We have now heard from a couple of trustworthy sources that Canon plans to launch two RF-S lenses alongside the Canon EOS R7 this year.

At this time, we do not know what the lenses will be, but we have had a Canon RF 18-45mm f/4-5.6 IS STM on our roadmap for a long time, could this be an RF-S lens?

Canon Rumors in the past has been of the opinion that RF-S lenses don't make much sense, but we can't be right all of the time. If there are some interesting designs and form factors, they could be a good addition to the RF mount lineup.

More to come…

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358 comments

  1. An RFS lens lineup does not make sense to me, but what do I know. The RFS would be a mirrorless equivalent of the EF-S. Wait and see, but I would only buy RF lenses so they could be used on both cropped and full frame mounts.
  2. If they only plan to release the R7 as APS-C then there wouldn't be much point in making RF-S lenses as the 7 series is aimed at professional telephoto wildlife and sports. I can only see the RF-S lens happening if they replace the M series with RF equivalents. Or they could make lenses with a APS-C image circle and label it as RF but that would be confusing for the rumored entry level RF full frame bodies.
  3. Obviously a niche application, but I scuba dive with an Olympus u4/3 setup because Canon doesn't have a similar compact setup and diving with a full frame camera is out of my desire-level. So for this application, you'd need a true wide-angle (10 mm maximum) ability (maybe zoom) and something like the 50-60mm macro.

    Of course, how compact could such a setup be with the RF mount? That's the beauty of the u4/3 system is the entire system is downsized. But not having to have two incompatible systems for different purposes would be fantastic.
  4. Let's take a breath here. An RF-S lens does not create the same mounting issues as EF-S lenses did. An RF-S lens could be mounted on any full frame R body and simply crop automatically, just as EF-S lenses do with the R mount adapters. Personally, I would prefer something wider than 18-45 and think an RF-S version of the 15-85 EF-S makes the most sense, along with a RF-S 10-22. Those would be the only two lenses Canon would need to offer if they limit the R series to just the R7 crop body.

    Indeed, Canon could offer those two lenses and then leave the M and R lines to fight it out amongst themselves while Canon determines which way to go.
  5. A separate RF-S mount would make very little sense but I guess RF-S would make a good name for RF lenses with an APS-C image circle

    Some of the EF-S lenses went deep enough into the camera for a full frame mirror to hit them, so Canon had to create a mechanical barrier preventing them being mounted on full frame cameras.

    RF is mirrorless, so that is not an issue, and there's no reason to create a separate mount. The camera could deduce the image's power of coverage from its ID, and auto switch to crop, same as it does when EF-S lenses are mounted via the EF-to-RF adapter.
  6. It would make sense to me, but...
    we have had a Canon RF 18-45mm f/4-5.6 IS STM on our roadmap for a long time, could this be an RF-S lens
    that would be the most boring kit-lens ever made, and I don't imagine it would have much appeal to R7 users.

    Something equivalent to the EF-S 15-85 would make much more sense to me. On the other hand I'm so happy with the EF-S version of that, that I find it hard to imagine it could be much improved in an RF mount version.

    If Canon was going to make one and only one APS-C RF lens, I would vote for a wideangle zoom. I imagine with the shorter flange distance on RF mount, it would be possible to make something a bit wider than EF-S 10-22 and EF-S 10-18, without sacrificing optical performance and without increasing size/weight compared to EF-S 10-22 w/adapter. A 9-20mm or maybe even an 8(.5)-18mm?
  7. We haven’t seen a single published patent application for an RF lens with an APS-C image height.

    I declare shenanigans.
    Oh, there has been some. I don't remember exact specs of them, except there was a 100-400mm zoom patent that looked very much like the 100-400mm on the roadmap. And just recently there has been some primes (though, I expect zooms if Canon only releases two lenses):
  8. Oh, there has been some. I don't remember exact specs of them, except there was a 100-400mm zoom patent that looked very much like the 100-400mm on the roadmap. And just recently there has been some primes (though, I expect zooms if Canon only releases two lenses):
    Thanks! This is quite recent. The claim section, "An object of the present invention is to provide an optical system that has less aberration fluctuation during focusing," seems better aligned with cinema applications (the stated image height works for s35, too).
  9. Why not? Use the same physical mount.

    And I can imagine picking up a standard zoom and using it on my R5 set in crop mode. That could be a great travel camera without having to commit to a dedicated APS-C body.
  10. What no one has mentioned is that we already have a crop factor RF camera: the C70!
    What i would conclude is that it doesn't make sense to have consumer zoom lenses for the R7 and C70:
    The R7 being somewhere between R6/R5 in size is not a compact camera, so no one would come up with the idea that it's an EOS M competitor and compact consumer zooms or even consumer primes don't make much sense.

    Having an RP/R10 with small cleap FF lenses is much better consumer strat.

    If only they would make an uncompromised compact body, equivalent to the Sony A7C, with uncompromised but compact L primes.

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