AlanF said:

Optical limits is one of Richard's favourite sites
Summary:
The Good
Very sharp at medium aperture settings
f/1.2 on a budget

The Bad
Blurry corners from f/1.2 to f/2
Excessive axial color fringing at f/1.2
Very pronounced focus shift
Wavy field curvature
Miserable corner bokeh in certain scenes
Overpriced for what it is

1.5/5 stars, Avoid!

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM Review - OpticalLimits

A Canon lens with an aperture of f/1.2 and offered below $500 USD? Can this work out here? Let's check the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM ...

opticallimits.com

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I know, I know!
I wanted to point out that some other reviews are quite positive, I guess it depends on what you're looking for.
This lens is definitely not for me, but others will certainly enjoy using it. Sharpness seekers pass your way. It may not be a lens for MTF or chart photography , but rather for "vintage look" lovers. Bad can sometimes be good, just like my beloved M Summilux 1,4/75 is objectively horrible at f/1,4, yet this is the aperture I most often use...

Hector1970 said:

I don’t get your point. Every Canon Lens fits this. You don’t need dedicated APS-C lens to make it work.

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Fullframe lenses are fine for tele lenses. But when it comes to standard and wideangle lenses, fullframe options are generally way bigger and more expensive than dedicated crop-lenses.

Canon APS-C system seriously needs something equivalent to 24-105 on a fullframe (so 15-70mm 'ish).
But maybe there's actually hope for getting a crop-lens like that:


The 16 years old EF-S 15-85mm is still the most used lens on my R7 (Sigma has some nice crop lenses too, but nothing that really can replace this for me).

On the one hand, this isn't all that different from a 70-200 2.8 L. On the other hand, if the price point is very low, like the 45/1.2, then it's bound to be a winner. People want some aperture, but don't necessarily have a lot of $$$ to spend on it.

50-150 would make this an interesting aps-c lens. You'll also avoid most of the corrections needed. An 80-240 equivalent is a very interesting range

Del Paso said:

And yet, the PhotoTrend review speaks a fully different language, despite their strong Sony bias.
To be clear, it's not my dreamlens either!

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I hadn't heard of Phototrend before so I checked it out. Very strange choices for Best Lenses for Canon Full Frame. For supertelephoto zooms, they have the RF 100-400mm and RF 100-300mm. Canon doesn't even classify the RF 100-300mm as a supertelephoto zoom, and the 100-400 is a value king but it's hard to consider it better than the RF 100-500mm or RF 200-800mm.

Hellish said:

Yea I don't want this, for the STM line just do a 70-180 or even 70-150 and make it as small as possible don't start it at 50, if 70-150 (or even 135) meant it was as small as the 16-28 and 28-70 its an instant buy.

HOWEVER

I would LOVE a 50-150 f/2.0

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Me too, provided this 50-150 f/2,0 is an L lens.
There have been sooo many interesting L lens concepts, it's time to turn some into reality!
Do you hear me, Canon?

Maximilian said:

Reading the full article sometimes helps:

We had this before, it was discussed before, and nobody is forced to buy this lens. Other (more expensive, but also bigger) options are available.

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It would be ideal lens for APSC sensor cameras as they only use the middle part of the image circle. I could pair it with my Sigma 17-40 to get a very useful travel kit.

Tomba said:

You could check the Flickr group for this lens.

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I did. Not inspiring. But, if they had fun, good luck to them.

GMCPhotographics said:

I've just carefully re-read this article with the emphasis on "multi-media" and it's possible that Canon want the R3ii to be in the same price point that the current R3 is currently sitting in, ie snugly between a R1 and R5. If this is the case, then Canon might opt for a non stacked high density 45-50mp sensor and limit the ES fps to 20. Effectively making a big buffer 1 series R5 with a focus on everything but sports.
A cheaper R1, but with R5 mk1 image quality (maybe even superior) but with a huge buffer and top rugged build and pro battery.

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The R3 is a great camera, all I want is more meat to help with cropping at sports and breaking news events and I am in!

LPSDOTCOM said:

This lens is bad in ways that are hard to express. For me the revulsion is nausea inducing. It's just bad in too many ways.

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Yes, it's not at RF-L level. Only EF 50mm 1.2 L level. Just give it a try. I'm sure your conclusion will be much better than at Opticallimits. Even if you don't want it in the end.

Assuming that the IQ is comparable to the existing non-L f2.8 zooms, this would be a most interesting lens for me. For travel and hiking, I usually go with a 2 lens solution, carrying the 14-35 f4 and 70-200 f4, thus missing a good range of focal length in between. As I mostly do not use the telephoto end too much, having the 50-150mm f2.8 instead of the 70-200 f4 would make good sense for me. This way, the 50-150 f2.8 can work as an indoor/dim light portrait lens as well.

Mark flyer said:

D

That part i sent was the best decided factor, I thought. I can't send the whole file as I don't want to blow all my data this close to the beginning of the month, I may have labeled them wrong, the difference in time was about ten minutes as we went to the car to switch out cameras, as you can see a cloud developed on the r3, both at 800 iso f11. Sorry if I'm waisting your time when you're arguing me.

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Yes, you were playing the fool. The R3 and R5 images were not "may" have been labeled wrong, they were, deliberately. In fact, they almost certainly weren't taken on an R3/R5 pair. They are most likely the same image scaled and exposure altered, with the lower pixel one R5 for an extra laugh. Right?

