Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

Brand loyalty has never made much sense to me, but it does seem to be an affliction that many people suffer from.
To be fair, there are some advantages with staying with a brand. Switching may be expensive if one has a number of high quality lenses...
New Sigma 105mm should come sometime soonish and since they already have a 135/1.4 I personally think they might do something crazy and bring out a 105/1.2. Of course that will never come to RF either. Then there are lenses like the Sigma 300-600/4 or the almost unbelievably small 500/5.6. Or the all in one 20-200 lens which is surprisingly good for a superzoom. None of that will come to RF either.
Please don't say that :eek: a 105/1.2 might be the thing that pushes me over to the dark side, together with the 135/1.4, the 200/2 and the near-mythical 35/1.2. This would be a disaster for my wallet, especially since all the money I have donated to Hasselblad 😭🥹:ROFLMAO:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

Yipp, I don't like it too, but most people stick to their brand (and usually Canon knows best how the market works).
Brand loyalty has never made much sense to me, but it does seem to be an affliction that many people suffer from.

I have the impression that Sony is more popular for younger users, so that Canon might get problems in the future.
I'm in my 50s and have used most major mounts at one time or another over the last 30 years, and some minor ones too. These days it's Sony but when Panasonic finally gets their AF issues resolved (right now they have about A7III levels of AF, as in 2018-level tech) I would seriously consider buying an L mount camera. Their IBIS is unmatched for video, it really is impressive.

But I also see that the new(er) 3rd party lenses - from China - are relatively good for their low price, but they can only offer MF lenses for the RF mount or AF for the EF mount with adapter. If these 3rd party lenses would be available with AF for the RF mount, that would probably hurt Canons financial results a bit (and they still recover from the smartphone competition).
Canon has always hated 3rd party glass. Back in the days when Sigma and Tamron used to reverse engineer mount protocols, Canon would break compatibility with every new camera release. Canon's shenanigans (and to a lesser extent Nikon's) are why Sigma went down the road of releasing a USB dock and having lens firmware updates. Prior to that a lens with broken compatibility would have to be sent back to Sigma for a chip swap. Very annoying, and of course eventually lenses would no longer be supported and would just stop working on most cameras.

Well, the lack of lenses for the RF mount is a severe issue!
Over time Canon will release more RF glass, but the Canon tax will always be high and the selection will never be as good as it would be with 3rd party glass in the mix. Lenses like the Tamron 35-150/2-2.8. Amazing lens. Will Canon release something like that? Probably not. Or the Sigma 135/1.4 or 200/2. Both are good astro lenses that will never come to RF. New Sigma 105mm should come sometime soonish and since they already have a 135/1.4 I personally think they might do something crazy and bring out a 105/1.2. Of course that will never come to RF either. Then there are lenses like the Sigma 300-600/4 or the almost unbelievably small 500/5.6. Or the all in one 20-200 lens which is surprisingly good for a superzoom. None of that will come to RF either.

And of course that does not touch what Viltrox is doing which is awesome itself. Their PRO and LAB glass is really top tier. Their first EVO lens (85/2) punches so far above it's price class that it feels almost criminal. Then the tiny AIR series like the 14/4 that I paid only $159 for. It's no astro lens, but it is very good wide open and lets me play with a crazy-wide lens for what is essentially pocket money.

Plus their are other Chinese companies like TT Artisans that have very cool little lenses like their 75/2 that comes on sale for $160 at times. I've taken some incredible photos with that lens. $160!

And for cool macro, T/S (at half the price of Canon or less!), and STF glass there is Laowa. I own several of their lenses too. Oh, and we shouldn't forget the Laowa AF 10/2.8 or AF 12/2.8 primes, either, nor their recent AF 200/2 release. A 200/2 for under $2k?? And that's not even a sale price! Really wild.

And China is only just getting started. This year we will start to see AF zoom lenses from them, and camera bodies (probably L mount) are not all that far behind.
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

I use several trackers, depending on the payload:
1) For the Canon RF 85/1.2 with a R8 or R6 II camera I use the Vixen Polarie U
2) For the lighter 'old' Canon EF 35/1.4 II (very good lens for astro-photography) I use the MSM/Nomad tracker
3) For heavier lenses (e.g. Sigma A 105/1.4 or the Apo-Telyt-R 280/4) I use the Fornax LT

With 240 days of rain per year I have to be a little bit flexible once we get a clear sky. :)

ick on the rain! where are you?

The Vixen is interesting! do you get enough precision with that? how long of exposures can you take?
Upvote 0

Canon at the 2026 Winter Olympics

"It's hard to wrap your mind around the investment that Canon and the other camera manufacturers make to ensure that the professionals get their images out to us."

It's easy - they just charge us their sky high prices and we pay for the "investment". And, seeing them acts as free advertisements.

There is certainly a cost associated with supporting CPS everywhere that is 100% certain. and someone pays, they aren't a charity
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

And Canon steadfastly refusing to allow 3rd party glass on to RF is why Canon is dead to me. It's too bad because if 3rd party glass was allowed, there is a reasonably high probability I would own an R5 II.
Yipp, I don't like it too, but most people stick to their brand (and usually Canon knows best how the market works).
I have the impression that Sony is more popular for younger users, so that Canon might get problems in the future.
But I also see that the new(er) 3rd party lenses - from China - are relatively good for their low price, but they can only offer MF lenses for the RF mount or AF for the EF mount with adapter. If these 3rd party lenses would be available with AF for the RF mount, that would probably hurt Canons financial results a bit (and they still recover from the smartphone competition).
Well, the lack of lenses for the RF mount is a severe issue!
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

Ah I see. I haven't kept up because they weren't for the RF mount, thus dead to me.
And Canon steadfastly refusing to allow 3rd party glass on to RF is why Canon is dead to me. It's too bad because if 3rd party glass was allowed, there is a reasonably high probability I would own an R5 II.
  • Sad
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

.....
A low profile index rotator can also make it easy to have defined overlap for stitching images, but using the rear screen with a 3x3 grid and match stars work as well.
Thanks for the info with the Sunway head. I will look into it.
I build my own 'indexed' head for tracked panoramas. My goal was a robust, simple and light solution as I'm also trekking to my locations and I usually have to work with gloves in the cold.

