Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM
The ultimate portrait lens www. canon. co. uk
This prime for Canon R cameras might just be the ultimate portrait lens
The Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM combines a fast f/1.2 maximum aperture, for soft background blur, with the 85mm focal length reckoned to give the best balance between flattering facial perspectives and a useful working distance. An important addition to the Canon RF lens roadmap, it’s likely to be categorised solidly as a ‘portrait’ lens by most photographers, although Canon says it’s also suited to street and low-light photography.
That f/1.2 lens aperture is quite something. It’s roughly half a stop faster than the f/1.4 maximum aperture commonly seen in portrait lenses. The optical design uses Canon’s cutting-edge BR (BlueSpectrum Refractive) glass material to ‘negate’ colour aberrations, and an aspheric element to eliminate the spherical aberration in ultra-wide-aperture lens designs.
Performance
Canon’s old 85mm f/1.2 lens was so slow as to make accurate focus quite tricky, but this new RF version has no such problems. The ring-type USM autofocus is really fast, and the EOS R’s eye AF is extremely effective. With the ‘old’ lens it was a challenge getting eyes in focus even with static subjects, as the slightest sway or movement by the photographer could throw out the focus.
There’s no such problem here – especially if you switch to Servo AF. In fact, the EOS R and RF 85mm f/1.2 delivered a 100% hit rate of sharp eye focus when we tested it against a subject walking directly towards the camera. Given the extremely shallow depth of field wide open, that’s very impressive.
Our lab tests show that the resolution falls off towards the edges of the frame, but that’s not necessarily a problem in a lens designed for portraits, and the resolution in the centre of the frame is spectacular, even wide open at f/1.2. Fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements help protect against dust, moisture and scratches. The customisable control ring can be used to adjust shutter speed, lens aperture, EV compensation and ISO settings. This is one of Canon’s premium L-series lenses, so it comes with weather-sealing as standard.