Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM now official

Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM.
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM. Image credit: Canon/TechRadar

Canon has officially announced details of the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM, the first of six new lenses for the RF mount.

Said to have the highest resolution of a Canon lens launched to date, the wide-aperture RF 85mm f/1.2L USM is designed for users of the EOS R and EOS RP mirrorless models.

The optics include a large-diameter aspherical element and ultra-low dispersion glass to keep chromatic aberrations low, along with Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics (BR), something that's currently only been used inside Canon's EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens, and which is also on hand to help reduce chromatic aberration and maintain resolution, while an Air Sphere Coating has also been applied to the elements to help minimize flare and ghosting.

Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM. Image credit: Canon

Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM. Image credit: Canon

Aimed at portrait photographers, the lens boasts a nine-blade diaphragm to keep out-of-focus points of light smooth and round, while a USM motor handles autofocus.

Like other optics in the series, it's been fashioned with a control ring, which allows users to adjust settings that would otherwise need to be altered via the camera body.

Dust and weather resistance is assured through a range of seals and coatings on the front and rear elements, while other features include a 0.85m minimum focusing distance and a maximum magnification of approx. 0.12x.

The lens can now be pre-ordered at a price of $2,699 in the US and £2,799 in the UK. Pricing and availability for Australia is yet to be confirmed.