Last month Canon told us to expect more exotic, boutique lenses for the EOS R ecosystem. And now we can see exactly how leftfield its engineers are thinking, with freshly filed patents for Canon RF 18mm f/1.0, Canon RF 18mm f/1.2 and Canon RF 25mm f/1.2 optics.
This trio of ultra-wide, ultra-fast glass not only adds further wide-angle options to the Canon RF lens roadmap (opens in new tab), it actually adds two entirely new focal lengths that aren't currently covered in either the manufacturer's mirrorless or DSLR line-up.
Canon currently offers a few 18mm zoom lenses, such as the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (opens in new tab), and even has a couple of 24mm primes, such as the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM (opens in new tab). However, it doesn't offer an 18mm or 25mm prime lens – and certainly nothing in the neighborhood with apertures this fast.
The patents for the new RF lenses, uncovered by Hi LowsNote (opens in new tab) (hat tip to Mirrorless Rumors (opens in new tab)) make for fascinating reading:
Canon RF 18 mm f/1.0
Focal length: 18.50 mm
F no: 1.03
ω : 49.47
Image height: 21.64 mm
Lens length: 150.00 mm
Back focus: 4.99 mm
Canon RF 18mm f/1.2
Focal length: 18.51 mm
F no: 1.24
ω : 49.45
Image height: 21.64 mm
Lens length: 129.00 mm
Back focus: 16.40 mm
Canon RF 25mm f/1.2
Focal length: 24.59 mm
F no: 1.24
ω : 41.35
Image height: 21.64 mm
Lens length: 129.01 mm
Back focus: 13.57 mm
Of course, as with any patents (particularly Canon's elephant gun approach to them), there's no guarantee that these designs will ever see the light of day. However, these three lenses are yet more examples of the kind of optical formulas that can be achieved on the new Canon EOS R (opens in new tab) mount – and the company's intention to release more of them.
As Canon told us last month (opens in new tab), "that’s not going to stop – I think that’s going to go on and on, and I think we’re going to be bringing out these things that you just haven’t seen before.”
Read more:
Canon EOS R: “We’re going to bring out things you just haven’t seen before” (opens in new tab)
Canon RF lens roadmap (opens in new tab)
The best Canon Black Friday (opens in new tab) and Cyber Monday deals in 2019
