The best Canon cameras and lenses for wildlife photography

Wildlife photography requires patience, persistence and a sound knowledge of animal behaviour and fieldcraft techniques. A very long lens doesn't hurt either. The Canon EOS system has much to offer professional wildlife photographers, with a vast range of telephoto and super-telephoto prime and zoom lenses available, along with high-speed, high-quality camera bodies, built to withstand punishing conditions like those encountered when seeking elusive animals.

But which Canon cameras and lenses are the best for wildlife photography? To help answer that question, conservation and wildlife photographer Maxime Aliaga offers an insight into the cameras and lenses he uses to capture his own memorable images of the natural world, while Canon Europe product specialists Mike Burnhill and John Maurice share technical highlights.

The EOS R1 introduces Cross-type AF sensitive to both horizontal and vertical lines, giving you more precision and sensitivity, particularly in low light and low contrast. Further enhancing the autofocus is a newly developed DIGIC Accelerator in addition to the DIGIC X image processor. The two processors work together to deliver unprecedented autofocus performance using deep learning, with faster acquisition and improved subject tracking of animals in particular.

The EOS R1 also features a new generation of the breakthrough Eye Control AF system introduced in the EOS R3 that can set or move the focus point by detecting what you are looking at in the viewfinder.

"If you're photographing a flock of birds, for example, you can isolate a single bird more quickly with Eye Control than you can by changing the AF point or moving the camera around to choose the right bird," explains Mike. With Eye Control AF, you have the ability to look anywhere in the frame to choose the right subject for the system to track, while continuing to maintain your composition.

Subject tracking AF is supported for all AF area settings, including the animal AF for birds, cats and dogs and Flexi Zone AF, through which the AF area size and shape can be customised – ideal for creatures great and small. AF modes are backed up by the world's fastest and lowest-light AF for full-frame, focusing in as little as 0.03 seconds and in light conditions as low as -7.5 EV.¹

Even more valuable is the EOS R1's pre-continuous shooting feature. With the camera set to continuous shooting and AF on, you can half-press the shutter button and aim where you expect the action to be taking place. When you fully press the button, the camera doesn't just start taking photos, it also saves the 20 frames just before the full press, with full AE and AF tracking.

"When you want to capture a bird taking off, for example, before you'd wait and wait and miss the moment by half a second," Maxime says. "Now the camera gets the shot every time. For me, pre-capture is a game-changer for wildlife photography. I love it."

The EOS R1 is equipped with In-body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) technology, providing up to an industry-leading 8.5-stops of stabilisation at the centre of the frame and 7.5-stops peripheral, depending on the lens used, giving unparalleled flexibility at long focal lengths.

"Autofocus is very important in wildlife photography because subjects are usually moving, sometimes they are small, and the light conditions are often not so good," says Maxime. "The autofocus in the EOS R5 Mark II is amazing. In Colombia, there were some toucans, which took flight. I grabbed my camera as one flew towards me, and the autofocus acquired the bird and tracked its eyes even between the tree branches. I got some beautiful shots I'd never been able to get before."

The EOS R5 Mark II offers shutter speeds up to 1/32,000 sec, customisable continuous shooting speeds up to 30fps, sensor-shifting IBIS delivering up to 8.5-stops of stabilisation, and high ISO settings supported by in-camera neural network noise reduction to capture fast-moving wildlife even in low light, all in a robust weather-resistant body.

Like the EOS R1, the EOS R5 Mark II also has a pre-continuous shooting feature. This saves the 15 frames just before you fully press the shutter button, with full AE and AF tracking, ensuring you capture the moment the action takes place.

For Maxime, however, its high 45MP resolution is key. "In wildlife photography, you can't always choose the distance you shoot from or frame a sudden action perfectly, and it's great to have such high-resolution images because you can reframe your shots later without losing quality."

With its electronic shutter enabled, the EOS R7 is capable of silently recording full-res RAW files at speeds of up to 30fps. It features a vari-angle touchscreen to assist handheld shooting at difficult angles and shares In-Body Image Stabilizer technology similar to other IBIS-equipped cameras in the EOS R System range, providing up to 8-stops of IS when paired with an optically stabilised lens. Able to autofocus down to -5 EV for longer shoots spanning changing lighting conditions, the EOS R7 also benefits from the animal and eye tracking autofocus used in other cameras in the EOS R System range.

"For wildlife, that's a game-changer," says John. "The EOS R7 has the same autofocus characteristics as the EOS R3, so you can specify where you want AF tracking to start and the camera will automatically take over from there. If there are four birds on a branch, for example, you can simply tap the screen to highlight the one that you think is going to fly, and then the camera will track the bird as it moves."

Like the Canon RF 1200mm F8L IS USM, the Canon RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM is fully weather-sealed and the lightest professional lens in its class. Its 800mm focal length, build quality and outstanding clarity make it ideally suited to high-end wildlife assignments.

"This is a lens that you can handhold quite easily," says Mike. "It can open up opportunities where you would normally have to use a monopod or tripod. It's especially good for bird photography, where trying to use a tripod to photograph birds in flight is almost impossible.”

The isolating power of the telephoto focal length, combined with the f/2.8 maximum aperture, makes this professional 400mm lens a perfect choice for separating an animal or bird from its environment, with the shallow depth of field making the background melt away.

The RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM also offers fast focusing performance thanks to its smooth USM focusing motor technology and the 12-pin RF mount, which provides faster, higher-bandwidth communication between the RF lens and the camera than the previous-generation EF mount.

"The f/4 maximum aperture gives a really nice bokeh and is good for the low light conditions you typically get in forests," Maxime adds. "This lens is also so lightweight for its size. In the past, with a 600mm lens, you needed a tripod, but with this one I can shoot handheld and respond more quickly to the birds' behaviour." To help you get sharp shots even handheld, the optical Image Stabilizer in the lens offers up to 5.5 stops of protection from blur caused by camera shake.

The intelligent AF in EOS R System cameras including the EOS R3, EOS R5 Mark II and EOS R1 can recognise and prioritise birds, and the Flexi Zone AF, which enables you to customise the AF area size and shape, is particularly helpful for shooting smaller birds.

For super-telephoto wildlife photography on a budget, also consider the Canon RF 600mm F11 IS STM – or even the Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM. "Up until now, 800mm lenses have been too expensive, and they've just been too big and heavy – you have to plan to go out to shoot with them," explains Mike. "But here's a lens that's lighter than a bottle of water, which you can keep in your bag all of the time.”

Previously under EF design parameters it was only really possible to go to f/5.6, John notes, "but as we've seen with the RF 600mm F11 IS STM, RF 800mm F11 IS STM and RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM lenses, you can now make new types of wildlife lenses within an affordable price range and convenient size. Being able to take advantage of the ability of Dual Pixel CMOS AF to focus down to f/22 makes new lens concepts possible.

"With wildlife photography, you're often focusing on small animals and birds, and it's difficult to create impact because they quite easily blend into the background. But these new lenses can help you fill the frame and capture impressive images."

The flexibility provided by its focal length range, combined with its excellent optics and portable, weather-resistant design, make the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM the go-to lens for handheld wildlife photography. The optical Image Stabilizer enables handheld shooting with shutter speeds up to 5-stops slower than lenses without IS.

"500mm is a great entry point for bird photography," says Mike. "Plus, you can use the RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM with the RF extenders as well. The AF system on the Canon EOS R3, EOS R5 Mark II and EOS R6 Mark II works at such low light levels that the cameras will happily focus at these smaller apertures."

Maxime agrees. "I took the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM on a safari in Zambia to try it out and ended up using it all the time. It's a very, very versatile lens, and great quality for the price. At the 800mm end of the focal range, the maximum aperture is f/9, which could be an issue if you are in a forest in low light, but if you've got enough light I recommend this lens as a must-have."

This inexpensive all-rounder is very compact and, at just over 2kg, incredibly lightweight for the reach it offers. With 5.5-stops of image stabilisation at 800mm, it's comfortable to use handheld – but there's a built-in tripod mount for those occasions where you need more support. It shares design characteristics with the popular Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM, including the same weather resistance performance – an important consideration when photographing wildlife in wild and exposed environments.

When it's paired with an APS-C camera such as the Canon EOS R7, then the crop factor of the smaller sensor gives it even greater reach. "On the EOS R7, this lens effectively becomes a 320-1,280mm F6.3-9 zoom," explains John. "That's a hugely powerful range. Not only do you get the effective increase in focal length with the EOS R7, you have the 32MP resolution as well. That's an incredible combination for wildlife photography."

In addition, the RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM is also compatible with Canon RF extenders. "With a 2x extender attached, you can even go up to 1600mm," John notes. "When this combination is paired with an APS-C camera, you get the equivalent to 2,560mm – and still have the ability to use autofocus."

The RF 100-300mm F2.8L IS USM incorporates a 5.5-stop Image Stabilizer and L-series weather sealing and shock resistance, making it robust enough for the harshest shooting conditions. It's compact and light, so it won't weigh you down when travelling to remote or difficult locations, and super-fast at focusing too.

The lens is also compatible with Canon's RF lens extenders, Maxime says. "This gives you a whole range from 100mm up to 600mm with an RF 2x Extender, with no loss of quality or focusing speed. This will be a game-changer for wildlife photographers."

The advanced optical design of the RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM delivers edge-to-edge sharpness, with L-series durability and dust/water resistance. The 5.5-stop optical Image Stabilizer means sharp images when shooting handheld, and up to 7-stops of stabilisation when the lens is paired with a camera with IBIS. The customisable lens control ring makes it easy and intuitive to fine-tune ISO or aperture or change AF mode without taking your eye off the scene.

The RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM has class-leading 1.4x magnification, giving you nearly 50% increase in the size of the subject compared to the 1:1 reproduction offered by some macro lenses.

"Another benefit is that it has focus breathing suppression," adds Mike. "This makes it easier to line up the images in a focus stack when you want to create macro photos with a much greater depth of field."

And when paired with a camera with IBIS such as the Canon EOS R3, the RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM lens offers ultimate flexibility with up to 8-stops of image stabilisation, enabling sharp macro images when shooting handheld at high magnifications. The Canon EOS R7 also offers the benefits of IBIS, along with a smaller APS-C sensor that allows the frame to be filled at a further distance from the subject.

To find the perfect lens for you, try Canon's handy lens finder. It tailors recommendations for you based on your camera, the genre you want to shoot, and lens features that matter most to you.