Attachments

  • Polarie_pano_head.jpg
    Polarie_pano_head.jpg
    180.1 KB · Views: 9
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

Gaffer tape is my goto solution for my Samyang. Can't move the aperture ring or the focus ring with it in place. No MF/AF switch of course. Gaffer is also good for other stuff on site eg power banks to tripod legs etc. No residue as long as you take it off after use.
I also use BLACK Gaffer tape to dim the bright LED's from the Canon cameras and my other equipment (e.g. external batteries).
ANY focus ring is taped and I also have spare tape on my camera and on the tripods. You simply can't have enough of it! :)
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

what do you use for tracking?
I use several trackers, depending on the payload:
1) For the Canon RF 85/1.2 with a R8 or R6 II camera I use the Vixen Polarie U
2) For the lighter 'old' Canon EF 35/1.4 II (very good lens for astro-photography) I use the MSM/Nomad tracker
3) For heavier lenses (e.g. Sigma A 105/1.4 or the Apo-Telyt-R 280/4) I use the Fornax LT

With 240 days of rain per year I have to be a little bit flexible once we get a clear sky. :)
  • Wow
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

When trust is damaged, rebuilding it is hard. If they believed that it was appropriate to use the RF 16/2.8 profile to correct the RF 14/1.4 RAW images and draw conclusions about lens performance based on those images, they're either trying to intentionally make the lens look bad or they're incompetent at testing lenses. Why the heck not just use DPP to convert the image? I get that DPP is kludgy, but with a new camera or lens it's often the only viable option. I downloaded a RAW image from the RF 14/1.4 from DPR's sample gallery and opened it in DPP:

View attachment 228010

The 14/1.4 has a lens profile available. But PetaPixel used something else.

CameraLabs stated, "I also retested the lens focused in the corner and the result for this subject and distance looked no different from my first samples. So it’s looking like a nice flat field." Bryan/TDP is silent on the subject, but he reliably discusses field curvature for lenses that exhibit it.

You say they see smoke where there's smoke. I wonder if they'd smell smoke if their own pants were on fire.
Speaking of profiles, DxO will support both the 14mm and the fisheye from April on.
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

Canon at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Photographer and veteran Olympic shooter Jeff Cable is at the Olympics again, and he’s given us another behind-the-scenes look at Canon's professional services setup at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan. Cable’s just released a new blog post, which takes us on an exclusive tour of Canon’s Canon Professional Services (CPS) loaner room at […]

See full article...
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

The Sigma lens is still a current product for both E and L mounts, not discontinued. However as with most niche lenses they are produced in batches rather than a few at a time. If demand outstrips supply then it's possible for Sigma to run out and for people to have to wait until the next batch is produced.

Sigma also renamed all their lenses to drop the "DN" from the model name, so what was originally the "Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art" is now the "Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG Art". They did the same thing with their "DC" APS-C lenses, what used to be "DC DN" is now just "DC". The "DN" meant "digital native" and is redundant in a world of new mirrorless mounts where every Sigma lens is "digital native". The result is that there are sometimes apparent duplicate or orphaned listings on some websites, like this:

View attachment 228011

Ah I see. I haven't kept up because they weren't for the RF mount, thus dead to me. I was referring to Sigma's own website, which states the DG DN is discontinued. They re-released it as a DG Art, which I saw as a "special request item."

Sigma could have done that a lot better. Thanks for the clarification.
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

There was a Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG for L-mount and Sony E mount, but that was also discontinued in 2025, and now you can still get it, but it’s a “special order”. Whatever that means. In other words, in the realm of lenses that you can purchase today, you can adapt or choose a lesser lens.

See full article...

The Sigma lens is still a current product for both E and L mounts, not discontinued. However as with most niche lenses they are produced in batches rather than a few at a time. If demand outstrips supply then it's possible for Sigma to run out and for people to have to wait until the next batch is produced.

Sigma also renamed all their lenses to drop the "DN" from the model name, so what was originally the "Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art" is now the "Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG Art". They did the same thing with their "DC" APS-C lenses, what used to be "DC DN" is now just "DC". The "DN" meant "digital native" and is redundant in a world of new mirrorless mounts where every Sigma lens is "digital native". The result is that there are sometimes apparent duplicate or orphaned listings on some websites, like this:

1771400686432.png
Upvote 0

Canon RF 14mm F/1.4 – Is it the Astrophography Dream Lens for RF?

sweet. i had the original model of that - I see it's really gotten more advanced since then.
As a dual ball head is needed, I found that the SUNWAYFOTO DT-03R 2 way tilt was much easier to use as normal ball heads are restricted by the size of the "notch" and easier to level.
It is also a lower profile than normal ballheads as the combined ballhead/camera etc can be large. I don't need to use a counter weight.

A low profile index rotator can also make it easy to have defined overlap for stitching images, but using the rear screen with a 3x3 grid and match stars work as well.
Upvote 0

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
37,419
Messages
972,774
Members
24,777
Latest member
EJFUDD

Gallery statistics

Categories
1
Albums
29
Uploaded media
372
Embedded media
1
Comments
25
Disk usage
1 GB