluding the tripod mount). In the case of EF lenses, a mount adapter is required to use them on RF mount cameras, so the weight reduction of the total system makes a big difference.
Two Colors
The body is available in two colors, black and white, and looking back at its history, it is the first black-bodied F2.8 telephoto zoom lens since the EF 80-200mm F2.8 L that was released in September 1989. It will meet the needs of both those who love white and those who want to avoid reflections by using black.
Another controversial feature of existing RF mount models was the inability to use extenders. Because the design took advantage of the short flange focal length, the rear lens was located very close to the body, making it physically impossible to attach an extender.
Extender-capable design
The new RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z can now use an extender. There is another telephoto zoom lens model, the RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM, which can be fitted with an extender, but the zoom range is limited to 300-500mm. The RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z has no such restrictions, and an extender can be used without any problems across the entire zoom range.
Also, the biggest feature of this model is the addition of features that filmmakers have been waiting for: an iris ring with a hard stop and the ability to use a servo motor. This means smooth manual aperture control is possible, and by attaching a servo motor unit (sold separately), motorized zooming is possible. The ability to use motorized zooming means that there is no focus shift when zooming, and the flange focal length is maintained. This is a great feature of a zoom lens for video use, and it can be said to be a hybrid specification that is suitable for both photography and video.
Therefore, I arbitrarily named this lens concept the “Still Cinema Hybrid Zoom Concept.” The same can be said for the RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z, which was released a year ago, and I was very impressed that this concept had been commercialized.
Same Body Size, Same Control Ring Position as previous models
Furthermore, the RF 24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z and RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z have the same body size and ring positions, and the accessory positions do not change even when changing lenses, which is another advantage that filmmakers can enjoy as it is easy to handle.
Reconsidering the 70-200mm zoom range
Now, I have to create a sample image using only the 70-200mm lens. Here, I decided to take another look at the 70-200mm zoom range. Without giving it too much thought, I started by re-evaluating the 70-200mm range that I had taken for granted until now.
First, I attached the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z to my Canon EOS R5, and took out the RF 1.4x and RF 2x extenders. The subject was the Tokyo Skytree, which is easy for everyone to understand. I captured it handheld at each focal length and at full aperture from the Showa-dori Ginza pedestrian bridge, which is close to the Ginza studio I manage. The RAW file has 45 million pixels.
This pedestrian bridge is a popular location for filming TV dramas, and I’m sure there are many people who have seen or photographed the Tokyo Skytree from here.
If you use the extender, you can really use the full range from 70mm to 400mm. That’s something that’s obvious, but when you take actual photos with your own hands, you can really feel the breadth of that range. With this RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z, I was surprised at how little degradation in the image I felt even when using the extender. With the EF mount model, 1.4x was within the tolerance range, and using 2x made me feel a bit sleepy, but with the RF mount model, I was able to feel that I could actively use the 2x extender. This is amazing!
In other words, I felt that the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z was a lens that could be used with an extender for regular use, not for emergency use. I found myself getting excited.
I walked to Ginza Street, and since it was a holiday, it was a pedestrian paradise. The street was crowded with foreign tourists, and I asked a person relaxing in a chair if I could take a photo of him. It was 200mm F2.8 wide open. You can feel the soft texture of the hair, the three-dimensional clarity, and the beauty of the bokeh. I think this is a lens that weaves elegant pictures with honest and good depictions.
Later, when I went to Hokkaido for a location shoot, I took the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z and the extender with me. I will show you some examples of photos I took in my free time using the extender. All of them were shot in RAW in the photo mode of the Canon EOS R5C and directly developed in Adobe Lightroom.
After the shoot, I took a little trip to Jigokudani in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido. Since I had a 1.4x extender attached, the lens had a 98mm-280mm F4 lens. To avoid accidents such as falling, I did not attach or remove the extender during the shoot.
This is an example shot taken vertically at 98mm. It’s been uploaded with all 45 megapixels, so please take a look at the details. The undulating land and its texture are beautifully depicted, and the smoke from the hot springs enhances the sense of realism. It’s sharp and clear, but not harsh, and has both three-dimensionality and texture. The bokeh of the forest in the foreground corner is beautiful and not rough. The level of depiction is such that you wouldn’t know an extender was attached unless you were told.
If you look closely, you can see a wild deer standing quietly on the hill. The depiction of the periphery of the painting is also not overly cluttered.
The source of Noboribetsu Onsen is located here, and along the valley there are numerous springs and fumaroles, and the bubbling, boiling scenery is said to be a “hell where demons live,” hence the name Jigokudani. Since I’m here, I decided to walk across the bridge and get a closer look.
An example shot taken at 280mm and F4. I captured smoke rising from a rock surface. The depiction of the texture of the rock surface and its separation from the background are superb. Of course, all shots were taken handheld, and the R5C does not have in-body image stabilization, so the image stabilization is only on the lens side, but even so, the image stabilization worked well and powerfully. The AF was fast and left me with no complaints. Perhaps because the weight of the system as a whole is light, the burden on the hands is reduced, but I was able to walk around and take handheld shots for about two hours without any difficulty. I thought that this mobility was also worthy of special mention.
