Patent: Canon RF 35mm f/1.4 Soft Focus

[Canon Rumors]

Canon News has uncovered a complex and interesting optical formula patent from Canon, this one is for an RF 35mm f/1.4 Soft Focus lens design.
Canon RF 35mm f/1.4 Soft Focus

Focal length: 35.91mm 35.82mm 36.00mm  (normal focus, under and over)
F-NUMBER: 1.52 1.52 1.53
Half angle of view: 31.07 31.13 31.01
Image height: 21.64mm 21.64mm 21.64mm
Total lens length: 133.70mm 133.68mm 133.69mm
BF: 19.05mm 19.03mm 19.04mm

An RF 35mm f/1.2L has been rumoured for some time, but this is the first we’ve seen of this type of lens.

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[Del Paso]

If most of these lens designs are implemented, it'll be hard for competition to follow!

 

[Stuart]

35mm portrait lens? when might you use a wider angle soft focus lens?

 

[Sharlin]

35mm portrait lens? when might you use a wider angle soft focus lens?

Wideangle portraits have become more popular, not in small part due to the ubiquity of selfies.

 

[Stuart]

Wideangle portraits have become more popular, not in small part due to the ubiquity of selfies.

THanks - I think i'd need a wide angle for a selfie and soft focus would help the viewers too

 

[Kit.]

So, basically, "vloggers"?

 

[Daan Stam]

So, basically, "vloggers"?

No thats not wide enough for vloggers. i think mostly wedding photographers and instagram influencer photography.

 

[SteveC]

Any lens wide enough to make the nose bigger than the rest of the face. (Or make the portrait dinky against a landscape--which would at least make some doggone sense.)

 

[Antono Refa]

The EF 135mm f/2.8 w/Softfocus was discontinued, so apparently the effect isn't in high demand.

Maybe this lens is for video, maybe its just to protect the IP.

 

[Ozarker]

35mm portrait lens? when might you use a wider angle soft focus lens?

Don't know about soft focus. I have never seen one. But I have done a lot of 35mm portraits. With the right approach, distortion is not a problem. It isn't my favorite, but has its place.

 

[Occipitals]

35mm is a great focal length to shoot portraits with. All my street photos and portraits are shot with a 35mm. https://eddrobertson.com/street-portraits/

 

[BeenThere]

I prefer sharp focus. Various ways to selectively soften in post. Not so easy to sharpen a soft image in post.

 

[SecureGSM]

35mm is a great focal length to shoot portraits with. All my street photos and portraits are shot with a 35mm. https://eddrobertson.com/street-portraits/

1.5 stop loss of light (as with the RF 85 DS) would be a deal breaker for many. with 85mm not so much where DoF / bokeh quality is a primary purpose of going F1.2. With 35mm lens - not so much though. however, I am keen to see what opportunity this lens will provide.

 

[cayenne]

Can someone explain to me what a "soft focus" lens is? I'm having a hard time believing this is a lens that is intentionally designed so as not to allow getting as close to tack sharp images as possible, and that it means something else?

If it means that, what is the use case for a lens that is designed not to focus well?

TIA,

cayenne

 

[Ozarker]

Can someone explain to me what a "soft focus" lens is? I'm having a hard time believing this is a lens that is intentionally designed so as not to allow getting as close to tack sharp images as possible, and that it means something else?

If it means that, what is the use case for a lens that is designed not to focus well?

TIA,

cayenne

Yes, intentionally soft. Usually for portraits? I am surprised at this focal length. “A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an out-of-focus image, and the effect cannot be achieved simply by defocusing a sharp lens. Soft focus is also the name of the style of photograph produced by such a lens.” Wiki

Years ago there was a franchise called “Glamor Shots”. They took a lot of soft focus style photos.

 

[illadvisedhammer]

35mm is a great focal length to shoot portraits with. All my street photos and portraits are shot with a 35mm. https://eddrobertson.com/street-portraits/

Inspiring photos, thanks for the link