Canon 600mm v.3- who has purchased this lens?

Does anyone own the Canon 600mm  v III? Can you comment on your experience with the lens?
I have read 2 reviews that suggest the lens may not be as sharp as the V2 with the extenders attached. But it seems like very few people have bought this lens. When the v2 came out, it seemed like everyone made the jump but not so with this new v3.
Looking forward to any and all comments and reviews,
Gail

I was at the NANPA symposium in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Canon had a table in the venders room and they had the old and new 600 version. We own two of the version 2 and was interested holding one. It is 2 pounds lighter than version 2 and the weight has been shifted back. I put a 1Dx2 on the lens and I felt it was way better balanced and seemed a lot lighter than the version 2. Me and my gal felt that we could easily do some hand holding shooting for a much longer session than we can now.

As far as image quality and for use with and without extenders, can't answer that. Just remember that each camera or extenders that a person uses may or may not have image quality issues on their own and may influence the outcome reported.

We have considered replacing out two versions 2 with the new, but not for a while, maybe in the fall.

Gary Farber says they are trickling in and I could get on the wait list.

capebretondoc wrote:Does anyone own the Canon 600mm  v III? Can you comment on your experience with the lens?
I have read 2 reviews that suggest the lens may not be as sharp as the V2 with the extenders attached. But it seems like very few people have bought this lens. When the v2 came out, it seemed like everyone made the jump but not so with this new v3.
Looking forward to any and all comments and reviews,
Gail

I've calibrated a couple and there is no difference that I saw with TC's.  What I did see is that the older lens rarely requires much if any MFFT where the new lens with TC does usually require a little bit - this is with 1Dx2 and 5D4 bodies.  The weight savings is remarkable but even more noticeable is the shift in balance which eliminates the huge moment arm at the front of the lens making it really a lot less fatiguing to hold, should you wish to hand hold a lens like this.

The lens is better balanced and slightly lighter. The IS is much quieter and one f-stop better.
I would describe the optical performance as identical to version II, even with the extenders. If there is a difference, it can only be measured.

I have some test pictures for download here: https://schauf-photography.eu/canon-ef-600/

I had tried the 400 v III and 600 v III l at the Photokina trade show last year. I agree that the new versions are better balanced and considerably lighter than the v2. The weight reduction of the 400mm III compared to the predecessor felt even more striking to me. That said, since the optical quality is the same, the big loss of money for selling my 600 v2 ( or 400mm v2) doesn't pay off the difference for me. Your mileage may vary, though - especially if you want to use the lens handheld for a longer period. If not, the prices for the v2 on the used market are worth the consideration, I think.

Wolfgang
http://www.wjaekel-foto.de

WJaekel wrote:I had tried the 400 v III and 600 v III l at the Photokina trade show last year. I agree that the new versions are better balanced and considerably lighter than the v2. The weight reduction of the 400mm III compared to the predecessor felt even more striking to me. That said, since the optical quality is the same, the big loss of money for selling my 600 v2 ( or 400mm v2) doesn't pay off the difference for me. Your mileage may vary, though - especially if you want to use the lens handheld for a longer period. If not, the prices for the v2 on the used market are worth the consideration, I think.

Wolfgang
http://www.wjaekel-foto.de

Thanks Wolfgang. Yes, I agree that if I sell my 600 v.II I am going to take a big hit financially. I did the math and it would cost me ~2500.00 for each pound of weight saved!!
This is why I am on the fence about this lens. I do a lot of hand holding and as I get older I really want the lighter weight.
Decisions, decisions!

capebretondoc wrote:

WJaekel wrote:I had tried the 400 v III and 600 v III l at the Photokina trade show last year. I agree that the new versions are better balanced and considerably lighter than the v2. The weight reduction of the 400mm III compared to the predecessor felt even more striking to me. That said, since the optical quality is the same, the big loss of money for selling my 600 v2 ( or 400mm v2) doesn't pay off the difference for me. Your mileage may vary, though - especially if you want to use the lens handheld for a longer period. If not, the prices for the v2 on the used market are worth the consideration, I think.

Wolfgang
http://www.wjaekel-foto.de

Thanks Wolfgang. Yes, I agree that if I sell my 600 v.II I am going to take a big hit financially. I did the math and it would cost me ~2500.00 for each pound of weight saved!!
This is why I am on the fence about this lens. I do a lot of hand holding and as I get older I really want the lighter weight.
Decisions, decisions!

More bad news for sellers of the older version:

https://fstoppers.com/deals/price-cuts-canon-400mm-f28l-ii-and-600mm-f4l-ii-lenses-no-you-still-cant-afford-347682

Joe

Random thoughts from a Nikon shooter: I've been casually following these Canon supertele upgrade threads with some interest. Nikon's current supertele offerings are similar to the Canon MKII's -- super sharp and until recently considered to be light weight, but the latest Canon MKIII's and apparently Sony offerings appear to be the next evolutionary step in superteles...essentially all the performance in an super-light weight but full price design.

