Canon RF telephoto lens - 85 mm
$674.99
Mfg # 4234C002
CDW # 6494797
| UNSPSC 45121600
Know your gear
The RF 85 mm F2 Macro IS STM medium telephoto lens expands on the versatility of bright, macro, IS equipped prime lenses built for the EOS R system. With a focal length of 85 millimeters and a bright, maximum aperture of f/2 for beautiful bokeh, this versatile lens is a great choice for portraits and street photography, as well as low light scenes or during concerts, and with the addition of macro capability, even close-up and macro photography will provide stellar results. The RF 85 mm F2 Macro IS STM is a lightweight, affordable lens that boasts high image quality and an impressive optical image stabilization system offering up to 5 stops of shake correction ideal for low-light scenes or when recording video, and featuring Hybrid IS enables stabilization when focusing on macro, close-range subjects.
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Canon RF telephoto lens - 85 mm is rated
4.40 out of
5 by
9.
Rated 5 out of
5 by
S_P00 from
I'm happy with the lens.
I purchased this lens in August of 2024 for my Canon R6M2. I'm happy with the lens overall as it produces good quality images. My only complaint is the time it sometimes takes to focus but as a person that mainly takes landscape photos, it's an issue I can live with. I'm attaching a couple of photos taken with the RF85 F2 for reference.
Date published: 2024-09-04T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Lotus Seven from
Sharp, Beautiful Bokeh and Excellent Image Stabilization
I've tested two examples of the RF 85mm f/2 Macro lens. Both performed superbly for portraits, landscape photography, and low magnification macro work. This lens is sharp across the field of view with little or no vignetting, even wide open. "Pixel picking" using a EOS R (30.3 Mpix) camera showed that this lens was able to resolve line details down to a single pixel level. Amazingly, all indications were that the camera's resolving power was the limiting factor in perceived sharpness, not the lens. Color rendition was also excellent, with no noticeable color shift bias and no significant linear distortion was present.
Obviously, one of the main uses for a fast 85 mm lens is for portraiture. That is an ideal application for this lens where it truly shines. Bokeh is wonderfully smooth and buttery, but even wide open this lens maintains its excellent, in plane, sharpness.
The delicious frosting on the cake is the amazing "5-stop" rated image stabilization. I was able to routinely shoot ambient-light, indoor portraits at ISO 100 at 1/10 to 1/4 sec with no perceptible blur as long as my subject was still. Also, sharp macro shots at full (0.5X) magnification were possible at 1/15 to 1/25 sec hand-held. I can't wait to try this with the R5.
Regarding macro use: The closest focusing distance specification for this lens is "1.14 ft.". This is to the camera image sensor plane and translates to approximately 6.5 inches for the from the lens' front element. That is plenty of distance to provide additional light as is sometimes need for macro work.
The STM focus motor is audible, which may be a factor for anyone wanting to use this for video with an on-camera mic, but otherwise focusing is acceptable taking approximately 1/10to 1/4 sec to cover most of the extended focusing range. Using the range limiter switch can shorten the response time if necessary. Focusing is not as fast or as quiet as the USM lenses, but for the intended applications, it's fine.
I've attached a few shots showing the macro performance of this lens at maximum magnification as well as some that show the bokeh at various aperture settings.
Bottom line: This is clearly a very desirable lens at an attractive price.
Date published: 2020-12-20T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
solobackcountry from
All-In-One
I absolutely love this lens. This is the RF lens I've been waiting on. I'm using this on the RP body. Optically excellent for my needs and a joy to use. It's an all-in-one general use 85mm prime lens that's good at everything. Some people are griping about the auto focus being too slow but I just don't see it. If f/2 is wide enough for your needs, you will be very happy with this lens. Just buy it!
Date published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
kknature77 from
Great lens but strange behavior of the focus ring in MF
This lens is really good. It has very good sharpness and I love the bokeh for photographing flowers.
