CANON RF 85mm F1.2L USM £2799/$2699

Bigger, better and a whole lot more expensive it’s Canon’s king of bokeh for mirrorless cameras

Canon seems on a mission to compensate for the slimline, lightweight bodies of its new mirrorless full-frame cameras by launching big lenses. Premium glass includes aspherical and UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements, along with high-tech Air Sphere Coating and BR (Blue spectrum Refractive) optics. Both of these coatings are lacking in Canon’s older EF 85mm f/1.2 lens for DSLRS. The new RF lens also has higher-grade build quality. The overall construction feels particularly robust and comes complete with weather-seals and fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements.

Both lenses feature a ring-type ultrasonic system, but autofocus is much faster in the RF edition. Pinpoint accuracy demanded by the razor-thin depth of field also tends to be more consistent with mirrorless cameras than with DSLRS. Either way, the new lens retains its older sibling’s electronically coupled manual focus ring which, again, enables very fine and precise adjustments. A ‘DS’ version of the lens is also available, featuring a Defocus Smoothing Coating, not that it really needs it.

Performance

Sharpness in the central region of the frame is streets ahead of the older EF lens when shooting wide-open. Bokeh is even smoother and much better when stopping down a little, helped by the better-rounded nine-blades. The BR optics do an excellent job of keeping axial chromatic aberration to an absolute minimum, virtually eliminating coloured fringes around outlines of objects in front of and behind the point of focus. Overall, this lens is a bokeh dream.