Considering the 70mm angle of view
Consider the furthest angle of view, 70mm. For me, the so-called standard angle of view is always in the range of about 40mm to 60mm. 40mm is when I’m looking at the scenery calmly, 50mm is when I’m looking at it with some intention, and 55-60mm is when I’m looking at it with interest. I’m sure everyone has their own standard, but I try to use this as a starting point and think about creating images by going wider, more telephoto, and so on. I feel like I’m becoming more and more particular about firmly grasping this reference point every year.
In that sense, isn’t it possible to think of a 70mm angle of view as the “standard angle of view when you are staring intently at something”? At 85mm, the angle of view becomes somewhat fantasy-like, and it becomes a medium telephoto range that is useful for portraits. However, I came to the conclusion that 70mm can still be thought of as an extension of the standard range (while being aware that there are pros and cons on this point). Therefore, I could see hope for creating example images using just this 70-200mm lens.
I felt like I wanted to try shooting some drama with this lens.
When I thought about making a video example using the 70-200mm range, I suddenly had the urge to try to shoot something dramatic. The subject is powerful, so I wanted to create an example simply with the power of the image, without relying on special equipment such as gimbals.
The reason I chose to make it a drama rather than a film was to avoid being influenced by the magic of a 24-page cinematic atmosphere, and to eliminate bias by editing it on 30 pages.
This time, we decided to have the Kansai-based actor “Arima Yuika,” who also appears in the NHK morning drama series, perform a one-man play. I tried to focus on capturing the subtleties of the protagonist’s emotions. Once you get to this point, there’s no turning back. The difficulty just keeps increasing.
Also, in order to bring out Arima’s charm, I wrote the script in Osaka dialect, so I would appreciate it if you would refrain from criticizing the content of the script (laughs).
Please take a look at the video examples once again, taking into account the above-mentioned process, and imagine what it would be like if you were to shoot the video entirely by yourself, adding some acting to it as well.
I tried to make the most of the ambient light. There were some scenes where the face was dark, so I turned on the C400’s face recognition AF and fixed the camera, and there was a cut where I used a reflector to raise the face and zoom in. When shooting alone while adding drama to the scene, the AF function of the camera is now essential.
By the way, this may be a little off topic, but for the audio recording, we equipped Arima with a wireless lapel microphone and recorded his voice directly with the C400, and at the end of the shoot, we recorded the voice-over audio only in the car with a ZOOM F3 and a gun microphone. We simply edited that material in FCP.
Although the weather on the day of the shoot was sunny, it was also the day when the first cold wind blew, and Arima-san sometimes had to endure the cold and did his best under the lack of proper care, and we would like to express our gratitude for him for keeping the book firmly in mind while performing his role.
For the plane shots, I attached a 2x extender and set the C400’s sensor mode to Super35 mode. In other words, the shots were in the 224-640mm range in full 35mm equivalent. The subject approached the viewer at high speed, then took off, and I followed the subject uncut until I saw its back off. I made active use of the camera’s AF function, zooming with servo zoom, and manually following the exposure changes caused by panning the camera from the ground to the sky with the iris ring on the lens. Moreover, taking into consideration the continuity of the images in the scenario, I narrowed down the plane to JAL, and shot it as a one-shot shot.
We also tried using the 1.4x extender to create a slow zoom effect in a theatrical scene. Although there are still issues with the ease of starting a movement, we were able to achieve a slow zoom that was practical enough.
In the final scene near the end, the main character looks up at the sky as the plane flies away. In order to capture the scene well with the standard 70mm angle of view, I narrowed the aperture a little to gain depth of field, while carefully searching for the right shooting angle and position. I asked Mr. Arima to patiently stand on the top of a hill, and after persistent attempts to time it to coincide with the JAL plane, I was able to take this shot.
Here are some small points about the setup, but the location was made possible with a really compact equipment setup. I should add that, although an ATOMOS NINJA V was attached as an external monitor this time, it was only attached to record footage with characters during AF operation just to be sure, so the material has no relation to the main sample footage. Also, instead of using a base plate, I attached a Technical Farm TF PLATE SDV to achieve front-to-back balance, and for zoom work I used a Libec general-purpose zoomer connected to the C400’s LANC terminal.
The Cinema EOS C400 and RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z are a perfect match, and although I was shooting relatively carefully alone from morning to evening, the camera was also very mobile and I was able to complete the shoot without any issues.
I received the lens itself in mid-October, but the C400 I used for the video example was received on November 4th. As mentioned above, it took 4 days from then until the example was completed. I also did some quick editing at the hotel where I was working on another project, by connecting my laptop to the TV in the room via HDMI.
Thus ended my challenge to produce a short drama in a short period of time using only one 70-200mm lens. I had a really good time.
Summary: Zoom lenses that unleash your creativity
So what do you think? On November 13th, I gave a talk at Inter BEE 2024, and it may seem like someone like me has talked a lot about my knowledge, but the biggest impression I got from using the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z extensively was that it allowed me to take elegant pictures, whether they were photographs or videos, just the way I wanted them to be.
There are many different creators out there, and each has their own way of expressing themselves, but I don’t think there has ever been a zoom lens until now that doesn’t create barriers to their creativity and allows you to control the telephoto range as you wish.
I felt that the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z would be a lens that would go beyond conventional wisdom in a good way.
