Canon RF 14-21mm f/1.4L USM one of the “crazy” lenses coming next year [CR1]

slclick

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Dec 17, 2013
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Canon’s fast and wide lenses all suffer from coma aberration. A few of the engineers I’ve spoken to claim that they will solve this in upcoming lenses. I hope it’s solved for this one.
There's the Zeiss 25 f/2 TE for less than 700 clams at B&H right now for astro. It really doesn't get any better than that.
 
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Ozarker

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Jan 28, 2015
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Canon’s fast and wide lenses all suffer from coma aberration. A few of the engineers I’ve spoken to claim that they will solve this in upcoming lenses. I hope it’s solved for this one.
You know and talk to Canon engineers working on lens development?
 
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I love the sensor of my Canon 5D Mark IV. Don't no, what's wrong with it?

There isn't anything wrong with it, but if I was going to upgrade and spend significant amount of money into a new camera and lens, I would expect significant improvements in multiple area otherwise what's the point of incremental upgrade.

I don't upgrade gears just to upgrade. I follow the same logic with CPU, camera, smart phones, etc. I have no problem skipping generations if it doesn't offer significant upgrade over the previous generation.

As a Canon 5D IV user, I'm a little disappointed that Canon used 5D IV sensor in their latest FF mirrorless camera EOS R. Every generation, I expect newer model to have improvements if not alot, a little. I would hate to buy an expensive latest laptop/desktop to use the same CPU 2 years ago where the competitor offer better CPU.
 
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slclick

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Dec 17, 2013
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If you applied that same logic to say, musical instruments or painting, where would you be? Haven't you seen the wise quotes by the sages here? "The best camera is the one in your hands" is one that comes to mind.

Tools for photography are great but I see them as secondary to the artistic eye. You may want both but akin to we say in the cycling world, "Light, strong, cheap....pick two"

Applying updating computer tech logic to camera gear is flawed in my mind. Maybe it's an age thing, maybe it's the respect for masters who did such amazing work with what most forumites would scoff at...dunno, all I know is there is LOT of harping on the industry, especially Canon for not churning out new devices fast enough for you.

So, it all boils down to this.. It must be awful to live with the notion that you blame your poor images on the gear.Because that's the message I'm getting. "If I only had ____"
 
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H. Jones

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Wow, what a lens. Even to just have F/1.4 in a zoom altogether, that's huge.

So the 14-21 F/1.4L, the 28-70mm F/2L, what's the third in this crazy sorta-trinity then? 50/70-150 F/2? Canon is really out here pulling me over to RF bit by bit..

I'm a few years out of getting a RF camera yet and I'm having trouble deciding what my lens upgrade path will be. Do I want to keep the 24-70 and gain IS, or do I want to go to the 28-70 and get F/2? Do I go for the dope 15-35mm f/2.8 IS and already gain some width or go super wide and get the 14-21 f/1.4? Canon is making it really hard to decide between these options.

That said, price is probably gonna be a big thing at the end of the day, and I could imagine the F/2.8 zooms + 35mm f/1.4 matching the price of these lenses. But Canon knows what they're doing--I see plenty of photographers that still opt for the 200mm f/2L even though the 70-200 f/2.8 is so much cheaper/lighter/smaller.
 
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I don't own a body with IBIS but I've read a number of threads discussing Canon tilt shift lenses on Sony bodies with IBIS and I've never heard that the IBIS doesn't work. Use cases for shifting a 17 and hand-holding might be limited but I can't visualize any reason why it wouldn't work. What do you think the problem would be? Geometric distortion from shifting the sensor?
I would expect wrong amount of camera rotation compensation, non-uniform across the image.

Shifting handheld is not a problem at all. It's tilting handheld what is hard.
 
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tron

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But it allows almost no light beside in the middle of the frame. In the edges the f4.0 IS is brighter. So, without light there is no coma
16-35 2.8 III has indeed vignetting but in practice it does not seem that there is almost no light. I have seen lenses to vignette and have coma at the same time by the way. And FYI the16-35 f 4L IS - which you say that it is brighter at the edges - has low coma too...
 
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Not judging. It would make a super lens. Just commenting on the practical issues: Price which will be huge and timing: Sigma is very close, exists now and has really good IQ.
Some lenses are "stunt" lenses. They are made to show R&D capability and aren't made to sell to a mass market. Price isn't high in Canon's considerations with this lens. It's a super specialist lens...a bit like the TSe range. They aren't intended for most photographers.
It's quite clear who they are marketing this lens to...the Astro boys and the Architectural boys.
I'm also not Sure Canon are fussed if Sigma make a similar lens. The Canon ef 11-24 f4L has many rivals...and yet it's the best available in it's market. If you want to go cheaper...yes there are a few options but none of them are quite as good as the Canon optic. I think we'll see the same with this 14-21mm f1.4L. It's also the fastest aperture zoom lens available under 24mm. If the lens can take front filters or has filter drop in slot (not yet seen on an ultra wide) then this lens might be very useful to a wide landscape photographer's market. It might also be very useful to photojournalists who want a super fast ultra wide...although size might be a problem.
 
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A rf 35mm f1.4L would be crazy enough for me.

I know there is the rf 1.8/35mm macro. But this lens is so political correct, I prefer more virility
I've never understood why Canon haven't pushed the 35L to F1.2. It can't be that hard to do and fills out their unique range of f1.2 glass.
 
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