Canon RF 14mm f/1.4L VCM lens hands-on: expansive view but expensive price

Canon’s hybrid RF lens family continues to expand, and the Canon RF 14mm f/1.4L VCM pushes that line into its widest territory yet.

A 14mm prime with a fast f/1.4 aperture is an attention-grabbing combination on its own, but this lens packs in new elements and new technology, pitching for this to be the best Canon lens yet for astrophotography, architecture, and landscape creatives.

Specifications

Price

Much like its VCM prime stablemates, the RF 14mm f/1.4L VCM is positioned as a premium L-series optic – with a premium price to match. It will go on sale from February 26 with a price of $2,599 / £2,399 / €2,7299, with Australian pricing still to be confirmed.

This is substantially more expensive than any previous entry into Canon’s VCM lineup, costing almost $1000 more than the cheapest in the lineup – the RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM – and puts it in pricey workhorse zoom territory (the Canon RF 15-35mm f2.8L IS USM costs the same amount). While it is not available in RF mount, it also makes the rival Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG Art at $1,839 / £1,499 look far more affordable.

Why so expensive? My best guess would be Canon’s inclusion of fluorite optics. Canon has previously stated how expensive these elements are to produce, and are usually reserved for its most premium professional telephotos.

If it's worth the expense depends on how much you would use this fairly niche lens, but if you are a very serious enthusiast or professional astro or landscape creative who needs ultra-wide performance without compromise, then the 14mm f/1.4L VCM might well be worth it – providing you have deep enough pockets.

Design & Handling

The optical construction is built around 18 elements in 13 groups. Among these are three GMo aspherical elements designed to reduce sagittal coma flare and are particularly important for keeping point light sources, such as stars, clean and well defined.

The formula also incorporates a UD element, a BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive) element, and a fluorite element to tackle chromatic aberration. Canon says this is the first time it has used fluorite in an ultra-wide lens, a material more typically reserved for high-end super-telephotos like the Canon RF 400mm f/2.8 and Canon RF 600mm f/4 optics. Coatings include Subwavelength Structure Coating and Super Spectra, both aimed at minimising ghosting and flare.

Despite the bright aperture and complex optics, the lens weighs just 578g. That makes it lighter than Canon’s 50mm and 85mm f/1.4 hybrid primes, and it sits within Canon’s 519g–636g weight window for the (current) hybrid prime range, which helps maintain consistent balance across gimbals and rigs. At 76.5 x 112mm, it’s slightly longer than other VCM primes due to the integrated hood, but still feels well matched to Canon’s mirrorless bodies.

It’s also lighter than the older Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM – saving off 67g despite offering a full stop wider aperture. It is longer than Canon’s previous optic, but it is designed to slot perfectly into Canon’s VCM series of size-matched primes.

Looking further afield, there isn't a lot of direct competition. Compared to the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG Art lens for Sony and L-mount, Canon’s new optic is significantly smaller and around half the weight, with Sigma’s optic weighing a comparably whopping 1,170g and measuring 101.4 x 149.9mm.

Aside from the built-in lens hood, this 14mm lens looks almost identical to the other lenses in Canon’s VCM prime series. The lens has a sizable manual focus ring, which is rubberized for easy grip, and turns smoothly – you can also adjust the behaviour of the manual focus ring in more depth in the camera settings. The lens also includes Canon’s control ring up at the front of the lens, which again can be customized between a number of different settings.

Video users in particular will appreciate the iris control ring on the barrel, complete with a locking Auto setting for referring aperture control back to the camera body, although the aperture ring also works with stills photography, if that is your preferred method of controlling your settings.

Along the barrel, there is the aforementioned Iris Lock switch for holding the iris ring in its Auto position. There is also a full-time auto-manual focus switch and a single custom function button, which can be reassigned in the camera menu.

As the front element of the lens bulges outwards due to the extreme field of view, there’s also a rear-mounted gelatin filter holder built into the lens mount, which solves the issue with screwing in the usual filters to the front of the lens – although might require some additional investment in new filters.

Performance

Despite the extreme angle of view, the 14mm f1.4's image distortion is remarkably well controlled. Yes, the camera uses some significant in-camera corrections, but that's fine with me if it enables more interesting and useful lens designs. In the image below after camera corrections you can see the image is almost flat, with just some minor pincushion distortion.

I only had the shortest amount of time to play around with the new lens, but in my quick tests, image quality also looks to be outstanding. Paired with the 32.5MP Canon EOS R6 Mark III, sharpness in the centre appears to be excellent, and good across the entire frame.

I also am struggling to find any chromatic aberrations in my sample images, which is a bit of a feat, as I was shooting a lot of backlit subjects with a low and bright winter sun.

I have used a few of these hybrid lenses now, and I am still impressed every time with Canon’s VCM autofocus system, which is just so incredibly quick and absolutely silent. At 14mm, there isn't a whole lot of substantial pulling back and forth for the focus motor to do; combined with the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, focus was pretty much instantaneous.

The lens focuses down to 24cm, offering 0.11x maximum magnification. While it's a long way from macro, it is useful for exaggerated close-up perspectives with strong emphasis on the whole scene. It's definitely a fun angle to play with for some very unique close-ups.

The lens also appears to have a tight control over flare. In the shot below, I attempted to angle the lens to create some lens flare, but the combination of coatings and elements managed to nip this in the bud.

Sample images

Verdict

Based on my early (and very brief) hands-on time, the RF 14mm f/1.4L VCM looks like a serious tool for photographers and filmmakers who want ultra-wide coverage without compromising on speed or quality. I was left impressed by the photos I came away with, my images look tack sharp and distortion free, with tight control over flare.

The mix of advanced glass and relatively manageable weight suggests this could become a go-to lens for night skies, dramatic interiors and expansive landscapes. The hybrid-friendly controls and VCM motor also make this the perfect lens for videographers who need silent autofocus and aperture changes on the fly.

The biggest downside is the 14mm lens is that advanced glass makes it quite a bit more expensive than the other primes in the series.