The Canon Magazine 97
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM
FE aTURES
verdict
The Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 is massive
and massively expensive, but it does
everything you’d hope and more. Its image
quality wide open is quite superb, and the
autofocus performance can deliver sharp
‘eye’ shots time and time again, even with
the razor-thin depth of field at f/1.2. It’s a
shame there’s no image stabilization,
but you can’t have everything!FE aTURES
BUiLd & handLing
iM ag E qUaLiTy
VaLUE
oVERaLLThe centre sharpness of this lens is top,
but our lab tests did reveal its Achilles
heel – edge sharpness. Centre sharpness
is superb across the aperture range, and
even wide open at f/1.2. Corner
sharpness is disappointing though.SharpneSS
Centre0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3As you’d expect for a quality prime
lens, fringing is well controlled. Our
measurements are taken with all lens
corrections disabled, so in daily shooting
you’re unlikely to see any aberrations.1500150010001000500500EdgeFringing (at edge)
f/2f/2f/2.8f/2.8f/1.4f/1.4f/1.2f/1.2f/4f/4f/5.6f/5.6f/8f/8f/11f/11f/16f/16200020002500250030003000f/2
f/2.8f/8f/5.6f/11
f/16f/1.4f/1.2What’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.01
This customizable
control ring is a
feature on Canon RF
lenses and can be
used for various
exposure settings.02
The manual focus
ring could be useful
at narrower
apertures, but wide
open you’d probably
want to trust the AF.03
The front and rear
elements are
protected by a
fluorine coating for
protection against
dust, moisture and
scratches.04
This is an L-series
lens, so weather-
proofing comes
as standard.05
The autofocus is
fast, but you can
make it faster still
for longer range
subjects by limiting
its range to 1.5m to
infinity.06
This is a USM lens
but not an IS lens, so
there’s no image
stabilizer.07
The 82mm filter
thread is big but not
unmanageable, so
filters won’t be a
problem.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.
Resolution may fall off near the edges of the frame, but it is worth noting however,
that this fast prime RF lens is a high-quality portraiture lens through and through
Canon’s BR lens technology
certainly seems to have done its
job well here