Is This The Greatest Lens Ever Made?
In this video I’ll be sharing my experiences of using the Canon R5 and RF400 f2.8 lens, while on Safari in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, during it’s emerald season in April.
I’ll be testing out the quality of this lens as well as the eye detection auto focus on the Canon R5 and sharing the results.
Could this be the greatest lens ever made?
Video Transcript
My first reaction to South Luangwa during its emerald season, is the abundance of wildlife, the park is absolutely teeming. The rainy season has just ended so the ground is still very wet underfoot and the grass is quite long in places, but there’s still fairly easy game viewing.
As we travel deeper in to the park we notice a sense of trepidation amongst the animals around us. We then discover the reason, A big pride of Lions are nearby, two of them are mating right on the main pathway. This male lion is huge with scars on his face, he’s probably had a few battles in his time.
We have wait patiently for the other vehicles around us to move on so we can get a decent shot. It’s a difficult composition for 400mm fixed lens. The lions are lying down and there’ not much to focus on. I’m trying my best to get something, We back away slightly to give them more space. Then there’s a bit of movement, finally a face appears. Then all of a sudden both lions are up and walking towards us. I have the male lion looking straight towards me, but with a fixed 400mm lens I’m unable to zoom out as the lions move closer.
We decide to move on to find the rest of the pride hiding in the bushland close by.
There’s at least 10 cubs scattered around us. I have a clear view of at least 3 of them all sitting quietly.
No problems here for the Canon auto focus system. Very sharp, snappy and so precise. I hardly have to do anything. Just the dreaded over heating warning to worry about!
For most of the trip I was using my custom FV shooting mode, with back button focusing enabled. I’ve stopped down to f/4 and set the shutter speed to 500/s to compensate for the 400mm focal length. The ISO is set to auto. The light is dimming quite quickly but I’m getting really good results at between ISO1000 and ISO1600.
However, I decide to make a few adjustments to the auto focus moving from Case 3 back to Case 1. For this particularly scene the focusing felt even snappier for slower moving subjects.
This 400mm prime lens is very sharp at f4, I’m getting some nice shots even with the long grass in the way. The shallow depth of field at this focal length is blurring out out any foreground elements.
We move away from the cubs and return to the two mating lions. With any luck we’ll get to see a bit of action!
The sunset makes for great photo opportunities, even at f5.6 I’m still only at ISO2000.
Understandably the lions have attracted a lot of attention. We just have to wait patiently for our chance. Suddenly the male stands up, but I can’t get a clear shot, the auto focus has no idea what to do. I’ll need to switch to single point focus, but with the back button still enabled.
The lion is facing away from us and there’s not much we can do with so many vehicles in the way. I’ll have to settle for shot of the lions behind!
I’t a tricky scene, the light is fading fast and there’s a lot of other people waiting for their chance. Suddenly the female gets up and the male follows, could this be the moment? Unfortunately, still no action. But at least now I have a clear view of lioness. I change the tracking mode from Case 1 to 2 and crop in on the sensor using the 1.6x mode. I change back from 1 point AF to tracking to see if I can lock on to the eye of the subject. Case 2 didn’t feel very accurate so I change again and use Case 3. A bit of recomposing and finally the auto focus snaps on to the eye. I’m still getting a 17mp image but we can’t get any closer at this moment.
I managed to get some really nice shots of the lioness at F4 and ISO4000.
I didn’t get the shots I was hoping for for but what an amazing moment!
As we slowly back away from the lions the light around us starts to drop even further. And then, only a hundred yards away, there was an even more amazing moment awaiting us!
The rest of the lion pride suddenly appeared right next to our vehicle! The lioness was trying to encourage her cubs to walk passed us but they seem more interested with playing with her tail.
I was kind of pleased the lioness was on the opposite side as there were no doors on the vehicle. I guess my driver was used to seeing lions in the wild this close!
After they all passed by the vehicle we were treated to an amazing display as the cubs enjoyed their evening playtime. All we had to do was sit and watch.
We checked back to find the two mating lions but they were resting. It was getting late so time to move on. Along the way back we found a group of Hyena’s under flash light not far from the pride, another unexpected moment.
An exhausting but incredible day as we head back to the lodge for a long rest before another morning drive.
As we made our way out of the lodge we made the most of the morning sunrise.
It was looking like another glorious day as we drove through the entrance. It’s not even 7am and we’re already inside the park. Not long in to the game drive we find a herd of impalas walking along the road.
A great opportunity to set the camera up on and to make some adjustments to the auto focus.
The Impala’s just look amazing in the morning light. Most antelopes run away at the sight of a vehicle but these seem relatively calm around us.
After a few test shots I was ready to adjust the autofocus.
I was initially in Case 3 from the previous day, so changed up to Case 4, expecting the Impala’s to suddenly run off.
But they just carried on walking along the road. They didn’t seem to mind us at all.
The park at this time of the year is very green, the rainy season has just ended, it’s full of life but game can be difficult to spot at times.
Anyway, food is plentiful so the park is well and truly full of life.
