CANON RF 85MM F/1.2L USM

It’s bigger and better in every way, but Canon’s new RF lens comes with an extra-large price tag

While Canon’s new R-series mirrorless full-frame cameras are remarkably slim and lightweight, the companion RFmount lenses are mostly big and heavy. This 85mm f/1.2 is a prime example. Compared with the older EF counterpart for conventional DSLRs, the mirrorless lens is larger and heavier, based on 13 optical elements rather than just eight. It’s also the most expensive lens in this test group, by a big margin.

The modern design includes aspherical and UD (ultra-low dispersion) elements, along with high-tech Air Sphere coating and BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive) optics. Build quality is excellent, with a high-precision yet very robust feel and a complete set of weather-seals, plus fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements.

Both Canon lenses on test feature ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, but autofocus speed is much faster in the RF edition. Pin-point accuracy demanded by the tight depth of field tends to be more consistent with mirrorless cameras than with DSLRs. The new lens retains an electronically coupled manual focus ring that, 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.

Sharpness in the central region of the frame is streets ahead of every other lens on test when shooting wide open. Compared with the EF lens, bokeh is even smoother wide open and lovelier when stopping down a little, helped by the better-rounded nineblade diaphragm. The BR optics do an excellent job of keeping axial chromatic aberration to an absolute minimum, virtually eliminating coloured fringes around objects in front of and behind the point of focus. All in all, this lens is a bokeh dream.