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 – Andrew

More reviews & information here:

Also see Review 1 – ERGONOMICS (Click Here)

Also see Review 2 – Image Quality, IBIS, Dynamic Range, Battery, Buffer, Black out and ISO (CLICK HERE)

Also see Review 3 – Auto Focus (Click Here)

OFFICIAL CANON SOUTH AFRICA RELEASE INFORMATION & VIDEO