I'm not sure what Nikon is planning on doing...whether they also have plans to release a new "MKIII" line, or whether they'll just focus on releasing some PF lenses similar to the 500PF. (Remarkable lens, that). Then there's the question of how these new mirrorless mounts fit into the mix. As the owner of an expensive 600E that's only 3.5 years old, I'm pondering what the future will bring. My early positive experience with the 500PF has me wondering whether the future for us "non-professional enthusiasts" will be more towards PF/DO lenses that potentially offer super light/compact but perhaps "slower" designs, or whether the designs will continue to be full sized but lighter. So if Nikon announced a new line of "MKIII" superteles' I'm quite sure I'd be quite happy to sit on the sidelines waiting to see where everything is heading. In the meantime I'll continue to see how things unfold in the Canon camp. I must say that Canon 600 MKIII looks pretty sweet.

Gary Irwin wrote:Random thoughts from a Nikon shooter: I've been casually following these Canon supertele upgrade threads with some interest. Nikon's current supertele offerings are similar to the Canon MKII's -- super sharp and until recently considered to be light weight, but the latest Canon MKIII's and apparently Sony offerings appear to be the next evolutionary step in superteles...essentially all the performance in an super-light weight but full price design.

I'm not sure what Nikon is planning on doing...whether they also have plans to release a new "MKIII" line, or whether they'll just focus on releasing some PF lenses similar to the 500PF. (Remarkable lens, that). Then there's the question of how these new mirrorless mounts fit into the mix. As the owner of an expensive 600E that's only 3.5 years old, I'm pondering what the future will bring. My early positive experience with the 500PF has me wondering whether the future for us "non-professional enthusiasts" will be more towards PF/DO lenses that potentially offer super light/compact but perhaps "slower" designs, or whether the designs will continue to be full sized but lighter. So if Nikon announced a new line of "MKIII" superteles' I'm quite sure I'd be quite happy to sit on the sidelines waiting to see where everything is heading. In the meantime I'll continue to see how things unfold in the Canon camp. I must say that Canon 600 MKIII looks pretty sweet.

Good comments, from my perspective, now that I have the 500PF, I have zero use for the big heavy f/4 and f/2.8 super teles.  Sure it's a stop slower but higher ISOs are viable than they used to be and computational photography that are appearing and will continue to appear will make DOF worries at smaller apertures a thing of the past.  I would love a 600 f/5.6PF though!!!

As for non PF/DO lenses, the way Sony and Canon have achieved this is with new optical formulas that shift much of the glass towards the mount side of the lens which results in much lighter elements since they are much smaller than lens elements placed near the entrance puil (front element).  This also has the benefit of moving the moment arm closer to the camera which makes it less tiring to hold these behemoths. 

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Gary Irwin wrote:Random thoughts from a Nikon shooter: I've been casually following these Canon supertele upgrade threads with some interest. Nikon's current supertele offerings are similar to the Canon MKII's -- super sharp and until recently considered to be light weight, but the latest Canon MKIII's and apparently Sony offerings appear to be the next evolutionary step in superteles...essentially all the performance in an super-light weight but full price design.

I'm not sure what Nikon is planning on doing...whether they also have plans to release a new "MKIII" line, or whether they'll just focus on releasing some PF lenses similar to the 500PF. (Remarkable lens, that). Then there's the question of how these new mirrorless mounts fit into the mix. As the owner of an expensive 600E that's only 3.5 years old, I'm pondering what the future will bring. My early positive experience with the 500PF has me wondering whether the future for us "non-professional enthusiasts" will be more towards PF/DO lenses that potentially offer super light/compact but perhaps "slower" designs, or whether the designs will continue to be full sized but lighter. So if Nikon announced a new line of "MKIII" superteles' I'm quite sure I'd be quite happy to sit on the sidelines waiting to see where everything is heading. In the meantime I'll continue to see how things unfold in the Canon camp. I must say that Canon 600 MKIII looks pretty sweet.

Good comments, from my perspective, now that I have the 500PF, I have zero use for the big heavy f/4 and f/2.8 super teles.  Sure it's a stop slower but higher ISOs are viable than they used to be and computational photography that are appearing and will continue to appear will make DOF worries at smaller apertures a thing of the past.  I would love a 600 f/5.6PF though!!!

As for non PF/DO lenses, the way Sony and Canon have achieved this is with new optical formulas that shift much of the glass towards the mount side of the lens which results in much lighter elements since they are much smaller than lens elements placed near the entrance puil (front element).  This also has the benefit of moving the moment arm closer to the camera which makes it less tiring to hold these behemoths. 

Do you think Sony will bring PF/DO lens into their line up? They don't seem to be in a hurry to fill out the longer end.

Scott Fairbairn wrote: Do you think Sony will bring PF/DO lens into their line up? They don't seem to be in a hurry to fill out the longer end.

There is absolutely nothing like that on their roadmap or in their patent filings that I am aware of...