Oh thank goodness! There's 10 RF lenses on the market already, and still only two 85mm options to chose from. I was starting to become concerned that we wouldn't have choices.
Seriously, though, sarcasm aside. Along with the 85mm f/1.8 rumored to be coming this year? Or in place of it? The concentrated strategy of lens production is a bit surprising to me. It's like, you can have the usual trinity (makes sense) or some f/2.0 zoom exotics, or you can have whichever prime lens you want, as long as it's 85mm. I get that there is more than just that available, but nothing approaching the saturation of that particular focal length. There's 10 native RF lenses available right now, with another on the way. Five of them - nearly half - are either 85mm primes or include 85mm in their zoom range. There's only four prime lenses released, and 50% of them are 85mm lenses.
Do we need another? Sure, we need an option for non-L lens buyers. Do we need it right danged now, before the rest of the lens line is even fleshed out reasonably? That's debatable. I'm all for more consumer-grade lenses, as I have said over and over again that adoption by the broader market is going to drive long-term success, and in turn justify further investment in lens engineering. But I am a little bit stymied that this would precede other more logical options and be released so soon in the consumer lineup. I can talk my way into this making sense as an early consumer grade lens. It just feels, well, too early. Even compared to the pace at which it was released in the L lineup.