PhotoPlus The Canon Magazine – August 2019

96 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

Full-Frame compatible Yes

eFFective Focal length 85mm

image Stabilizer No

minimum FocuS diStance 0.85m

max magniFication Factor 0.12x

manual FocuS override Yes

FocuS limit SwitcheS No

internal zoom N/A

internal FocuS Yes

Filter Size 82mm

iri S bladeS 9

weather SealS Yes

Supplied acceSSorieS Hood, pouch

dimenSionS (dia x length) 103x117mm

weight 1195g

price £2799/$2699

SpeciFicationS

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lenSteSt

Canon RF 85mm

f /1.2L USM

Is this the lens that could make Canon portrait

photographers switch to the mirrorless RF format?

he 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

“negate” colour aberrations, and an

aspheric element to eliminate the

spherical aberration in ultra-wide-

aperture 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

t

This new lens uses

Blue Spectrum

Refractive glass to

‘negate’ colour

aberrations

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

Expensive, but you

get a lot of quality

for the money you

drop on this lens