LPSDOTCOM said:

This lens is bad in ways that are hard to express. For me the revulsion is nausea inducing. It's just bad in too many ways.

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And yet, the PhotoTrend review speaks a fully different language, despite their strong Sony bias.
To be clear, it's not my dreamlens either!

On an APS-C body this will be pretty close (80-240mm) to the 70-200mm telephoto range commonly used in indoor sports and events. Paired with a R7 or R10 this would be a great lens for parents to photograph their kids' sports and aspiring young photographers to learn how the pros do it without spending several thousand dollars. And for pros in less affluent countries who could never afford the top-of-the-line gear.

Meanwhile...


Hey, lookie here! It's almost exactly the lens so many were adamant that Canon would never make! (hey, I'm surprised too).

Interestingly, it's not an RF-S lens, which makes sense I suppose - if it doesn't benefit from being smaller for APS-C, they might as well make it full frame. On an APS-C body that'd give you a 80-240mm effective field of view (at f4.5 equivalent depth of field). Not exactly, but close to the 70-200mm commonly used for indoor sports and events. More usable on the wide end than the 112mm field of view that a 70-200mm would have for closer subjects.

Likewise for full frame users I could see this being used by those on a budget, pairing it with bodies like older R6 versions, R8, and the like, for events and indoor sports. Probably good for volleyball. 50mm would be good for more "environmental" portraits, and longer lengths would be good for torso and head portraits. The

It's an STM, which I hope provides fast enough autofocus to keep up with the action this lens would likely often be used for. The image posted in the article is probably just an estimate, but it looks compact and light.

I agree with last comment, IBIS on wide angles for video is not usable because of wobble. This is the biggest reason for me not to use my canon r6 for home videos. All those magical new features are useless when video is wobbly and ugly.

Richard CR said:

it's L quality performance though. the MTF's are very good. limited zoom range helps with that.

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I was a fan of the Sigma 24-35 f/2. Maybe this would be up my alley to complement a 24-105L

Mark flyer said:

I thought it was fun to drag u guys through that, I knew there was no way a 24mp can outresolve 45mp, just getting all prepared for thr people who think they actually can

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I wonder who comes across as clever in this scenario. Well, no, I don’t wonder.

I thought it was fun to drag u guys through that, I knew there was no way a 24mp can outresolve 45mp, just getting all prepared for thr people who think they actually can

Mark flyer said:

D

That part i sent was the best decided factor, I thought. I can't send the whole file as I don't want to blow all my data this close to the beginning of the month, I may have labeled them wrong, the difference in time was about ten minutes as we went to the car to switch out cameras, as you can see a cloud developed on the r3, both at 800 iso f11. Sorry if I'm waisting your time when you're arguing me.

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From my point of view there is no arguing... the evidence you provided does not support your claims. Simple as that.
It's all good fun though, I'm not bothered at all

Surab said:

You are right that parts of the sensor are not exposed and thus "wasted", so that the image circle from further in has to be stretched outwards but only into the corners, as @neuroanatomist mentioned earlier, leading to a loss of resolution in the corners. Now, this sounds bad on its own, but since most lenses already fair less than optimal in the corners, particularly at lower prices, and as long as the stretching results in an equivalent image quality, we can benefit at "similar" image quality from smaller, lighter, and cheaper lenses.

What I am trying to say is that while this might waste some pixels in the corners, it is effectively irrelevant to us users, if we still get the same image quality as we would get from a not-wasteful larger, but still equally priced lens.

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Exactly. Some people have the belief that optical correction of geometric distortion is the best way, but it’s just one way. There are trade offs with that way, and with the digital approach.

Happy-sad.
I appreciate the idea, but I'm afraid it's not for me.
2.8 is just not fast enough, I need to bring 50/1.8 as well anyway.

If it was a non-L 50-150/2 or /2.2, now _that_ would be a next level development, maybe a continuation of the 45/1.2 "revolution".
Otherwise just a make
85-150/2.8 which is lighter
85-180/2.8 which is longer and still light compared to L stuff
50-150/2L which would just be awesome especially if it is 100g lighter than Sony
85-150/2L if it's considerably lighter or gains IQ compared to 50-150
85-135/2L macro? I mean real 1:1. omg goosebumps

I any case, my usual comment. Pleeeease think about opening a new lens category - meant for "professionals" when weight matters. Mid-tier, non-L with USM.

D

roby17269 said:

Does better in which way?
There seems to be more CA in the R3 image and a smidge more detail in the R5 image.
Why the difference in exposure though? weather?
In any case the quality is so bad that I am not sure how you've reached your conclusion

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That part i sent was the best decided factor, I thought. I can't send the whole file as I don't want to blow all my data this close to the beginning of the month, I may have labeled them wrong, the difference in time was about ten minutes as we went to the car to switch out cameras, as you can see a cloud developed on the r3, both at 800 iso f11. Sorry if I'm waisting your time when you're arguing me.

Mark flyer said:

Thanks for explaining. Makes sense, I've had it wrong all along. Either way, I would say the r3 does better but every man to his own.

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Does better in which way?
There seems to be more CA in the R3 image and a smidge more detail in the R5 image.
Why the difference in exposure though? weather?
In any case the quality is so bad that I am not sure how you've reached your conclusion

Given that the 16-28 and 28-70 don't overlap, I would find it strange for them to add 20mm overlap between 50-70mm.

I do understand that a 35/50-150 F2/2.8 is very enticing in its own right, but it does not feel quite like trinity material to me.