Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS

Go beyond detail and capture the true spirit of a subject with a lens offering exceptional performance and reliability plus a special optical coating to elevate bokeh to a whole new dimension.

Sharpness with style – for portraits that truly matter

Define and refine your creative vision with this specialist L-series portrait lens offering stunning sharpness, high performance AF, legendary build quality and a new DS coating for the ultimate in silky smooth bokeh.

See full specification

A great lens for...

Portraits

Use shallow focus and exceptional sharpness to bring new detail and dimension to portraits thanks to exceptional optical engineering, advanced lens coatings and RF mount technology.

Street Photography

Stay discreet and in control on the street thanks to rapid focusing from a high performance USM motor that ensures the lens locks onto a subject, so you’ll never miss a moment.

Low Light

Keep on shooting long after the sun goes down thanks to a fast and wide f/1.2 maximum aperture that captures every detail with superb edge to edge sharpness.

Great for portraits

With its 85mm focal length this is the ideal lens for flattering portraits, producing elegant and detailed results with a pleasing perspective and no distortion.

Superb bokeh with stunning optical precision

Offering the ultimate in bokeh thanks to Canon’s unique DS Coating plus an F1.2, 9-bladed aperture, the lens is superb at capturing creative images.

Advanced lens elements and coatings

Special Blue Spectrum Refractive (BR) optics which negate colour aberrations are used in the lens while a ground aspheric element and ASC coating prevent flare and ghosting.

The Defocus Smoothing difference

The RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS lens is a unique high-performance lens offering a combination of beautifully smooth defocused background bokeh and a super fast aperture to produce breath-taking portraits.

Taken with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM

The 85mm focal length is ideal for portraits, and with a wide maximum aperture out of focus highlights are easily achieved; seen as sharply defined discs of light.

Taken with the RF 85mm F1.2L DS USM

The benefit of the DS effect is most noticeable at the widest aperture, and is reduced as the aperture is stopped down. Out of focus highlights are rendered as soft discs of light, and are instantly recognisable as characteristic of the DS lens.

Sharpness with style

Go beyond detail and capture the true spirit of a subject with a lens offering exceptional performance and reliability. See how DS coating works not just in low light, with the ultimate smooth bokeh when the background has creative potential.

Taken with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM

With the normal RF 85mm lens, the highlights are blurred yet still retain a level of detail that might not be desirable for delicate portraits.

Taken with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS

The DS Coating with its DS effect is used on two elements in different locations within the lens, achieving much softer, smoother defocus rendering. This is especially evident here with the points of light coming through the trees behind the subject.

How the DS Coating works

Canon’s DS (Defocus Smoothing) coating produces a soft and unique defocus effect, where an originally sharp outline in a defocused image is further blurred with exceptional smoothness. Canon has achieved this effect by using the same optics as the RF 85mm F1.2L USM and making use of vapor-deposition technology to control the amount of light passing into the lens.

RF 85mm F1.2L USM

With a fast F1.2 aperture, the lens is superb in low light offering incredible sharpness and creative expression with pleasing bokeh and no loss of image quality.

RF 85mm F1.2L DS USM

The DS Coating with its DS effect is used on two elements in different locations within the lens, achieving soft, smooth defocus rendering. However, the coating results in a loss of light transmission giving a T stop of T2.2.

Fast USM motor and Lens Control Ring

Thanks to the fast speed of the RF mount, the RF 85mm F1.2L USM is fast to lock onto a subject while the Lens Control Ring provides additional control over settings.

Realise your creative vision

The EOS R System inherits all the advantages of the EOS system and as well as its own range of lenses, offers full compatibility with existing EF and EF-S optics with adapters plus the range of Speedlite flashes and accessories.

Find out more

Specifications

  • DS Coating

    Defocus Smoothing delivers exceptional bokeh

  • BR optics

    For ultimate control over aberrations

  • Aspherical and UD elements

    For exceptionally sharp images

  • USM motor

    For smooth, fast and near-silent operation

  • ASC (Air Sphere Coating)

    To prevent flare and ghosting

  • Lens control ring

    For extra control over ISO, aperture and shutter

See full specification Get Support

Before using the DS lens for the first time

1 In order to use this lens with the EOS R or EOS RP, a compatible version of firmware is required. Download the latest camera firmware from the Canon web site and install it on your camera.


2 Since the transmittance of the lens periphery decreases due to the DS coating, brightness of the lens at maximum aperture is about 1⅓ stops darker than f/1.2. By updating the camera to the latest firmware, exposure control in AE will be performed appropriately.

What's In The Box

Everything you need for the ultimate in creative portraiture

  • RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS

  • Lens Hood ET-89

  • Lens cap E-82II

  • Lens Dust Cap RF

  • Soft pouch LP1424

Hands holding a Canon EOS R camera and a Canon RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM lens.

Can we help you choose your next lens?

Our lens selector will take you through our range of lenses and help you find the perfect match for you and your EOS camera.

Help me choose

In the hands of professionals…

Discover how the RF 85mm F1.2L USM and RF 85mm F1.2L DS USM perform in a wide variety of shooting situations in the hands of Canon professionals.

Bridal portraits with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens

Wedding photographer and Canon Ambassador Félicia Sisco talks about shooting editorial-style bridal portraits with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens.

Better bokeh with the RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS

Wedding photographer Félicia Sisco tests Canon's first portrait lens with a Defocus Smoothing coating.

Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS
Ratings & Reviews

Telephoto Lenses

With a telephoto lens you can capture sports, wildlife and events from a distance, without interfering with the action. Explore Canon telephoto lenses and see where your creativity takes you.
Find out more

Related products