The Canon RF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM sits in that sweet spot between size and performance, price, and aperture. The lens — which we’ve rated four out of five stars — just got a refresh as one of several Canon optics to receive new firmware. The update allows the lens to use full-time electronic manual focus in conjunction with the autofocus, as well as fixing an OIS panning issue.
Firmware 1.1.0 for the Canon RF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM brings electronic full-time manual focus to the lens. If that option is enabled in the camera menu on a compatible body, then the focus ring can be used to make small adjustments after the autofocus locks on.
The firmware also corrects panning in IS modes 2 and 3, allowing more background blur.
I tested out the new firmware and added the following to our Canon RF 70-200mm f4 review:
While autofocus on the RF 70-200mm f4 is good, a recent update means making quick changes after an autofocus miss is simpler. Firmware 1.1.0 allows for electronic full-time manual focus to be used in conjunction with single shot and servo autofocus modes. What this means is that photographers can manually adjust the focus while remaining in autofocus mode. If the camera misses, correcting is now faster with a quick turn of the manual focus dial. This feature was actually fairly easy to use because at f4 it’s easier to see if the focus is spot on in the viewfinder than with a brighter lens.
To use electronic full-frame manual focus, the lens needs to be used with the R5, R6, or R3 and it needs to be activated in the menu. (On the R3, it’s in the purple AF menu, tab six.)
The update also corrects an issue where sometimes the background wasn’t blurred when slow panning with OIS in mode 1 or mode 2. After updating the firmware, I was able to create background blur through panning without issues.
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