First announced back in February of this year as one of six new Canon RF lenses under development, the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens is finally here. A standout in the crowd of exciting new lenses, the RF 85mm portrait lens rides on the shoulders of giants as its predecessors, the 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens and the 85mm f/1.4L IS USM lens, still represent some of the best portrait glass on the market.

Price & Features

  • Price: $2,699.00 (B&H | Adorama)
  • Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor AF System
  • RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.2-f/16
  • Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics (BR) to Reduce Chromatic Aberration
  • Minimum Focusing Distance: 2.79 ft.
  • Customizable Control Ring for Direct Setting Changes
  • One Aspheric Element, One UD Element
  • Dust & Weather Resistant with Fluorine Coating

With their new mirrorless cameras and RF lenses, Canon has emphasized their commitment to developing “enhanced communication and power transmission between the lens and camera body” for the “world’s fastest autofocus speed for a full-frame mirrorless camera system.” This should translate to incredible speed and accuracy for the new RF 85mm lens.

Our previous hands-on reviews of RF lenses have all shown this lineup to stand at the head of the pack. Each of the new RF lenses produce high-quality images, and intuitively designed features like the control ring (as seen on the RF 50mm f/1.2L lens and RF 28-70mm f/2.0 L lens) fluidly combine form and function to make capturing great images that much easier. The design and build quality also seems to have carried over as Canon has once again presented a beautiful, weather-resistant lens that will no doubt fall right in line with the other RF lenses.

(Related Reading: The Canon 50mm L Showdown]

We’ll follow up soon with a first impression and hands-on review for this promising new lens.

 

For those who were previously on the fence about the EOS R, does the release of the new RF 85mm lens sway you, at least a little, to get on board with Canon’s new mirrorless system? Let us know in the comments below.