Despite the conditions It wasn’t long before we came across a herd of Zebra by the side of the road.
I’ve actually set the camera with dual back button focusing. The AF-ON button was set to 1-point AF so I have direct AF point selection with the multi-controller. While the AE Lock button is set to Eye Detection AF. I’m continually changing the AF-ON from 1-point AF to Tracking mode.
The stripes of the zebra makes it difficult for the eye detection auto focus to work effectively.
I’ll need to change the settings again, from Case 4 down to Case 2 to see if that works better.
It hasn’t really helped that much so I switch the AF-ON button back to 1-point AF. Then I crop in using the 1.6x mode. I would probably crop in to the photo anyway so why not just do it in camera.
I have a lot more control with the 1-point AF but I need to be more precise so I change it to Spot AF instead. For me this works much better when using the 1.6x crop mode.
With the manual focus option enabled using the multi-controller I’m able to track the movement of the zebra and maintain focus on the eye.
Later that morning we stumbled across a small family of elephants. This can be quite dangerous because the adults tend to be very protective of their young.
However, the drivers and guides here are very experienced and can read the their body language. These elephants seem to be relaxed with no sign of aggression. With the engine off we just sit and wait and allow the elephants to walk passed us.
With the animals so close, I’m limited to what I can do with a 400mm prime lens. I’m getting some nice close-ups with an amazing amount of detail when stopping down to f/4. Even at ISO4000 these shots look great.
My subjects are simply too close for the 400mm so I switch to the 70-200 f2.8 on the R6.
This is the lens perfect to accompany the 400mm prime. However, I’m not getting the same level of compression and depth of field compared to the 400mm, even at f2.8 or f4. There’s something so incredible about the depth of focus on the 400mm lens, not even a 70-200 f2.8 can come close.
The image out of the R6 is just as good as the R5 but the 400mm is where the magic is, despite the lack of focal range.
I decide to switch back and continue to take some nice close ups while the elephants roam peacefully around me.
The great thing about this vehicle is the way I’m able to work much lower down at almost eye level with the animals. This is really the key to taking better photographs while on safari.
Eventually, they all disappear in to the bush. We then continue our game drive and find more Impala’s running across the road, and despite the dense bushland we find even more elephants. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a clear view.
We made our way back to the lodge for an afternoon break, then we’re back in to the park for an evening drive.
It wasn’t long before we found a huge herd of elephants grazing in the open grassland, and the perfect focal distance for the 400mm.
Although the images look good it’s an other difficult subject for the R5’s eye detection auto focus.
It’s just not quite latching on to the eye of the elephant so I decide to make some changes. I was in Case 3 for the Servo AF but moved to Case1 and then changed the tracking sensitivity to +1 to make it more responsive.
It still produced a nice image but it didn’t really feel like the eye detection was really working.
Maybe the tracking sensitivity should be more locked on than responsive? I quickly check that the subject to detect was set to Animals, then change the Servo AF mode to Auto.
Images look good but the Eye auto detect is still not really working that well so I switch the AF-ON button from tracking to 1-point AF and manually control the focus area. Much better results.
Towards the end of the evening we came across a huge lone male elephant. He was too close for the 400mm so I switched again to the 70-200.
This lens produces some nice results but at f4 there isn’t the same depth of field effect as the 400mm.
I switch back to the 400mm for those extreme close ups. The level of detail even at 12800 ISO is simply amazing.
It’s a big, heavy lens and can be a struggle to carry around at times but the results speak for themselves.
We still had time to venture further across the park for a sun downer near the Luangwa river before heading back to the lodge under flashlight. Another great day in South Luangwa National Park.
As we were heading in to the park there was word that the Pride of Lions we saw on the first day were still close by and had taken down a zebra over night.
We therefore, raced over to try and find them to see how much of this poor zebra had been devoured. There’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed.
The R5’s eye detection AF didn’t disappoint here. Almost instantly locking on to the subject. Knowing that I have a reliable auto focus I’m able to concentrate on things like composition and exposure settings.
I do however, make some quick changes to the Servo AF settings, moving from Auto mode to Case1, as this worked so well with the lion cubs on the first day, but leaving the tracking sensitivity to locked on -1.
I’m capturing so much of the action with both the R5 with the 400mm and the R6 with the 70-200mm. The eye detection on both cameras for photos and video is a joy to work with.
We take a short drive to the other side of the den to find a huge male and the protector of the pride. He has a big scar on the left side of his face.
I’ve switched from tracking to 1-point AF for this shot with back button focus still enabled. This allows me to compose the shot, lock the focus and then recompose the scene without having to worry about the plane of focus. Just one of the benefits of back-button focusing.
The lion starts walking towards us. He’s a terrifying sight but doesn’t seem interested in us. By the look of it he’s probably eaten half of that poor zebra.
As he sits facing us I switch back to the tracking mode with the eye detection on. The focus is almost flawless. All I have to do a press the trigger. The results are amazing when the lens stopped down to f/4.
We follow the male lion for a bit longer as he takes shelter from the hot sun under the trees. With the same auto focus and exposure settings all i have to do is compose the shot and press the shutter button.
This vehicle is so great! Without the windscreen it’s allowing me to be almost eye level with the lion. This will make a huge difference to the quality of your work.
He really is a magnificent looking lion!
This vehicle has been modified with photographers in mind. So by positioning myself in the front seat without the windscreen in the way helps me create much better photos. I’m also getting some great footage with the Insta 360.
After a few hours exploring new areas of the park we decided to return to see the lions. It was race against time to get there before sunset.
We finally find them not far from where they were feeding earlier, along with another group beside us.
It was another very tricky scene, the big male is lying down facing away from us and its also extremely dark. There are two cubs lying near the male lion but they seem really disturbed by the loud tourists beside me. They soon decide to move in to the bush.
The group next door are making a lot of noise. They’ve brought their young children along and they are causing big problems. Soon enough all the cubs have disappeared. The male, however, didn’t seem to be too bothered.
I think my driver had a polite word and they soon moved off. After a few moments some of the cubs started to re-appear from their hiding place.
With the sun now set for the evening, we had rely on the car’s headlights and also the flashlight.
The lion pride then proceeded to perform another amazing show right in front of us.
This proved another test for the low light Auto focus settings on the Canon R5 and also the ISO performance.
Our guy with the flashlight is doing a brilliant job, in a way, he’s directing me, wherever he shone the light my camera followed. This is also extreme low light conditions even with the flashlight, I’m working wide open at f2.8 and mostly between 6400 and 12800 ISO because I need a reasonable shutter speed. I’m reluctant to go below 1/200s but I know I’m going to need to go lower at some point. I’m totally maxed out, but the Canon R5 performs remarkably well.
Eventually the entire pride of lions are out all together, almost lying beneath our vehicle. Unfortunately, it’s time to return to the lodge for a long rest before my final day in South Luangwa.
It’s my final day in South Luangwa. We drive deep in to the national park to areas I’ve not seen as yet.
We find a big group of Giraffes roaming across the savannah. The 45mp of the R5 is allowing me to crop in to areas I would normally miss.
Also, the midday light and ISO performance is allowing me extreme shutter speeds to capture fast birds up close such as this Bee-Eater.
We also find another huge group of elephants. I’m trying hard to get a clear shot but the bush land and tickets are making it difficult.
I’m hoping for something spectacular, but it’s almost midday, and it’s hot. Around this time most of the big cats are hiding in the shade.
We decide to let the elephants go and concentrate on the herd of buffalo instead. This lone male makes for a good composition.
The herd seem to be aware of us but they stand their ground. The perfect focal distance for my big prime lens
I’ve never noticed so many colours on a buffalo before. The amount of detail the R5 and RF400mm are capturing is amazing.
We race back to find the elephants. Hopefully they have moved to clearer area. But we need to be careful as there are several baby elephants amongst the group and the mothers can be very protective.
The midday light isn’t ideal but I’m enjoying those close ups.I’m getting some good shots while the elephants are shaded amongst the trees, illuminated by only a few streaks of light.
We’re being shouted at by the larger elephants so best to move on.
In the distance we find a small group of Kudu foraging within the thickets. An animal that we hadn’t see as yet, and can be quite elusive. Such amazing looking creatures.
Towards the end of a fairly uneventful full day game drive we decide to see if we can find the lion pride again. To our relief we find them in the same area as the previous day. We can even smell the rotting remains of the zebra they had killed.
We even notice a group of Impala keeping their distance.
It’s now a little later in the day and the pride seem to be more active. The lion cubs follow their mums everywhere.
The Lions instinctively know what to do as they spring in to action.
Despite recently making a kill, the lioness seemed like she was ready to start another hunt. She’s found prey to stalk and begins to make her move!
What an amazing moment as she just strolls past our vehicle. The R5 auto focus is almost flawless.
As the first lioness moves off out of sight in to the bush, another lioness appears right behind her. They’re gearing up for a hunt! The lioness keeps a close eye on her sister, ready to make her next move.
Meanwhile the cubs are hidden away in thickets. Unfortunately, I can’t get a clear shot with the long grass in the way. They need to learn to be quiet while their mothers are hunting to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. They learn to hunt by watching the adult lions.
As we leave the lion cubs we find the huge male we saw yesterday. His role, while the lioness’s are hunting is to protect the pride from other predators. He has a huge scar on his face. He was most likely fending off hyenas or other lions trying to move in to his territory.
With the light fading fast I’ve stopped down to f2.8, something I was only prepared to do for extreme lowlight situations. Even at 1/500s the ISO is set to AUTO mode and is bouncing between 2500 and 5000. For these last few burst of action I’m just allowing the auto focus to do its thing. It’s not prefect but while in burst mode I’m able to get the shot.
With the light almost gone I move the shutter speed down to 1/200s. This brings the ISO back to 2500.
As we move away we notice the collard lioness right next to our vehicle. Hopefully she has managed to get some rest away from all her cubs!
This proved to be final photography of my 4 day trip to Zambia.
