A quick grocery store run with my son, a camera, and a wonderfully flexible lens. Canon RF 85mm f/2 STM.

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Recently pivoted to a Canon RF STM primary prime lens model.

RF Blog Post Product Shots

The RF 50mm f/1.8 STM…

Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM

…was the driver. The RF 35mm f/1.8…

RF Blog Post Product Shots

…was a no brainer based on prior experience with that lens. The RF 85mm f/2 STM…

RF Blog Post Product Shots

…was the “riskiest” of the three. Had owned the RF 35mm before. Had owned the EF predecessor…

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

…of the RF 50mm. The 85mm was the one Canon lens of the three I had no history with. And as outlined in an earlier blog post I was asking a lot from it. It was to replace two lenses. A portrait lens and a macro lens. Initial experiences outlined in that earlier post justified the decision. But occasionally things change. Fortunately this is not one of those times. Some quick points and then photos:

  • After obsessing over brighter and brighter apertures for years my lingering concerns about f/2 were unfounded. For light gathering and background blur the night shots below show that f/2 is plenty for my purposes.
  • Eye AF, low light focus, swiftness of focus, and AF in general have been great.
  • Lovely colors.
  • Very sharp.
  • The combination of 85mm, f/2, and 1:2 macro makes for fantastic background blur.
  • Lens IS does a great job. Especially helpful since the EOS RP does not have IBIS.
  • Great ease of use. Some shots below were taken by my son and he had a great time with it.
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RF
Low light portraits are a breeze. This was taken at night with light provided by parking lot lamps.
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At 85mm f/2 is bright enough to gather light inside and at night and provides plenty of background blur.
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RF
RF
Swift and accurate focusing and plenty of background blur. Lens IS made hand holding with arm raised breeze.
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Shot by my son.
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Shot by my son. Macro is a breeze.
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Shot by my son.
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Shot by my son.
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More examples of f/2 being plenty bright enough for my purposes.
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RF
Lens IS and f/2 come through once again for this shot using the articulating screen for a low angle shot.

Published by Eric L. Woods

Photography, Baritone, Industrial Engineer, IT person.

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