Were you ever captivated by the engineering prowess of the Zeiss 40mm F0.33? What about the Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 used by Kubric in the 1975 film, Barry Lyndon? Then stick around as we go behind Canon’s patent application for a glimpse at the RF 24mm f/0.7 lens Canon’s been working on.
The Patent Application
Canon published JP 2025-040484 on March 25, 2025, claiming to solve a long-standing challenge in lens design “To provide a compact imaging optical system that’s wide and fast.”
Canon already offers plenty of fast lenses and plenty of wide ones — but rarely both in one package due to the size and weight start to become a serious issue. Creating a lens that is both fast and wide usually results in bulky, heavy optics.
The RF 50mm f/1.2, for example, already weighs 590 grams/2.09 pounds. To address this, 2025-040484 proposes a new solution: a fast, wide, and compact 24mm lens that Canon claims overcomes traditional limitations. Ultra-fast primes and wide-angle lenses that don’t compromise on image quality have been the holy grail for photographers for years.
As we’ve seen with lenses like Canon’s RF 85mm f/1.2 or the RF 50mm f/1.2, the trade-offs are real: noticeable coma at the edges, softness wide open, hefty weight, and complex internal movements that lead to focus breathing or image shift during close focusing.
Technical Hurdles
Attempting to design a lens with an f/0.70 aperture — faster than anything currently on the market — is no small feat. Go ahead, Google it. You’ll probably find mentions of the Super-Q Gigantic 40mm f/0.33, but that was never a functioning lens due to severe optical and mechanical issues. Designing a lens that’s faster than f/1 with high image quality is no easy task.
Coma & Field Curvature: Fast light rays from the outer edges of the lens hit the image sensor at steeper angles, distorting point sources like stars or street lights.
Focus Breathing & Image Shift: When focusing close, especially with internal focusing, elements shift in ways that distort focal length and composition.
Back Focus Distance: Designing lenses for mirrorless cameras already means working with a shorter flange distance, giving designers less room to move internal groups without affecting the image plane.
Aberration Correction: The wider the aperture, the more challenging it becomes to keep chromatic and spherical aberrations under control.
The patent application claims to have solved these issues — technically, at least. But developing a product is another matter.
Why It Matters
For photographers, this kind of innovation means better-than-ever low-light performance, beautiful background separation even on wide-angle shots, and edge-to-edge sharpness — even when shooting wide open.
For videographers, it means saying goodbye to heavy focus breathing and off-axis aberrations. Canon’s internal focusing group minimizes composition shift and breathing — making it easier to nail those dramatic, fast-moving focus pulls.
For Canon, this is more than just a technical achievement. It justifies the premium pricing of their high-end glass, strengthens their position as an industry leader, and potentially opens up new creative possibilities for filmmakers and content creators.
Kubrick defied convention to craft a visual experience in Barry Lyndon that was both emotionally resonant and historically authentic. He chose the Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 to shoot scenes lit only by candlelight — not for flair, but to evoke the feeling of actually being in the 18th century.
In much the same spirit, Canon is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
Because when you’re leading the way, there’s no need to look back.
A Future RF 24mm f/0.7
All we have is a single patent application addressing a technical problem, using the RF 24mm f/0.7 as a proof of concept. It shows that Canon wants to make lenses faster than f/1.2 that are smaller, wider, and free from the usual optical compromises.
But does this mean we’ll see a 24mm f/0.7 in 2025?
Honestly — I wouldn’t be surprised if Canon is looking to go faster than f/1.2 in a smaller package. But f/0.7? That seems unlikely. f/1.0 feels more realistic, or maybe something a little later.
If something real is coming, we’ll likely see more patent applications follow.
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Upd: my Japanese is not what it used to be but it is indeed about a Quarter Wavelength Plate and reflections.