Brief Review of The Canon EF 500mm f/4.5 L USM

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## March 2024 Update

Since publishing this post over 12 months ago, I’ve used this lens a lot more so I wanted to add to my original thoughts. If you can’t be bothered to read on – the lens is just as fantastic as it always has been.

Canon’s Little Known Prime

I’d like to start this post with a brief explanation of why I’m writing a review of a lens, on my little-known website. Simply put, the EF 500mm f/4.5 L USM is a little gem of a lens, but it seems that nobody knows about it. If you searched Google for this lens and ended up here, there’s a reason why. There is very little up-to-date information on this lens and even less information about how the lens performs. That’s why I’ve written this post, in the event that you searched for it.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the Canon EF 500mm f/4.5 L USM.

A Lens As Old As Me

Firstly, some history. This lens was Cannon’s first 500mm prime lens and was released to the public in 1992. As of today, that was 31 years ago. This is an old lens. The youngest of the bunch would be dated around 1999 making it 26 years old as of today. This isn’t a bad thing though, Canon is renowned for making excellent quality lenses, and when they get the red ring pained on them, they gain immortality. The 500 f/4.5 was discontinued after the release of the original Canon EF 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM.

Update note: Changed the age of the lens.

Basic Specifications

Just want to get this out there too. This is about all the information you will find on the internet, and it’s on Canon’s ‘Museum Page’.

Lens Construction (group): 7
Lens Construction (element) 8
No. of Diaphragm Blades: 9
Minimum Aperture: 32
Maximum Aperture: 4.5
Closest Focusing Distance (m): 5
Maximum Magnification (x): 0.11
Filter Diameter (mm): 48
Maximum Diameter x Length (mm): 130 x 390
Weight (g): 3,000

One super handy bit of information is the type of lens hood this lens uses. In case you get a version as I did without a lens hood, you’re looking for the Canon ET-123B II. Good luck finding one new or second hand though. I’ve had hoods from Zemlin Photo so this one comes recommended. I chose to 3D print a hood myself (STL file here if you want it).

Update note: I’ve since redesigned the lens hood, STL file can be downloaded here.

Build Quality

Canon EF 400 f/2.8 vs EF 500mm f/4.5 vs my cat Toby.

Positive: As one would expect with a Canon L lens, the build quality is excellent. The lens is mostly metal with seals and gaskets around the ingress points. The foot is nice and big which is welcome given some primes like the 300 f/2.8 have tiny tripod feet. The lens has a decent weight to it (nothing like my 5 kg+ 400 f/2.8) but is handholdable for the most part. It’s worth noting that this lens does not have image stabilisation, not that’s an issue these days with IBIS (see ‘My Setup’ section).

Negative: The lens is front-heavy, and quite considerably so. Even with an R6 on the other end and no lens hood, the lens cant stand on its own foot without falling forward. This is apparent when using the lens but for the most part, is irrelevant. It actually helps provide some stabilisation…inertial image stabilisation if you like.

Update Note: After using this for an additional 12 months, I don’t find the weight an issue. I do think the front heavy nature of the lens can be a challenge but once you get used to it, it’s a non-issue. With smaller bodies like the R7, the weight of the lens can be a bit cumbersome, but for the most part it doesn’t post me any problems.

Autofocus

Positive: The 500 f/4.5 uses Canon’s first-generation UltraSonic Motor (USM) for its focus drive. This gives the lens fast AF, especially on modern bodies. I’ve used this lens on a Canon R6 and R7 with and without a Canon 1.4x mkII converter and AF has been excellent throughout. Eye detection works great with no issues, even in poor light conditions. The tracking focus ability of this lens is good. I tend to test this on a Tiger running towards me at my local wildlife park and this lens passed the test (See photos).

Negative: The AF is a bit noisy. It’s not loud by any means, but it’s not silent either. Probably as loud as someone typing on a normal keyboard. Due to this lens’s age and lack of IS, AF is likely to be the thing to fail. There’s no repairing this without buying another lens for parts.

Note: This 500 has a unique manual focus setup that I’ve not seen before. There is a three-point switch on the lens that lets you choose how fast you can manually focus. On the fastest setting, a slight turn of the ring moves the focus a lot, on the slowest, there is much less focus movement for the same amount of turn. This is possible because of the focus-by-wire setup in this lens. For the same reason, if AF dies, you cannot manually focus.

Update Note: I’ve since shot a lot of birds in flight with this lens, and it is now my go to lens for birding. The AF is excellent, even when trying to lock on to diving kingfishers. See updated photos below.

Image Quality

The one everyone cares about. The image quality of this lens is outstanding. The simple optical set-up paired with a bright aperture and Fluorite elements makes the images from this lens turn out amazing. The lens is sharp at all apertures. I’d liken it to the EF 300 f/2.8 IS USM L for sharpness. Contrast is well balanced, even in harsh light. The colours are accurate and out-of-focus areas are great. See the images below to make your own mind up.

Update Note: Fixed a typo in Fluorite. I’d also like to add a bit more context here when it comes to Teleconverters and the Canon R7. I’ve used this lens with MKII EF converter with great results. I’ll add some images below with this combo. The R7 can be used on top of this for a whopping 1,120 mm of focal length. This is an epic focal length for birding as it’s not even that heavy!

My Setup

I wanted to talk a little bit about what I’m using with this lens. Most have been covered already but to get it out there officially. I’m shooting with an EOS R6, EOS R7 and an EOS 1DX. I’ve used it with an mk2 1.4x Canon teleconverter with no appreciable loss of quality. There is maybe a smidge of a slowdown in focus speed but nothing to worry about. The lens performs remarkably well across all bodies and converters. Even the challenging R7 with its 32 MP APS-C sensor is fine, even with a 1.4x.

Summary

If your looking for a fast canon prime but don’t want to shell out nearly £2k then I highly recommend this lens. There are a few on eBay and some come up on MPB from time to time. I paid £1260 for this version and it came with the ‘Trunk’ case and no lens hood.

Update Note: A friend of mine bought one of these lenses and unfortunately their copy wasn’t very sharp. Don’t let this put you off, but I would recommend you buy from somewhere with a returns policy just in case.

Key Takeaways

This lens is very sharp
IS would be nice, but its definitely handholdable
Weight is fine for a 500mm prime
Works very well with modern mirrorless cameras
AF is rapid and accurate, with no issues tracking fast-moving subjects
The lens is a bit front heavy but in practice, it makes no odds
Overall image quality is what you’d expect from a Canon L lens

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Created by Niall Bell (niall@niallbell.com)