Canon RF800/11 is STM(N)

I’ve been using this lens for wildlife photography for several months now. From the moment I got it, it became my favourite lens. In that time, it has been the lens used to shoot many of my favourite shots.The best features of this lens, for me, are:• The long focal length. There’s nothing on the market at a comparable price that will get as close as this.• Picture quality is very sharp.• For the size of lens, it is comparatively light and so can be carried relatively easily.• I always shoot hand-held. The in-built stabiliser works very well.• Despite the barrel being made of plastic, it is robust.That said, like all lenses, it is built to a compromise so it may not be suitable for everyone. Here are some things that could be issues:• The minimum focussing distance is quite long (from memory, I think it’s 6 metres). I have on occasions found myself having to step back in order to get a shot. And on one occasion not getting a shot, because I didn’t want to step back into a canal. Generally, I’d say it’s great for shooting birds, but not very good for butterflies.• There’s a fixed aperture of f/11. This precludes any artistic aperture choices but for me is generally fine (with the exception of the point below).• I have found when shooting birds on grass or in bushes, that the lens can sometimes produce unwanted artifacts in the background. I think if there was a choice of apertures there would be the possibility of mitigating against these, but with the fixed nature of this lens I can only deal with them afterwards in post-production.In short, if you’ve got £19k to spare, you might prefer the L-series version. If not, this may be the best one available.