Canon has been working on an insane 50-80mm f/1.1 zoom lens for the EOS R
Aug 12, 2019
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Canon is going wild with the patents lately, but there isn’t much as wild as this. Northlight Images spotted another Canon patent recently, for a somewhat insane Canon 50-80mm f/1.1 RF mount lens. This would not only be the widest aperture zoom lens Canon’s ever made but probably the widest aperture zoom lens anybody’s ever made.
US patent #20190243111 shows how Canon is taking advantage of its large RF mount diameter to maximise aperture with the new zoom lens, offering many of the popular focal lengths favoured by portrait shooters. The breakdown of the optics shows 24 elements to utilise the constant f/1.1 aperture throughout the zoom range.
The patent also includes f/1.2, f/1.4 and f/1.8 varieties of 50-80mm zoom lenses, although it’s doubtful that Canon will actually release all four. I’d be surprised if they produce even one, and two would be miraculous.
They might go f/1.8 to muscle in on the market created by Sigma’s 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50-100mm f/1.8 zoom lenses for APS-C, for those who’ve wanted similar aperture zooms in full-frame flavour. And even at f/1.8, it’s crazy fast for a full-frame zoom, and should still provide excellent results. But, this is Canon. They might go all out with f/1.1 or f/1.2 for their highest-end customers, just because they can.
If they do end up releasing a 50-80mm f/1.1, though, I shudder to think what the price tag on that thing would be, especially with Canon’s 85mm f/1.2L RF lens already costing $2,700.
[via Northlight Images]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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3 responses to “Canon has been working on an insane 50-80mm f/1.1 zoom lens for the EOS R”
3’ long 17.8 lbs and $23,000. But great for street photography ?????
nothing will be in focus xd
If you pay attention and read the actual patent you’ll see that the design is shown in different variations: f/1.1, f/1.2, f/1.4 and f/1.8. There’s no guarantee that ANY of these designs will actually end up in a real product, but it does show that Canon are way ahead of the competition in terms of showing what lenses can be made for the mirrorless systems.