Boatload of Canon RF f/1.8 Prime Patents Published

If Canon releases one or two of these designs (smart money on the 20mm or, particularly, the 24mm versions), they won’t be cheap-and-cheerful plastic fantastic lenses. These are serious designs with loads of additional correcting elements, akin to some of the higher-end f/1.4 primes of the EF mount era. In other words, these might be the f/1.8 lenses that many people have been asking for: less expensive non-L lenses that have very respectable image quality.

Canon’s RF lens lineup has, to date, emphasized the most expensive and interesting designs, but has lacked for budget and mid-market options. The lens at left shows the Tamron 35mm f/1.8, a $600 lens whose image quality has long rivaled many competing f/1.4 versions.

Canon’s own EF mount f/1.8 line extends back to the early 1990s. If they were people, they would likely be looking forward to being empty nesters. More recently, Canon’s RF 35mm f/1.8 was exceptionally well-received, as was its 16mm.