Hands-on Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM review: The super-fast glass that's super affordable – and punches way above its price point

I'm a bokeh whore, so the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM won me over on its aperture alone. But when I saw the price that goes along with it, this lens became an absolute no-brainer.

As someone who has spent far too much money on some of the fastest camera lenses you can buy – including Canon's flagship f/1.2L glass that costs thousands of dollars along with multiple cheap but chunky Chinese f/0.95 optics with no autofocus – the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM feels like a lens that was tailor-made for people like me.

If you're someone who loves fast glass, whether it's to get the blurriest backgrounds or to work in low light, the fact that you can get an f/1.2 optic with autofocus for less than 500 bucks makes this truly phenomenal bang for your buck. And if you're an APS-C shooter, it's an equivalent 72mm f/1.2 that's perfect for portraiture.

But how does the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM actually perform? Here's my experience from my hands-on time with the lens.

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Price and availability

As impressive as the aperture itself, the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM boasts an incredible price tag of just $469 / £479.99 / AU$699.95.

For comparison, the slower but similarly budget-priced Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM clocks in at $239 / £197 / AU$294, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.4L VCM photo-video hybrid costs $1,399 / £1,539 / AU$1,839, while the flagship Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM with the same aperture comes in at $2,599 / £2,449 / AU£3,261.

Similar third-party lenses are available, such as the Irix 45mm f/1.4 at $825 or the Brightin Star 50mm f/0.95 for $399, but they are both much larger and manual focus only.

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Specifications

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Design and handling

The Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM is part of the company's enthusiast range, which includes the likes of the Canon RF 85mm f/2 IS Macro and the RF 50mm f/1.8 to which many will be comparing this lens. This means that, while you don't get weather-sealing, you still get a lens with impressive construction that's great for day-to-day shooting.

Like all RF glass, it comes with a customizable control ring on the nose – which can be set to manipulate exposure values or other camera functions.

However, unlike the RF 50mm f/1.8, the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM also features a separate and satisfyingly chunky manual control ring – which you'll certainly need, if you're trying to hand-focus at the razor-thin f/1.2 depth of field. Personally, I'd leave the AF / MF switch set to autofocus!

Understandably, given the size of the elements required for such a fast aperture, the RF 45mm is quite a bit bigger than the RF 50mm f/1.8 – but it's still surprisingly small at just 75mm in length.

It's drastically smaller and lighter than the behemoth RF 50mm f/1.2L, despite both lenses possessing the same speed, although obviously you're not getting the L-series weather sealing or pristine optical engineering (more on that later).

Again, as someone who owns a bunch of third-party fast glass – including the Mitakon Speedmaster RF 50mm f/0.95, which weighs 720g (and the EF version that tips the scaled at 1,500g!) – the fact that the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM weighs a paltry 346g is truly remarkable.

Its size and weight make it a suitable companion for just about any camera in the EOS R family – including super small bodies like the Canon EOS R50 V, where it's a far better match than the hulking great RF 50mm f/1.2L. Indeed, some shooters find the RF 50mm f/1.8 to be too small – particularly since it doesn't have a dedicated manual focus ring.

By contrast the RF 45mm feels "just right", being perfectly cuppable in the crook of even large hands without feeling oversized like its f/1.2L bigger brother. It really is a pleasurable lens to hold and handle, whichever body you're using it with.

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Performance

As someone who owns and loves the RF 50mm f/1.8, and given the similarity in focal length and (just about) price, I'm pretty sure everyone reading this review is wondering how the two lenses directly compare.

We haven't had the chance to run our full lab tests yet, but after my hands-on time with the lens I can tell you a few things – the first one being that, if I didn't already own the 50mm f/1.8 (and all those Chinese f/0.95 lenses) I would buy the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM instead.

The lab tests will tell the tale, but their optical performance feels about the same from my initial test drive. Even wide open, the 45mm is nice and sharp and I can't see any discernible difference in real-world shooting.

Bokeh / background blur / subject separation is another matter, though. If you're wondering what the difference is between f/1.2 and f/1.8 (ignoring the 5mm difference in focal length), I took a couple of side-by-side comparisons to illustrate:

It's not the night-and-day difference you might expect, although there will be a minor reduction in the way the aperture resolves due to the 45mm / 50mm disparity in focal length. Even so, you can see that there's noticeably more blur on the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM.

The difference is a little more pronounced when shooting on an APS-C sensor (bodies like the EOS R50 and EOS R10), where the equivalent focal length becomes 72mm – putting this lens in portrait territory. As you can see from the sharpness of my whiskers and eyebrows above (sorry for not scrubbing up a bit more!) this is plenty sharp enough for portraiture.

While we're doing some comparisons, it's worth noting that the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM relies on in-camera corrections to do some of the heavy lifting – and it's here that the real differences between this lens and the L-series 50mm f/1.4 VCM and f/1.2L USM start to become apparent.

As. you can see in the RAW image below, there's a notable amount of barrel distortion and vignetting straight out of camera. Of course, the camera corrects the effect and it's only a couple of clicks to fix it in post production if you're someone who works from your RAWs – but it's something to be aware of. You'll also notice some fringing, which you'll need to correct manually.

Obviously, there is a world of difference between the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM and the 50mm L-series alternatives in terms of pure optical performance – and nowhere is this more apparent than the bokeh.

As you'll see in the first image of geese in the samples below, the 45mm has quite a Petzval effect – characterized by "swirling" at the periphery of the image. In the image of the Portuguese chicken statue, you'll notice "cat's eye" bokeh balls (shaped more like a lemon than a perfect circle) again at the edges of the frame.

And in the second image of geese, in addition to the Petzval effect, you'll see that the specular highlights on the hedge are creating "soap bubble" bokeh balls (with a thin bright ring around a pale center).

While some shooters love the swirly bokeh effect (and even buy special Petzval lenses to achieve it), it and the other characteristics are generally regarded as "noisy bokeh" – and may or may not be to your liking. The L-series optics have much smoother "creamier" bokeh, which is the result of a more complex (and expensive) optical formula.

I'm not here to tell you what's best. You might well prefer the "noisier" look! But I can tell you that I think the quality of the blur is better on the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM than on the RF 50mm f/1.8 – and this lens is more than good enough to shoot wide open while retaining sharpness and detail, certainly in the center of the frame.

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Samples

Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM: Early verdict

I think the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM is brilliant little lens that's going to sell like gangbusters. While the RF 50mm f/1.8 is always going to reign as the cheapest and almost-smallest lens in the lineup, for a couple of hundred bucks more the 45mm is the better option.

Its optical performance is on par (unless the lab tests prove me wrong) but you get significantly better light transmission and background blur / subject separation, making this a superior option both creatively and in terms of working in low light.

The quality of that background blur (the bokeh) isn't as smooth as the more expensive L-series lenses, but you are literally adding another grand for the 50mm f/1.4L and another grand for the 50mm f/1.2L. It is, however, more bokehlicious than the 50mm f/1.8 – which is the one this lens is really competing with.

Moreover, this lens is superior to the third-party f/1.2 and f/0.95 lenses from Chinese manufacturers – most of which are more expensive, all of which are bigger and heavier, and none of which have autofocus, which severely limits their usefulness when working at super shallow depths of field.

And again, if you're an APS-C shooter this becomes a fantastic proposition for portraiture – an effective 72mm f/1.2 being a powerful portrait tool.

Whether you're an RF or RF-S shooter, whether you care about bokeh or you just want a more useful lens, the Canon RF 45mm f/1.2 STM might just be the smartest buy in the entire RF lineup. Maybe Canon doesn't need Sigma and co after all to make exotic lenses…