Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM Review: Truly a Hybrid Lens

Sep 25, 2025

Chris Niccolls

Two things that I love are 85mm lenses and Tokyo, Japan. I was fortunate to experience both, and PetaPixel‘s Jeremy Gray joined me for a week in Japan to visit Canon headquarters and the Utsunomiya optical factory. We missed Jordan on this trip, but Jeremy had never before visited Japan, and we wanted him to experience all that it has to offer for the first time.

Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM new on B&H Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM used on KEH.com

This quick trip across the ocean was not for a new product but rather was just so that we could meet the talented people behind Canon’s camera and lens design and manufacturing. Still, I wanted to make use of the gorgeous locations in order to review the newly released Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM — and find out if these new hybrid VCM lenses are just as good for photo applications as they are for video.

Two people performing on stage: one in a black top and white pants with a red sash, holding a sword and shouting; the other in dark clothing, crouched with a sword, facing the first person. Gold patterned background. — I got to play Samurai at the classic New Ohtani Hotel.

This $1,649 L-series 85mm lens joins a plethora of other prime lenses in the same series, with the intention of being equally good for your photo and video needs. But are there some compromises involved when trying to go in two different directions?

A person in protective clothing and a hairnet is holding a camera, photographing or filming another person in similar attire who appears on the camera’s screen, likely in a laboratory or medical setting. — Canon gave us generous access to see the Utsunomiya lens factory.

Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM Review: How It Feels

One of the most useful features to implement on cinema-forward optics is a near identical size, weight, and light-gathering capability across the board. Canon makes a 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and now an 85mm in this series, and all of these primes have f/1.4 apertures and 67mm filter threads. They are similar in weight, with the 85mm coming in at 22.43 ounces (635 grams), and are essentially the same length and diameter. This allows a videographer to switch lenses on the fly and use the same filters, the same indexing settings for items like follow focus units, and have the same point of balance on gimbals.

A Canon RF 85mm F1.2L camera lens with a lens hood is standing upright on a black-and-white grid surface, against a dark background with horizontal lines. — The RF 85mm F/1.2 L VCM is a compact hybrid lens that brings much versatility to the game.

Close-up of a Canon RF 85mm F1.4 L VCM camera lens, showing the textured focus ring and red accent line, with the lens name clearly visible against a dark background. — The red stripe is there, and the lens delivers L-series results.

Controls are generous with a customizable click-stop ring on the front of the lens, a smooth-turning manual focus ring, and an aperture control ring near the base of the lens. There is a selector switch for AF/MF, a customizable button on the side, and an iris lock button to allow the aperture ring to be locked in “A” mode. This ring does not have any option to switch to a click-stop functionality and can only be manipulated with a smooth turn.

Close-up of a black Canon camera lens with "Canon" and "85" clearly visible, along with focus and aperture markings, on a dark background. — The aperture ring is present but lacks click-stop functionality. I largely ignored it.

A close-up of a camera lens lying on its side, showing the metal mount and electronic contacts, with a dark, grid-patterned background. — This lens is made for rugged situations, like all L-series lenses are.

Videographers will likely prefer the smooth function of the aperture ring, but I far prefer the option to have click-stops and the haptic feedback that goes along with it. I simply chose to get around this by locking the aperture function and using a command dial on the body instead. The lens comes with a simple plastic bayonet-locking hood with a locking tab, and as with all L-series lenses, it is weather-sealed to a high degree.

Close-up of a camera lens showing a ridged focus ring, a circular button, an AF/MF switch, and an IRIS switch on the lens barrel. The background is out of focus with a grid pattern beneath the lens. — The lens has some thoughtful control options and a customizable button.

A camera lens with a red ring detail lies on its side on a black and white grid-patterned surface, with a blurred dark background. — The front element is only 67mm in diameter, and the lens is very light overall.

Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM Review: How It Shoots

The autofocusing motor is described in the lens’s name. This lens uses a voice coil motor (VCM), which makes sense given that videographers will want smooth and quiet AF, and photographers will want speed. The Canon VCM provides both, and I had no issues keeping up with the action. The PetaPixel team shot the entire video review of this lens on various VCM primes, and the autofocus was smooth and accurate throughout our week of shooting.

