Canon has developed a brand new soft focus optic for the Canon EOS R system. The manufacturer has patented a Canon RF 35mm f/1.4 Softfocus lens – which may be a companion for the previously patented RF 35mm f/1.2L, tipped to be announced next year.
This would be the company's first soft focus lens since 1987's Canon EF 135mm f/2.8L Softfocus (pictured above, mounted to a Canon EOS R), and an intriguing counterpart to its upcoming Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS – a defocus smoothing lens for the RF mount.
The patent was spotted by the sleuths at Canon News, who describe it as "a complex lens". It possesses the following characteristics:
Focal length 35.91 35.82 36.00 (normal focus, under and over)
F-NUMBER 1.52 1.52 1.53
Half angle of view 31.07 31.13 31.01
Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64
Total lens length 133.70 133.68 133.69
BF 19.05 19.03 19.04
The website shared an excerpt from the US patent application (number 20190361228 ), which gives some insight into its design:
"A lens system of the disclosure is a lens system which is disposed on the image side of an image pickup optical system and has a negative refractive power. The lens system includes, in order from an object side to the image side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit, and a third lens unit. The first lens unit consists of a single lens or a cemented lens. The second lens unit is configured to move in a direction of an optical axis to change a spherical aberration."
It's noteworthy that another 35mm lens for Canon's full-frame mirrorless system was discovered back in August, the Canon RF 35mm f/1.2L USM. It is conceivable that Canon might release both lenses side-by-side, as companion optics with different characteristics, much as it has done with the standard and DS versions of the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM.
It had been reported that the 35mm f/1.2L would be added to the Canon RF lens roadmap next year. Could this soft focus version be officially revealed at the same time? We're have a soft spot for soft focus lenses, so we certainly hope so.
Do you love soft focus lenses, or are they a relic of the Eighties best left there? Let us know what you think in the DCW forums!
Read more:
Ultra-fast Canon RF 35mm f/1.2L pro lens – coming to the Canon EOS R in 2020?
Canon RF lens roadmap: everything we know so far
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM review
