A Modern 55mm f/1.8? Canon Patents New Batch of Consumer RF Primes

The Japan Patent Office has published a Canon patent application that shows embodiments of quite a few interesting primes.

The optical designs shown in this patent application are slightly less complex than the VCM primes that we have seen released over the past few years, and sit around the same optical complexity as the existing RF STM primes.  It's hard to guess where Canon would be placing these lenses, but I would assume that these would be lower-end consumer-grade primes if Canon actually used this patent application.

Even though the Canon RF 45mm wasn't an optical giant of a lens, many people love it because it provides faste aperture at an affordable price point.  More affordable fast primes would certainly be a welcome addition to Canon's lens portfolio.

Canon RF 85mm F1.8 STM

Canon already has an 85mm F/1.8 consumer-grade lens, so it’s unlikely that this lens design would be developed, but there are quite a few 85mm f/1.8 designs in this patent application, so I had to pick one to show off.  With a back focus distance of 15.33mm, it sits slightly inside the RF mount.  The half image height is correct at 21.64mm, so no image stretching is needed for this lens.

Canon RF 135mm f/2.0 STM

Like the RF 85mm embodiments shown in this patent application, this RF 135mm shows a relaxed back focus distance and a full image circle coverage.  This is a lens that Canon has yet to make in a consumer variant, but with the Canon RF 135mm f/1.8L IS USM already out there, is there room in the market for a f/1.8 variant?

Canon RF 55m F1.8 STM

This is a curious embodiment.  In the past, 55mm was a popular focal length for film cameras, but the demand has faded since that time.  This is a serious 55mm with a slight lens mount ingress of 14mm, and a small compact form factor of around 58mm sticking out from the business end of your camera.  It also supports the entire image height, so no digital stretching is required.

Closing Thoughts

This is a curious patent application from Canon; however, most of the designs have already been explored, or if Canon released these lenses, they are too close to existing lenses that exist in the RF ecosystem.  The one notable exception to that is the RF 55mm lens.  That would be interesting, especially if Canon marketed it as a bang-for-the-buck prime.

Just a Reminder!

With all patents and patent applications, I have to stress constantly – this is simply a look into Canon’s research; the only thing we can quantify accurately is that Canon is researching this. A patent application doesn’t mean they are going to release this in the next month, or even year, or even at all.