Two men in traditional Japanese attire are performing a dramatic sword scene; one holds a raised katana as if to strike, while the other appears ready to defend himself, both showing intense expressions. — The autofocusing worked well, even in more intense situations.

A man wearing a red and yellow shirt walks on a wet sidewalk, looking at his phone. Behind him is a wall with a “GRAFFITI IS A CRIME” sign and patterned yellow lines.

A person rides a bicycle on a city sidewalk, looking at their phone. The bike has a basket in front. In the background, people cross at a wide crosswalk with buildings and street signs visible.

A woman illuminated by a spotlight stands behind a counter, holding a notebook, with two people sitting in shadow on either side. The scene is framed by a window in a dark wall. The image is in black and white.

Although the rain was supposed to slam both Kyoto and Tokyo that week, we somehow managed to dodge the wet and even had a sunny and scorching morning on the way to the Marunouchi train station. I grabbed some flare tests while I could and found the lens to be quite clean of flare, with only a little loss of contrast overall. However, there is a little ghosting even at wider apertures, and although this remains minor, it is also distinct at f/16. Photographers shouldn’t mind too much, and videographers might even like the green streaks across the frame when panning past the sun and bright light sources.

Sunlight shines through the leaves of a tree, creating lens flare, with tall city buildings blurred in the background. — Flare is well-controlled, but there is a bit of ghosting

A two-story golden pavilion stands beside a calm pond, surrounded by lush green trees and distant hills under a partly cloudy sky.

A stone fox statue wearing a pink cloth sits in front of weathered stone tablets with Japanese inscriptions, surrounded by green maple leaves.

A small green plant grows in front of a blue corrugated wall with a window above it, which is covered in crisscrossed green and beige tape.

I figured we might have some LoCA, or longitudinal chromatic aberrations, but the lens exhibits only a minor amount at f/1.4, and it quickly disappears beyond that. Some minor chromatic aberration can be seen against areas of high contrast as well, but this is easily dealt with in post. Overall, the lens turned out to have good performance.

It’s also important to note that the 85mm VCM in particular relies on less digital correction of the optics after the shot has taken place. Issues like aberrations, distortion, and vignetting, for example, have been corrected for extensively within the optical formula of the lens.

A calico cat lies on stone steps in a quiet outdoor area, with a stone statue of a fox in the background and a red structure partially visible in the foreground.

A man in a white shirt and backpack walks through a dimly lit urban passageway lined with orange traffic cones and graffiti-covered walls at night. A sign with Japanese characters hangs overhead.

A stone fox statue wearing a pink cloth sits in front of weathered stone tablets with Japanese inscriptions, surrounded by green maple leaves.

A close-up of multiple small, bright orange torii gates with black Japanese inscriptions, stacked together at a shrine. The gates feature bold black tops and traditional calligraphy.

It turns out that the compact 85mm f/1.4 is also a sharp lens. There is plenty of detail present at f/1.4 in the center of the image, and I noticed only a slight improvement going to f/2.8. Corner performance was also strong with good detail retained even at the widest aperture. Sharpness and contrast improved slightly, along with less vignetting, when stopping down, but even at f/1.4, the results were excellent. This is a sharp lens that performs admirably throughout the aperture range.

Side-by-side comparison of two camera test charts, labeled f/1.4 and f/2.8, showing color patches, grayscale bars, circular resolution patterns, and part of a currency note featuring a portrait. — Sharpness is excellent in the center of the image.

A Canadian one dollar bill and two focus test charts side by side, labeled "f/1.4" on the left and "f/2.8" on the right, each with black geometric shapes and a small letter chart. — Corners hold up well, even at f/1.4.

A large crowd watches a sumo wrestling match in an arena. Two sumo wrestlers face each other in the ring, with a referee and assistants present, all surrounded by spectators. The image is in black and white.

A man in a dark suit, light shirt, and striped tie stands in front of a textured gold background, smiling slightly and looking confidently ahead.

Silhouettes of tall buildings against a twilight sky with a gradient from orange to blue, and several birds flying across the scene.