I like to use manual focus for macro photography. Unfortunately, the focus ring on this lens exhibits strange behavior when I set the variable focus ring speed on the camera. If I turn the focus ring at normal or fast speed, the focus responds very slowly and I have to turn the ring three times (about 1,080 degrees from infinity to the near limit. If I turn the ring very slowly, I only need one turn (about 330 degrees) for the same focus travel.
This must be a bug in the lens firmware. All other RF lenses react exactly the other way around and can be focused very finely with slow rotation.
One point deduction for manual focusing. I hope there is a firmware update in the future to correct this.
Date published: 2021-03-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Lotus 7 from
Sharp, Beautiful Bokeh and Excellent Image sSabilization
I've tested two examples of the RF 85mm f/2 Macro lens. Both performed superbly for portraits, landscape photography, and low magnification macro work. This lens is sharp across the field of view with little of no vignetting, even wide open. "Pixel picking" using a EOS R (30.3 Mpix) camera showed that this lens was able to resolve line details down to a single pixel level. Amazingly, all indications were that the camera's resolving power was the limiting factor in perceived sharpness, not the lens. Color rendition was also excellent, with no noticeable color shift bias and no significant liner distortion was present.
Obviously, one of the main uses for a fast 85 mm lens is for portraiture. That is an ideal application for this lens where it truly shines. Bokeh is wondefully smooth and buttery, but even wide open this lens maintains its excellent, in plane, sharpness.
The delicious frosting on the cake is the amazing "5-stop" rated image stabilization. I was able to routinely shoot ambient-light, indoor portraits at ISO 100 at 1/10 to 1/4 sec with no perceptible blur as long as my subject was still. Also, sharp macro shots at full (0.5X) magnification were possible at 1/15 to 1/25 sec hand-held. I can't wait to try this with the R5.
Regarding macro use: The closest focusing distance specification for this lens is "1.14 ft.". This is to the camera image sensor plane and translates to approximately 6.5 inches for the from the lens' front element. That is plenty of distance to provide additional light as is sometimes need for macro work.
The STM focus motor is audible, which may be a factor for anyone wanting to use this for video with an on-camera mic, but otherwise focusing is acceptable taking approximately 1/10to 1/4 sec to cover most of the extended focusing range. Using the range limiter switch can shorten the response time if necessary. Focusing is not as fast or as quiet as the USM lenses, but for the intended applications, it's fine.
I've attached a few shots showing the macro performance of this lens at maximum magnification as well as some that show the bokeh at various aperture settings.
Bottom line: This is clearly a very desirable lens at an attractive price.
Date published: 2020-12-18T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Old faithful canon photog from
Half the lens it can be (AF crippled in video mode
I bought this lens to use it as a hybrid solution for wedding photographs and video. Found out through use and several test that canon significantly slows down the autofocus on this lens when in video mode. It to the point to where it’s useless even for a hobbyist I’m a controlled environment. I can use the lens for half of the uses I had planned for it. I’m returning it ASAP. It’s is not worth your hard earned money.
I’m really contemplating staying with the canon ecosystem if they’re going to take advantage of their customers for lack of innovation and forcefully push the market to spend more on lenses features that brands like Sony offers for affordable prices.
Date published: 2021-04-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Hbvideo from
Portraiture King Lens
Loved my f 1.8, FD version back in the 70s. Love this RF version on my RP today. Image stabilization is my friend for sharp hand-held shots. Bokeh is beautiful. Close focusing distance is amazingly helpful. Compact size and weight are also beneficial.
Date published: 2021-09-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
JasonM129 from
Great portrait lens
Excellent lens, sharp, lightweight, fast focus. Great dof at f2.
Date published: 2022-03-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
LouR from
Canon RP & RF 85mm f/2
I needed a lightweight camera for backpacking/hiking. I thought I would give the Canon RP full frame mirrorless a try because it is so light weight. I coupled the RP with the RF 85mm f/2 on a recent trip to Mt. Whitney Portal. I captured some amazing photos of Mt. Whitney during the early Nautical and Civil twilight hours. Temps. around 23 F. and the above package, while light weight, performed great. See attached photos.
Date published: 2022-11-16T00:00:00-05:00