Wide field astrophotography is fast becoming an increasingly available niche for more hobby photographers with the availability of better, smaller, and cheaper tracking mounts. But the smallest galaxies, nebulae, and planets are always very expensive to capture. Can this lens change that?
The need for ultra-accurate tracking was paramount, and the telescopes needed to image at these increased focal lengths were not only expensive, but could not be used for anything else.
In this video by Nico Carver, who follows Nebula Photos on YouTube, he tries out the new Canon RF 800 f/11 lens to test its astrophotography capabilities. The Canon RF 800 f/11 IS STM is one of the cheapest autofocus super-telephoto lenses in Canon’s lineup. And while it can be expensive when compared to similarly operated telescopes, like the Maksutov-Cassegrains, it can easily do the double duty of shooting birds, other wildlife, or sports maneuver much closer to the Earth’s surface. Although this lens is not designed for astrophotography, his results on a relatively inexpensive tracking mount demonstrate that the quality of this lens lasts when photographing the night sky. With proper mounting and guidance, the RF 800 f/11 produced surprisingly good results with little distortion and almost no vignetting. Even the corners have very little distortion, especially when he uses a full frame camera.
While the market currently lacks an affordable tracking mount capable of using lenses or telescopes at these focal lengths, I, for one, would be interested in using this lens. for high resolution images of the lunar surface. The RF 800 f/11 would be a great moon detailing lens when paired with Canon’s new R10 or R7 bodies. When new Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTi becomes available, this lens may require another round of testing on deep sky objects.