A single white bird stands alone on a vast, textured, muddy surface in black and white, highlighting its isolation and the expanse of the landscape.

I also tested the lens breathing to see how much the field of view would change when focusing. There is a small amount present when focusing from near to far, but it’s pretty minor. Canon’s lens breathing compensation tools in its modern camera bodies would easily correct this without too much loss of resolution.

I also tested the close focusing ability of the lens, but found it to be dismal. For head and shoulder portraits, this lens is great, but it is not designed for any close-up detail shots.

Two people sit on the rocky riverbank in front of a wide wooden bridge spanning a flowing river, with more people walking across the bridge in the background. The image is in black and white.

A hand holds a white incense stick, lighting it from a small, open flame in a black container filled with liquid, possibly oil, in a metallic setting.

Two narrow streams of water flow from a rocky ledge into a small pool below, surrounded by green moss and leafy plants in a lush garden setting.

A man in a striped shirt smiles while working, using a wooden tool to shape or mix something in a large round container. The image is black and white, capturing a candid, joyful moment.

The 85mm is made for shallow depth of field work and can deliver soft-looking backgrounds. However, the specular highlights tend to have a bit of a soap bubble look, and there are definitely onion rings present as well. Perhaps this is a compromise given to keep the lens smaller and somewhat more affordable, but the backgrounds can have some harshness to them in some cases. I still find most of the photos taken to be pleasing to the eye, but I do consider how busy the background is before shooting at the widest possible apertures.

A close-up of a wooden pole with string lights, set against a blurred background of glowing lanterns and yellow bokeh lights, creating a festive and atmospheric scene. — Bokeh is a little busy-looking with some harshness present.

Strips of paper with writing are tied onto ropes outdoors, a common practice for omikuji fortunes at Japanese shrines, with a blurred green background.

A dimly lit urban street at night under a bridge, with a person crouching near the sidewalk and a black car parked nearby. Japanese signs and storefronts are visible, giving a quiet, late-night city atmosphere.

A person lies down inside a lit archway beneath an overpass at night, with another empty archway nearby. Metal railings and an empty street are visible in the foreground.

Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM Review: A True Hybrid

I had a great time on the streets of Tokyo and the temples of Kyoto with this handy little 85mm lens. The RF 85mm f/1.4 VCM L is ideally situated between the affordable RF 85mm f/2 Macro and the RF 85mm f/1.2 L. Canon RF users now have an option for a shallow depth of field portrait photography lens that also doubles as a great lens for cinema work. At $1649, you are paying L-series pricing, but you are getting L-series results. I especially loved how much more portable it was over the RF 85mm f/1.2 and found it far more practical for almost any situation. It’s rare to get high-end prime lenses released nowadays, let alone a whole series of high-quality lenses across the board. Most importantly, I didn’t feel left out as a photographer when experiencing the 85mm, and would happily reach for it again if I needed a Canon portrait lens in the future.

A man wearing a black "Cars of 7-Eleven" cap and a red plaid shirt smiles while sitting indoors; sunglasses hang from his shirt.

A man with gray streaked hair and a beard, wearing a light blue collared shirt and a lanyard, looks pensively out of a window with soft natural light on his face.

Person wearing blue gloves and a lab coat holds a transparent circular object, possibly a petri dish or lens, with both hands in a laboratory setting.

A traditional Japanese lantern glows softly at night, featuring Japanese calligraphy on frosted glass panels. The background is dark, with faint tree branches visible.

A dimly lit concrete wall with a metal pipe and a small frosted window emitting light on the right side, creating a stark contrast of shadows and illumination.

Are There Alternatives?

Sadly, you still won’t find any third-party, full-frame, AF-equipped lenses available for Canon RF mount, although the manual focus options are extensive. Instead, we are looking at the affordable $649 RF 85mm f/2 IS STM Macro, which offers image stabilization and a way better macro capability. If you need the shallowest depth of field and nicer bokeh, the $3,000 RF 85mm f/1.2 L is hard to beat, but the weight and size go way up, as does the price.

Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/2 IS STM Macro new on B&H Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/2 IS STM Macro used on KEH.com

Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L new on B&H Buy the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L used on KEH.com