Canon EF Lens and R6 for great bird photography
I have been field testing the Canon EOS R 6 Mirrorless camera since it was launched in the start of July 2020. I have also only have had a few lenses that I could test the camera with as the new RF lens options have not been available in South Africa. With that I realized that there will be many photographers worldwide that would also like to start using the new generation cameras from Canon but with their existing EF lenses. Add to that the Covid 19 Lockdown in South Africa has been very restrictive on my opportunities to travel and photograph African Wildlife.
But in hindsight it has been a blessing as I have managed to find and discover so many new birding areas within a 50km radius of my home. This has helped my hone my skills and really push the new camera to extremes with light, weather and lens combinations with Canon EF Lens and R6.
I have been using the Canon R6 (early production unit) with a  standard EF to RF lens mount adapter. Below are the combinations of glass I have been using.
Canon EF   70 mm – 200 mm F2.8 IS USM L MK I
Canon EF   70 mm – 200 mm F2.8 IS USM L MK I + Canon 1.4 Extender MK III
Canon EF 100 mm – 400 mm F4.5 – F5.6 IS USM L MK II
Canon EF 100 mm – 400 mm F4.5 – F5.6 IS USM L MK II + Canon 1.4 Extender MK III
Canon EF 200 mm – 400 mm F4  IS USM L with built in 1.4 Extender
Canon EF 200 mm – 400 mm F4  IS USM L with built in 1.4 Extender + Canon 1.4 Extender MK III
Some interesting observations from my field testing to date with Canon EF Lens and R6:
- All lenses with just a single 1.4 extender showed no slowing or focus hunting in anyway.
- The new autofocus options has made the use of converters on the EF lens a valuable asset to photographers compared to the use of them on the same lenses with a standard DSLR set up
- Image quality was in no way compromised and compared to using a 5D MK III, 5D M IV , 7D MK 2 and the 90D it was substantially better.
- The camera body attached to the lens options was perfect and I had no issues with ergonomics, handling or stability.
- There was no issues with tracking and hit rate with or without the converter on the camera
- Using the Canon EF 200 mm – 400 mm F4 IS USM L with built in 1.4 Extender + Canon 1.4 Extender MK III was a touch slower that the other lenses and the accuracy was I would say maybe 10-15%
Canon EF Lens and R6 for great bird photography
All in all, I feel that anyone who wants to take a phased approach in entering the Canon mirrorless system will easily be able to use their existing EF lenses without and loss of quality they are already used to with their DSLR system. In actual fact the added advances in the technology will give them a great improvement in their photography.
With this in mind, the RF lens system will I my humble opinion up the bar and let any R5/R6 owner get the full potential out the R camera and RF lens system when paired together. Thanks for reading this and enjoy the gallery of a wide variety of images below all taken with the above combinations. I hope to be testing the RF 600 F11 and the RF 800 F11.
Please feel free to post your comments in the box below about the Canon EF Lens and R6 and I will provide you with the feedback you need !
Keep chasing the light and may you find the peace you deserve –Â Andrew
More reviews & information here:
Also see Review 1 – ERGONOMICS (Click Here)
Also see Review 3 – Auto Focus (Click Here)
OFFICIALÂ CANON SOUTH AFRICA RELEASE INFORMATION & VIDEO
Canon EF Lens and R6 for great bird photography
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Can’t wait to test drive mine when I get it
I am sure you will enjoy it Nobby, it’s a breath of fresh air and a great piece of kit !
Thanks, Some nice pics Andrew. I was surprised no oystercatchers around Knysna?
You need to give me a shout when next in EL I’ll show you where to find lots!!
All your points about R6 and birds taken: I assume you would agree then that for birding, this would make the R5 almost the perfect birding camera, given it amounts to R6 + more cropping ability?
Hello Dave, hope you are well. It was a little difficult to get to the right areas with tides and light so did not focus on the OC ! I would love to do some birding in EL sometime with you. Yes, the crop ability of the R5 would make it even a little better but, you would need to invest in the CF Express card to make use of the write speed and maximise your buffer for the birds in flight shots due to the file size. Pair it with the 800mm F11 and I think it’s a great setup with either R5 or R6. That is going to be the next test for me but I think I will be very happy with the 800mm F11
hi there, I came upon your site when searching about cropping bird photography with R6… i know its been a huge discussion lately and i am still unsure the R6 is the way to go for decent amount of cropping with especially smaller birds where I just cant get close enough to for a minimal crop image.. how much cropping can you do with an r6 to be more than satisfied with the end result of image quality?
thank you
Hello Trudy
Cropping depends on your end use only for me. I have cropped up to 50% for online use. All that happens is that you will not be able to blow up the image when printing. I have printed A3 size with no issues.Hope that helps
Andrew