Two new RF L mount lenses rumored for 2021 [CR1]

Jan 30, 2020
410
513
I'm pretty sure there's no reason there can't be a 250mm F/2, and I'd definitely be more interested in that lens than a 200 F/2. I use a 24-70 and 70-200 for night time breaking news, and the 300mm f/2.8 isn't enough extra reach to make me wish I had it, but adding a stop of light and some extra reach would make a great case for keeping a supertelephoto on me for night work. Canon also has been focusing on making *all* of the RF lenses have something special that puts them over the top of EF lenses, so I'm confident this lens would make sense.

A really, really great night sports/news combination would be RF 28-70 F/2, RF 70-135 F/2, and RF 250 F/2.

As for the 500mm f/2.8, now that's fascinating. If Canon can apply the same design principles of the EF 400mm F/2.8L IS III and the new 600mm, this might not be all that heavy of a lens. Maybe with the new lens designs they could pull off a 500mm f/2.8L IS that's only as heavy as the old 600mm F/4L IS? Add in DO or other designs and maybe it could be very manageable. This would be a dream lens for football, I know a lot of photogs who shoot with the 500 F/4 or 600 F/4 and sacrifice aperture for reach.
I wonder if the 250 F/2 would come witha built in 1.4 tc?
 
Upvote 0
Dec 25, 2017
575
558
There is no reason Canon can’t make both a 500 f2.8 and a 250 f2, they are similar statement lenses to the early EF lenses like the 200 f1.8 and the 50 f1.0 and the 1,200mm f5.6 and would make a lot of sense if launched with a 1 series R body.

But the prices are going to be eye watering and they are going to have to use DO elements to keep the size and weight down to manageable levels. I used to shoot tennis and it wasn’t unusual to see ten Canon 200f1.8 and f2’s in the photo pit, but I’d think 250mm might be a bit too long for them. Wide field Astro was another big market for the various super fast 200’s, indeed the very rare reverse engineered FDn 200 f1.8 version collect huge money because they don’t need power for the focus by wire af motor, though many of them have issues with cloudy elements due to age nowadays.

Of course this brings us neatly to the legendary and very rarely seen Canon 300mm f1.8. https://petapixel.com/2017/04/27/canon-300mm-f1-8-yes-monster-lens-exists/
Scale that lens up 10-15% and you’d have your 500mm f2.8 DO.

View attachment 192861

PE 300mm f1.8. EF mount and AF.

View attachment 192860
Its funny to see that this lense got a lot of rather big scratches. Like its a cheap kit lense your throw around in your bag :D And not a super rare super expensive and specialized piece of equipment :-D
 
Upvote 0

lexptr

Photograph the nature while it exists...
Aug 8, 2014
85
55
The IQ of 250 f2 should be outstanding, to make it a good combo with TC x2. Judging by TDP's IQ comparison tool, looks like the amazing 300 f2.8 lens performs more like a much cheaper zoom lens, when coupled with TC x2. It is still very good, but not as good as you'd expect from such a top-tier glass. No magic here. The impact should be considered. Possible TC x3, discussed earlier here, would be too much for any lens, I think. Probably that is the reason they don't make such TC.
 
Upvote 0

goldenhusky

CR Pro
Dec 2, 2016
440
257
All 3 are fantastic lenses. I guess Canon will release the RF 70-135mm f/2 at some point. The RF 250mm f/2 will become 500mm f/4 with the 2x adapter. I am not saying Canon will make this lens but just in case they made it. Canon may make limited quantities of the RF 500mm f/2.8 like they did with the EF 1200mm f/5.6. I am thinking Canon will come up with the RF 500mm f/4 and RF 600mm f/4 before they release (if ever) the RF 500mm f/2.8. I would be personally interested in a RF 135mm f/2 or f/1.8 and a RF 200mm f/2
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

goldenhusky

CR Pro
Dec 2, 2016
440
257
I do own a EF 200mm f/1.8. I got fantastic portraits with 5D4 and this lens combo. The only gripe I have with the EF 200mm f/1.8 is the min focus distance which is 18 feet. Even though I sold all Canon bodies and some of the lenses, I am still holding on to the the EF 200mm f/1.8 and EF 600mm f/4 (Ver 1) with the hope to get a R5 or R5s someday
 
