Canon has announced two new lenses for its mirrorless lineup:
The RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS.
Let’s take a closer look:
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L Lens
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L offers a classic focal length that’s useful for pretty much everything.
You’ll find a 70-200mm in practically every landscape photographer’s bag for those tight shots that require a longer focal length. Portrait photographers like 70-200mm lenses for their headshot capabilities. Sports photographers love the focal length for powerful action shots. And event photographers appreciate the way a fast 70-200mm zoom lets them shoot without getting in the way.
Up until now, Canon hasn’t produced a lens in this focal length range, unless you count the RF 24-240mm, which is nowhere near as fast as the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L, nor does it have the ‘L’ lens designation. Therefore, many of Canon’s serious mirrorless shooters will jump at the chance to add such a powerful lens to their bags.
Note that the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L seems specially designed for low-light shooters: A combination of an ultra-wide f/2.8 aperture and Canon’s image stabilization technology makes this a formidable piece of kit for any low-light shooting scenario.
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L will debut in November 2019 for $2699 USD.
The Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS Lens
Canon already offers an RF 85mm f/1.2L lens, so what makes this lens stand apart?
The new RF 85mm lens is designed with a brand new DS coating, known as Defocus Smoothing. The DS coating promises a smoother bokeh effect when shooting at wide apertures by darkening the edges of lens elements. While this serves to create a beautiful background quality, it also decreases light transmittance, so you do lose a bit of the light-gathering capabilities that you generally expect from an f/1.2 lens.
That said, the RF 85mm f/1.2L DS is bound to be appreciated by portrait photographers. With the DS coating, you’ll be able to capture some of the creamiest bokeh you’ve ever seen, while the f/1.2 aperture is perfect for creating a beautiful shallow depth-of-field look.
The Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS will debut in December 2019 for $2999 USD.
Do these lenses excite you? Will you add them to your line-up? Share with us in the comments below.
