Telephoto lens for Canon EOS R7?

Discussion in 'Canon Lens Discussion' started by SteveK, Aug 2, 2025 at 12:19 PM.

  1. SteveK

    SteveK New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2025
    Messages:
    3
    Equipment:
    Canon EOS R7
    Canon RF 50mm
    Canon RF-S 18-150mm
    I’m currently exploring what telephoto lenses are a good option for my Canon EOS R7. I currently have the RF 50mm prime and RF18-150mm zoom, but in the near future I’d like something with a longer range for wildlife photography.

    As much as I’d love the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM, it’s out of my price range at over £2k. I am therefore looking at the RF 100-400mm zoom and the 600mm or 800mm primes, all of which are priced between £600-£900 (or cheaper if I can find a good used one). I’m assuming a zoom would be a better option than the primes for this type of photography?

    Are there any other options I should look at? Also I’ve seen you can get 1.4x or 2.0x extenders. Are these worth considering or do they diminish the picture quality considerably?

    All advice is gratefully received as I’m fairly new to all this.
     

  2. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,888
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    i'd go for the 100-400mm RF as you on a budget, then if you can afford it later or put one of the 600 / 800mm lenses on you xmas or birthday liist and let your friends and family all chip in to get one, rather than the teleconverter

    i run the M50 with a sigma 100-400mm and use that combo for wild life the most, nearly 6 years now, having a 100-400mm zoom on a crop camera is excellent esp if you do walk about wildlife where anything could appear at any distance, if however you were going to be at the same fixed distance from your subjects 75% or the time one of the primes might make more sense.

    as for the TC's, i have them but only use them with primes or constant aperture zooms that are already naturally very sharp and bright, very sparingly
    its not just the light loss but the autofocus speed also slows down when you add a tc for better accuracy (not sure on the R7, maybe someone can confirm?) so not great on birds in flight

    the sigma 100-400mm and 150-600mm lenses would do a decent job on the R7 but there are some AF issues, not big ones, just some pulsing issues when you leave your finger on the servo mode it tends to pulse a bit due to the extra communication the camera has over the older models, worth trying out if you know someone with one, but not something to directly buy without a return if its not to your liking

    the lenses themselves are very nice for the price though, as mentioned my 100-400mm has been my main lens for wildlife for 6 years, still like new

    i also have a 18-150mm, in efm format and it pairs up really well with the big 100-400 and 150-600mm lenses when stuff turns up really close to you
     
    SteveK likes this.

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