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
I do own a EF 200mm f/1.8. I got fantastic portraits with 5D4 and this lens combo. The only gripe I have with the EF 200mm f/1.8 is the min focus distance which is 18 feet. Even though I sold all Canon bodies and some of the lenses, I am still holding on to the the EF 200mm f/1.8 and EF 600mm f/4 (Ver 1) with the hope to get a R5 or R5s someday
The 1.8's have an unusual glass element in them and many have deteriorated badly over time. They have a cloudy/milkiness and the lens element is not available anymore. The f2 doesn't suffer the same fate.
 
Upvote 0
The 250 f2 is the 500 f4 you hoped for (with a 2x TC). That's why this lens makes more sense the more I think about it. It's also (almost) the 300 and 400 f2.8 you need. It's the Goldilocks lens.

Just make the 2x a built-in flip TC and you can stack a 1.4x or 2x behind it.

250 f/2
+ Internal flip TC to 500 f/4
Add External 1.4x to 700 f/5.6
or add External 2x to 1000 f/8
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

john1970

EOS R3
CR Pro
Dec 27, 2015
971
1,213
Northeastern US
Just make the 2x a built-in flip TC and you can stack a 1.4x or 2x behind it.

250 f/2
+ Internal flip TC to 500 f/4
Add External 1.4x to 700 f/5.6
or add External 2x to 1000 f/8

That would be genius in my opinion if Canon produces such a lens. A 250 mm f2 lens with a built in 2x teleconverter that can be used with 1.4x and 2x external teleconverters. If they ever made such a lens I would buy that instead of a 500 mm f4.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0

Ozarker

Love, joy, and peace to all of good will.
CR Pro
Jan 28, 2015
5,933
4,336
The Ozarks
They seem hyper-focused on long lenses, but it seems like there's nothing wide even on the road-map.

I also want my 1:1 macro lenses.
RF 15-35mm f/2.8 (released)
RF 24-70mm f/2.8 (released)
RF 35mm f/1.8 (Released)
RF 35mm f/1.2 (Rumored)
RF 14-21mm f/1.4 (Rumoured)
RF 10-24mm f/4 (Rumored)
RF 28-70mm f/2 (Released)

Just a month or two ago people were complaining there were no long lenses.

***Canon RF 100mm f/2L IS Macro 1:1 (rumoured)***
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Upvote 0
@Canon Rumors Guy What makes the 200 F2 L your favorite? I was thinking of something like this for astrophotography, but that's not as common a use. What do you mainly use it for?

I am a professional astronomer who designs and builds lens systems for living and also a hobby astronomer who used to grind & polish telescope mirrors as a teenager. And of course I enjoy playing photography as a hobby. Canon prime telephoto lenses, speaking from many different layers of experience, are great and the 200mm f/2 is something we used in demanding scientific applications as we could have not designed and built a custom lens for the price. I have tested these lenses on stars, using interferometers in a so-called ‘full double pass’ setup and based on that result ended up building the 200mm into a spectrograph. In such application the light first travels from the focal plane of the lens through the front, gets collimated, then reflected back from a grating and then focused back again the focal plane - meaning any aberrations the lens have build up on top of each other in this double pass so become increasingly more apparent. The 200 f/2 worked just fine that way as well, and more than that.
Colleagues use the older f/1.8 version and the new f/2 ones in wide field sky surveys (along with the 85mm). So the 200mm is just awesome, for that f-ratio it’s a marvelous design. The somewhat overlooked 400mm f/4 DO mark ii is also just a great lens, from an optical design and user-friendly perspective. I hope Canon brings DO to more of its telephoto lenses in the new RF series, and a 600or 500mm f4 DO would be awesome. Maybe with a built in 1.4 extender...
Although the RF lens mount helps in the design and performance of wide angle lenses a lot more than it does for telephoto lenses. But that’s a longer optical discussion for another time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Upvote 0