The Upcoming Canon RF 85mm F/1.2L DS Lens Has “Defocus Smoothing” (trademarked by Canon)

RF 85mm F/1.2L USM
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UPDATE: we have reason to believe Canon will announce two RF 85mm f/1.2L lenses, one with and one without “Defocus Smoothing”.

In a few days Canon will announce the EOS RP and five new lenses for the RF mount.

Among the five lenses there is the Canon RF 85mm F/1.2L DS lens. Nokishita found that Canon registered “Defocus Smoothing” as a trademark, and it’s very likely the “DS” in the lens’ moniker stands for “Defocus Smoothing”.

If we have to make an educated guess, “Defocus Smoothing” might be an optical technology to enhance the lens’ bokeh. Since the RF 85mm has f/1.2, and hence already provides a lot of bokeh, it would make sense to enhance it further.

We will soon know more. Stay tuned for the announcement on February 14, 2019. Any suggestion about “Defocus Smoothing” is welcome.

Review: Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L (superlative image quality, Photography Blog)

Canon RF 28-70mm F/2L Review Rf Mount Canon Eos R
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Photography Blog reviewed the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L lens for the EOS R system. A lens that’s universally considered being of outstanding optical quality.

From their conclusion:

There’s no getting away from the fact that the new Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM lens is very big, heavy and expensive, but there’s also no getting away from the fact that it’s extremely well-built, fast in terms of the maximum aperture, and capable of delivering superlative image quality.

We’ve seen the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM described as offering four prime lenses in one, and after using it for an extended period of time, we’d certainly agree with that assessment. Whether using it as 28mm, 35mm, 50mm or 70mm, it delivers tack-sharp images both in the centre and at the edges of the frame, with no need to stop down to get acceptable results. That means that you can shoot at f/2 at any focal length and get buttery-smooth bokeh as a result of the 9-blade aperture and that maximum aperture that is one-stop faster than most zooms of this type. Slight vignetting at wide-open apertures and a little barrel distortion at 28mm are the only real optical issues of note from what is optically an incredible lenses. Read the review…

Canon EOS R world-wide order links:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon RF mount lenses world-wide order links:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

These Are The Five New Lenses For The Canon EOS R System

RF 85mm F/1.2L USM
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Nokishita leaked images of five upcoming lenses for the Canon EOS R system.

As you can see, there are some hot pieces of glass among them. Anyone still doubting Canon is taking their EOS R system seriously?

The lenses are going to be announced on February 14, 2019.

RF 15-35mm F/2.8L IS USM
RF 24-70mm F/2.8L IS USM
RF 70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM
RF 24-240mm F/4-6.3 IS USM

Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 STM Macro Review (IS better than Sony’s IBIS)

Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS STM
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Alik Griffin reviewed the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM Macro lens for the EOS R system.

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM Macro is (so far) the less expensive lens for the EOS R, it’s not “L” grade and it doesn’t sport all of Canon’s optical magic. Never the less it’s an interesting lens, especially at $500.

One interesting point of Alik’s review is the comparison with Sony’s IBIS. Alik did some extensive testing and comparison, and he found that…

[…] small shakes, from shaky hands or large vibrations are noticeably better with the IS lens compared to the Sony IBIS. Also, if you’re shooting video, IS + Digital IS is noticeably better than IBIS and the digital IS does correct the tilt take.

There are so many mostly wishful rumors about Canon delivering IBIS in a future EOS R models and Alik’s findings confirm that Canon is right when stating that their in lens image stabilisation is better than other’s IBIS. That’s not to say Canon will never sport IBIS on a camera, but for the time being it’s just a clickbait thing.

From his conclusion:

The Canon RF 35mm f1.8 is all around solid lens in terms of build and performance. There are a few flaws that are easy to work around like the vignetting at f1.8 and f2 and some noticeable barrel distortion. You can correct for all of this in-camera if you’re shooting video or JPG, but RAW shooters will have to use post corrections.
I like to shoot a lot at f2.8, which gives me great looking bokeh without the vignetting and astigmatism. I stop down to f5.6 and f8 when I want the most sharpness, and I shoot f1.8, when I need a fast shutter speed in low light or when I want very shallow depth.
Performance at f2.8 is just incredible. You don’t see any geometry yet in the bokeh at f2.8 and it cleans up all the issues in the corners and edges.

Alik tested anything you may want to measure on a lens, distortion, vignetting, flare, chromatic aberrations, you name it. A refreshing and independent review with test charts, sample images and all sort of insights.

You can follow Alik on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on his site.

Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM Macro:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon Set To Release 7 Lenses For EOS R In 2019?

Top 10 Cameras Canon Rumors Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Canon Eos R Pro Eos R Canon Lens Explorers Of Light
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Canon already let the world know what lenses they plan to release in 2019.

In at least two different events Canon execs let us know that 2019 the company would release what is usually referred as the “holy trinity”, i.e. a 16-35mm f/2.8, a 24-70mm f/2.8 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 (see here and here).

Latest from the rumor outlets suggests that Canon might announce no less than seven lenses in 2019, with the caveat that some of these will ship no earlier than 2020.

Besides the upcoming “holy trinity” of lenses, the rumor suggests Canon might announce these lenses:

  • RF 105mm f/1.4L
  • RF 85mm f/1.8 IS STM
  • RF Macro lens
  • RF non-L kit lens

Moreover, there might be another wide angle lens in development, with an unclear release schedule. Finally, it’s suggested Canon will release at least 15 RF lenses in the next 30-36 months.

So far we are sure only about the “holy trinity”, not so much about the rest. Canon will obviously expand the lens ecosystem for the EOS R in the next years, and the suggested lens are all very plausible since they re the basics of every lens ecosystem for a full frame camera. No surprises here.

What else do we know about Canon’s EOS R agenda? We know Canon is set to release a high resolution EOS R model somewhen in Q1/Q2 2019. It’s likely that Canon will also announce the “holy trinity” of lenses along with the high res EOS R. Rumors about an APS-C EOS R model have been quit lately. Some rumor mills suggest there could be another EOS R model set to be announced late in 2019.

Canon Patent For RF 90mm f/2.8L IS Macro Lens (EOS R System)

Canon Patent
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Hi Lows Note spotted a rather interesting Canon patent application (2017-108266).

The patent literature describes a 90mm f/2.8L IS macro lens for the Canon EOS R system. Two optical formulas are discussed in the patent literature.

Specification and lens arrangement of embodiment 1

  • Focal length: 97.00mm
  • F number: 2.92
  • Half angle of view: 12.57
  • Image height: 21.64mm
  • Lens length: 115.12mm
  • Back focus: 20.01mm

Specification and lens arrangement of embodiment 3

  • Focal length: 86.00mm
  • F number: 2.87
  • Half angle of view: 14.12
  • Image height: 21.64mm
  • Lens length: 115.07mm
  • Back focus: 15.93mm

Well, this is a patent application for a lens that may indeed hit the market (most patent applications never become a real product).

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production in the next few years are these: