Canon RF lenses list

This page gathers all the lenses for Canon RF mount, naturally including Canon RF lenses, but also the best known third-party brands. I will update this page as new releases come out. Canon RF mount was released in 2018 with the introduction of Canon’s first mirrorless camera with a full-frame sensor, the Canon EOS R. This mount is compatible, via an adapter ring, with the EF (1987) and EF-S (2003) mounts. However, it is not compatible with the EF-M mount dedicated to mirrorless cameras for an APS-C sensor.

All of these lenses can therefore be mounted on the full range of Canon full-frame large sensor bodies such as :

• The Canon R, 30.3 Million Pixels, released in October 2018,
• The Canon RP, 26.2 MP, released in March 2019,
• The Canon Ra, 30.3 MP, released in November 2019. It is almost identical to the Canon R but owns a IR cut-off filter to better capture the characteristic light for astrophotography (H-Alpha light). It is a “classic” camera but will be perfectly adapted to take pictures in low light, at night and in starry sky,
• The Canon R5, 44.8 MP, released in July 2020,
• The Canon R6, 20.1 MP, also released in July 2020 (at the same time as the R5),
• The Canon R3, 24.1 MP, will be released in November 2021.

I talk about these cameras in detail in the article on Canon full frame mirrorrless cameras. I hope this article can guide you in your purchase.

For information, the Canon R5 and R6 mentioned above are the first Canon full-frame mirrorless camera bodies to have a 5-axis in-body image stabilization system. The camera body’s stabilizer will work perfectly in addition to the lenses with stabilization.

For information, all the tables below are sortable. Simply click on the desired column if you wish to classify, for example, lenses according to their maximum aperture, the size of the filter or their focal length.

In short, choosing lenses has never really been easy, but I hope this list can help you, at least at first. I won’t necessarily talk about optical defaults (distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations) here because many tests do this in a very precise way. The purpose of this guide is to simply provide you with a list of all the lenses that can be used with the Canon RF mount, while trying to maintain this page as up-to-date as possible. For the moment, the range is relatively new so the listing was rather easy but as soon as third-party brands will be able to produce lenses with autofocus for this RF mount, the range should expand very quickly.

If you want to update your lenses, you can have a look at this Canon page to download the firmware you need.

The Canon RF range is still new on the market, hence its limited choice, but should develop quickly. All Canon RF lenses are listed below. All these lenses have an autofocus. You will then have access at zoom lens, prime lens, telephoto lens, etc.

As usual, I have split all Canon RF-mount lenses into four categories for better visibility:

1. Wide angle (WA) and ultra wide angle (UWA) lenses: focal lengths less than 20mm (UWA) and from 20mm to 35mm (WA),
2. Standard focal length lenses: for focal lengths from 35mm to 75mm,
3. Telephoto lenses: for focal lengths beyond 75mm,
4. Macro type lenses: for macro photography (there is no 1:1 ratio lens available from Canon at the moment).

Let’s just talk first of the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS. To take pictures of landscapes, architecture or wide shots indoors, this is a lens that will suit your needs perfectly. The constant aperture at f/2.8 will allow you to shoot in low light conditions. Even if the optical quality is considered as excellent, the price remains very high. For now, at the end of 2020, the range of wide angle and ultra-wide angle lenses for the RF mount is truly limited. Canon has already announced two new wide-angle lenses for 2021: the Canon RF 10-24mm f/4L USM and the Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM. The latest one has just been released and will clearly be appreciated by anyone who doesn’t need a large aperture on their wide-angle lens. This 14-35mm is proposed at a high price but much cheaper than the f/2.8 version. Finally, a new lens was also recently announced, the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM. It is an entry-middle range lens, (not L) with an STM motor, offering a 16mm with an f/2.8 aperture. All this at a price below 400$, which is really cheap.

To shoot very wide pictures, and without breaking the bank, you don’t have much choice at the moment. The only current alternative with autofocus will be the Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 Canon RF, which is currently three times cheaper than the 15-35mm from Canon. There are different manual focus lenses available at Laowa, including 9mm, 11mm, 12mm, 14mm and 15mm.

At the time of writing this, there is no real Canon RF macro lens. Two lenses are labeled “macro” but incorrectly, since the reproduction ratio of the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM and the RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM is only 1:2 (and not 1:1). However, these lenses already allow to shoot proxiphotography. The minimum focusing distances are respectively 17cm (for the 35mm) and 35cm (for the 85mm). For the moment, in order to shoot “real macro”, you will have to use LAOWA lenses mentioned below. Beware for those who are not comfortable, they are manual focus.

EDIT of 04/13/2021: Canon has officially announced the release of the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM in July. This is the first real macro lens from Canon announced at a price of 1400$, which is still acceptable in my opinion. There is a stabilization (IS) in the lens and coupled with the stabilization of a camera (as on the R5 and R6 for now), gain of 8 stops of speed is announced. Moreover, this lens will have a reproduction ratio of 1.4x. Finally, great novelty, we will find a control ring of spherical aberration (noted SA), allowing to modify and adjust the quality of bokeh (background blur) when shooting. I’ll put the link for the purchase as soon as I have it.

For those who do not wish to purchase a macro lens at this time, there are other options, such as extension rings. Here are some good references that I particularly recommend.

For owners of Canon EF-mount (DSLR) lenses, there are 4 adapter rings available to use your EF lenses on a Canon full-frame RF-mount body, i.e.:

• Adapter ring EF – EOS R (Amazon / Adorama)
• Adapter ring EF – EOS R with adjustment ring (Amazon / Adorama)
• Adapter ring EF – EOS R with ND filter (Amazon / Adorama)
• Adapter ring EF – EOS R with polarizing filter (Amazon / Adorama)

If you want to have a look at more adapters for Canon RF mount, here’s more.

If you’re looking to extend your focal length without buying a new lens, you can use an extender. There are two of them:

• Canon RF x 1.4: multiplies the focal length by 1.4 (Amazon)
• Canon RF x 2: multiplies the focal length by 2 (Amazon)

Be careful though, because extenders have a lot of drawbacks too: impact on image sharpness and contrast, increase in chromatic aberrations, loss of one notch (on x1.5) or 2 notches (on x2) at the maximum aperture, impacted and slower autofocus, increased weight/length. The two extenders mentioned above only work for the moment with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM / RF 600mm f/11 IS STM / RF 800mm f/11 IS STM / RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM / RF 600mm F4L IS USM lenses.

To my knowledge, several 3rd-party brands currently offer lenses designed for the Canon RF mount, with manual focus most of the times (except the Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 Canon RF and the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 Canon RF).

As I write this, Sigma and Tamron, two of the major third-party brands, announced that they are taking a close interest in producing lenses for Canon’s RF mount. Nothing in the near future though.

Anyway, let’s have a look at all third party rf mount lenses.

Samyang / Rokinon decided to release several lenses for Canon RF mount. There is currently an 85mm with manual focus and a more recent version offering an autofocus. Samyang has also just announced a very nice (and much cheaper) alternative as an ultra wide angle lens, the 14mm f/2.8 Canon RF, with autofocus. There was already a manual focus version of this 14mm (cheaper).

About the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 for Canon RF with AF, it is not possible to screw standard screw filters. However, Rokinon offers the possibility to install gelatin filters at the back of the lens. It is also possible to use a filter holder system from Wonderpana 145mm (see model here).

For both autofocus lenses offered from Samyang, there is a “lens station” allowing to follow the evolution of Canon. You can thus update the micro software and calibrate your Samyang AF lenses for the Canon RF connection. You could, for example, make individual adjustments of the auto focus or adjust the sensitivity of the manual focus ring.

In early November 2021, Viltrox just announced the release of their 85mm f/1.8 for the Canon RF mount.

Laowa offers high quality lenses for the Canon RF mount. All its lenses are manual focus. Note in particular the great alternatives for wide angle and ultra wide angle lenses, but also, the only brand to offer macro lenses for this mount.

These two manual focus 50mm lenses are definitely great alternatives you can consider if you’re looking for a bright 50mm and don’t have the budget to afford the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM.

There are currently three Meike lenses for Canon RF mount. They all are with manual focus. For photographers who want to shoot in low light conditions and/or to get nice background blurs (bokeh), the Meike 50mm f/1.2 offers a nice alternative for a rather soft price (about 400$). At f/1.2, you will be able to get a very shallow depth of field for sure. Plus, the Meike 50mm f/1.7 is a very cheap 50mm lens offering good quality for less than 100$ (great for everyday pictures, portrait photography, street photography, etc.).

For those interested in the field of macro photography, Meike offers a set of two macro extension tubes to increase the reproduction ratio, the Meike MK-RF-AF1 tubes. You can for example use them on the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM or the Canon RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM which only offer a reproduction ratio of 1:2.

As always, these extension tubes are attached between the camera and the lens. The set consists of two extension tubes (11mm and 18mm) that you can use in combination or individually. The tubes made with metal contacts are compatible with Canon EOS R and EOS RP cameras.

The 7Artisans offers a few lenses for the Canon RF mount. It’s far from the quality of Canon lenses, but considering the price, these are interesting alternatives. I just read some tests on the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.05, a very bright 50mm lens. It seems pretty good, even wide open, even if the edges are always softer. There’s apparently no problem of flare or ghosting. Some test revealed a large amount of chromatic-aberration wide open, especially on out-of-focus area, as you could guess for an ultra-speed lens like this one. Anyway, if you would like to have a great bokeh for a modest sum (under 500$), this 7Artisans 50mm f/1.05 is what you are looking for!

TTArtisans currently offers only one Fisheye type lens providing an immense angle of view and a standard 50mm focal length.

KIPON offers a set of manual focus lenses for the Canon RF mount. However, the lenses are not widely available to buy.

For those looking for a “more affordable” portrait lens, for environmental shots at 50mm for example, or for close-up portraits with a longer focal length (at 85mm for example), Zhong Yi offers two lenses dedicated to portraits (but not only of course), a 50mm f/0.95 and an 85mm f/1.2. Both lenses have very large apertures that will allow you to highlight your subject from the background. The brand’s 50mm is a very nice alternative to the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2, costing more than double the price. Similarly, if your budget is more limited and you are looking for a very bright 85mm, the 85mm f/1.2 from Zhong Yi is a good choice, three times less expensive than the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM. Nevertheless, these two fixed focal length lenses cost between 900 and 1000€!

There are also more and more third party brands offering adapters to use other lenses on the Canon RF mount. I have summarized in the table below some other adapters that I think are interesting to look at and have a good reputation. If you know of other interesting adapters to add to the table, leave me a comment.

Urth brand offers a lot of adapters for Canon RF mount (from EF-EF/S, M39, M42, Leica M, Minolta, Nikon F, Olympus, Pentax and Sony A –> Canon RF). Check all their adapters here.

If you’re still hesitating about which camera to choose, I invite you to take a look at all the lenses of the Nikon Z mount.