Wildlife photography: a pro and a hobbyist test the Canon RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM

Wildlife is a genre like no other – every moment is a chance to unlock the extraordinary, but its real beauty lies in the fact that anyone can have a go. Former fire officer turned passionate photography enthusiast Pete Lau proved this during a one-on-one wildlife shoot with professional nature and landscape photographer Guy Edwardes at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, in Hampshire, UK.

Pete and Guy were among the first to use the Canon RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM, a lightweight super telephoto lens with a focal length of up to 800mm, ideal for photographing animals and birds from any position and without disturbing them. Aimed at serious hobbyists, it features an aperture range of f/6.3-9, a 5.5-stop Optical Image Stabilizer and lightning-fast autofocus that ensures clarity and sharpness no matter how fleeting the moment. The RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM is designed to withstand changeable weather, with dust and moisture resistance equivalent to Canon's pro L-series lenses. It also features a white reflective coating for reliable optical performance when shooting in the heat of the sun.

"The wow factor of this lens is its range," says Pete, who has previously used a Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM and RF 800mm F11 IS STM to capture distant subjects. "The 200 to 800mm range is just incredible, and having the ability to use just one lens on a subject that could be a few feet away one moment but 40m away the next gives me so much more flexibility than swapping between two lenses. The RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM offers outstanding results, exceptional capability and real value for money."

Guy prefers photographing animals at their eye level. "If the subject is on grass, sand or water, then I'm going to be lying on the ground or shooting from the lowest possible angle," he explains. "You get a nice diffusion in the foreground, and it throws the background out of focus much more quickly. Even a small adjustment of 15-30cm can make a massive difference to the look of the picture. Also, when shooting birds of prey, it enables you to hide the tethers [attached to the bird's legs]."

Getting on the ground, even with Guy's assistance, was just not possible for Pete. Thankfully the duo found a solution – using the Canon EOS R7's vari-angle touchscreen. "Holding his camera over the side of his wheelchair and using the screen helped Pete shoot from a very low angle," says Guy. "He got maybe 30cm from the ground, and it completely changed the look of his pictures."

Pete, who has been a keen hobbyist for several years, says this is not something he would normally do. "It's brilliant because it gave me so much more flexibility," he says.

"Even when you've got a really great subject, such as an owl, that's sometimes not enough. You need to think about the background," says Guy, explaining that even a small movement can make a big difference. "The 800mm reach of the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM gives you a very narrow field of view, so you only need to shift your body slightly to completely change your background."

Pete was pleasantly surprised that a slight shift in the position of his wheelchair enabled him to markedly improve the composition of his shots. "I thought you'd have to move a long way, but you don't," he says. "To begin with, I was getting shots with cluttered backgrounds, with twigs sticking out here and there, but just moving a couple of inches to the left or right made a big difference."

Guy often uses a Canon RF 600mm F4L IS USM lens with a Canon Extender RF 1.4x to photograph wildlife, but he was impressed by the 800mm reach of the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM. "In terms of locking on, the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM did a really good job tracking, even in low light," he says. "But the great thing about shooting at that distance is the quicker autofocus. Imagine photographing a bird flying towards you with an 800mm lens. It's going to be a long way away and the autofocus is only having to move a small amount to track it. To get the bird the same size in the frame with a 300mm lens, it's going to have to be a lot closer to you. That means the lens element must move further and faster to keep it in focus. In essence, the longer the focal length, the easier it is for the focusing to work and the more effective it is."

The RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM's 800mm focal length also had added benefits for Pete. "The biggest frustration I have is not being able to get close to subjects," he says. "If I'm on a footpath or track, I'm physically limited to that space. If I go off the track, there's a chance I could fall out of my chair, so having that focal range is incredible. I can get closer than I ever have before."

Pairing the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM with an APS-C camera such as the EOS R7 is of particular benefit as the smaller sensor effectively crops the image, increasing the reach of the lens. At the 800mm end of the lens's range, the APS-C sensor gives you the same field of view as shooting with a 1,280mm telephoto lens on a full-frame camera.

Guy adds that another great thing about the lens is its zoom range. "If you're trying to find a bird in the sky, and you're zoomed all the way to 800mm, you're going to find it difficult to pinpoint," he explains. "Start with the lens zoomed back to 300 or 400mm, so that you can find your subject, then zoom in to 800mm to get a frame-filling shot."

For capturing fast-moving creatures, Guy recommends leaving the tripod at home. "Shooting handheld gives you that flexibility if you need to move quickly, or to different places," he explains. "The only problem is if you're shooting with a heavy telephoto lens – you can't hold that kind of weight for very long."

Pete's usual stabiliser of choice is a monopod, which also helps him with the weight of his gear, but Guy showed him a new technique. "If I tuck in my elbows and brace them on my belly, that gives me so much more flexibility when tracking a moving subject. With the monopod, I'm limited to that level," he says. "The RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM is so light, I can manoeuvre it one-handed, whereas with some lenses it can feel like a weightlifting session.

"The design is also really well thought out," he adds. "I can pretty much get to everything with a finger and thumb, and for a super-telephoto lens, it's nice and compact."

When photographing wildlife, Guy recommends using a fast shutter speed. "Shoot at 1/2500 sec or faster, even if it's a bird on a perch," he says. "If it suddenly flies away, you'll be ready."

Not only will a fast shutter speed freeze the animal's movements, but Pete explains that it also helps to compensate for his. "I'm inherently quite unstable," he explains. "From the chest down, I don't have any control over what my body's doing, so I get a lot of camera shake. Increasing the shutter speed compensates for both the bird and me. The Optical IS on the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM is just phenomenal; it's a game-changer for people like me who are differently abled."

To ensure a fast shutter speed, Guy says he comfortably worked at ISO 6400, especially in the shady woodlands where the light levels were low. "I think people worry too much about high ISOs and noise," he says. "I'd much rather have a sharp, crisp picture that might have a bit of noise, which I can deal with later using software, than miss the shot altogether." In addition, the high ISO performance and noise reduction technologies in modern cameras mean you can achieve cleaner images at higher ISOs than you'd expect.

Whether you're photographing birds or beasts, Guy's techniques, Pete's testimony and a lens such as the Canon RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM, with its versatile zoom range and impressive capabilities, will help you to get one step closer to capturing the untamed beauty of the natural world. "Just give it a go," says Pete. "Anyone can do it. Get out there and see what you can do."


Written by Natalie Denton