Lens Test: Canon RF 85mm f/1.2l
Is this the lens that could make Canon portrait photographers switch to the mirrorless RF format?
Is this the lens that could make Canon portrait photographers switch to the mirrorless RF format?
the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2l USM is the perfect portrait lens for Canon’s new mirrorless EOS R system, combining 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.
It’s roughly half a stop faster than the f/1.4 maximum aperture commonly seen in portrait lenses, and it joins the other ultra-fast prime lens in the EOS RF range, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM.
There is, incidentally, another RF 85mm version coming later in 2019, a special DS (Defocus Smoothing) lens which softens the bokeh ‘discs’ in blurred backgrounds – this is
likely to cost more, and will bring a loss in light transmission of around 1.5 stops. This is normal for lenses with this kind of adaptation.
This is one of Canon’s prestigious L-series lenses, and it uses Canon’s cutting edge BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive) glass material to “negate” colour aberrations, and an aspheric element to eliminate the spherical aberration in ultra-wideaperture lens designs.
As one of Canon’s premium L-series lenses, the RF 85mm f/1.2 comes with weather-sealing as standard. The customizable control ring is a unique extra, but it could take a while for photographers to work out a use for it, since most lenses are ‘dumb’, with camera settings adjusted on the camera
body. This ring can be used to adjust shutter speed, lens aperture, EV compensation and ISO settings.
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 fast, and the EOS R’s eye AF is extremely effective. 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 towards the camera. Given the shallow depth of field wide open, that’s impressive.
So is the optical quality. Our lab tests show that the resolution falls off towards the edges of the frame, but that’s hardly a problem in a lens designed for portraits, and the resolution in the centre of the frame is amazing, even wide open at f/1.2.
What’s not initially obvious from the lab results is that the contrast stays sky-high at f/1.2 as well, giving wide-open shots a stunning clarity and luscious ‘pop’. There’s also no visible chromatic aberration, another key feature in a lens like this. Lateral chromatic aberration (sharp fringes around object edges) is relatively easy enough to fix in software, however, axial chromatic aberration (colour fringing in blurred outlines) can only be remedied with expensive optical designs, and Canon’s BR lens technology certainly seems to have done its job well here.
Canon’s BR lens technology certainly seems to have done its job well here