Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L
The Best Canon RF Lens for Astrophotography?
At last, Canon has delivered a pair of exceptional wide-angle prime lenses tailored for astrophotography enthusiasts: the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L, released in July 2024, and the Canon RF 24mm f/1.4L, which followed in October 2024. After six long years since the debut of the RF mount, these lenses mark Canon’s long-awaited return to prime wide-angle lenses in the professional L-series lineup. The anticipation has been immense, and now, with these releases, Canon aims to meet the exacting demands of low-light and night-sky photography.
During a transformative three-week expedition in the Australian Outback, I had the privilege of testing the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L, graciously loaned to me by Canon Australia, paired with an Astro-modified Canon R8. With its untouched, dark skies, the Outback provided the perfect backdrop to push this lens to its limits and evaluate whether it lives up to the hype.
On paper, the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L is a dream come true for astrophotographers, boasting advanced optics and the unique benefits of the RF mount to deliver breathtaking low-light performance. But does it truly perform as promised? In this review, I’ll delve deep into the lens's features, performance, and real-world capabilities to determine if it’s worth the investment.
Is this the astrophotography lens all Canon users have been waiting for? Let’s dive in and find out.
SPECIFICATIONS
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L sets a high bar in terms of both performance and price, reflecting its position as a professional-grade lens. Let's check out its key specifications:
Price: $2,699 AUD or $1499 USD RRP
Focal Length: 35mm
Maximum Aperture: f/1.4
Lens Construction: 14 elements in 11 groups
Aperture Blades: 11 (rounded)
Minimum Focusing Distance: 0.28m
Maximum Magnification: 0.18x
Image Stabilization: None
Focus Drive System: VCM + Nano USM
Dimensions: 99.3mm x 76.5mm
Weight: 555g
CANON'S PRICE JUSTIFICATION
It’s impossible to discuss the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L without addressing its price. At $2,699 Aud, this lens firmly establishes itself as a premium option in Canon’s RF lineup and one of the most expensive 35mm f/1.4 lenses for full-frame cameras. However, the price tag isn’t just for show, it reflects cutting-edge technology, unparalleled optical quality, and hybrid versatility that cater to both photographers and videographers.
With features tailored for videography and multiple advancements designed for low-light performance, the RF 35mm f/1.4L positions itself as a hybrid powerhouse. While the cost may seem steep for hobbyists, those who demand exceptional performance and precision will find its capabilities well worth the investment.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND BUILD QUALITY
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L makes a striking first impression, embodying Canon’s commitment to craftsmanship and innovation. From the moment you handle the lens, its robust construction and attention to detail are evident. Designed as part of Canon’s prestigious L-series, this lens boasts weather sealing and premium materials, ensuring reliability in even the most challenging environments. Its sleek design is consistent with the RF lineup, striking a balance between functionality and aesthetics.
Despite its premium feel, the RF 35mm f/1.4L remains surprisingly portable for a lens of this calibre. It’s compact enough to fit comfortably in your kit without sacrificing the advanced optical features that set it apart. This combination of rugged build and thoughtful design ensures that the lens not only performs well under the stars but also inspires confidence during demanding shoots, from astrophotography expeditions to everyday creative endeavours.
Build Quality and Durability: Engineered for Excellence
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L stands as a testament to Canon’s commitment to precision and durability. Its sleek metal exterior and comprehensive weather-sealing reflect a premium build designed to withstand the challenges of professional use. Whether you’re braving rugged terrains or capturing the cosmos under freezing skies, this lens is built to perform.
Ergonomics and Handling
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L strikes an impressive balance between build quality and portability. At 555 g, it is the second lightest 35mm f/1.4 lens on the market, sitting just behind Sony's FE 35mm f/1.4 GM, which weighs 524 g. Its compact design not only makes it an excellent choice for long adventures—whether hiking to remote locations or enduring extended astrophotography sessions under the stars—but also ensures convenience when packing your gear.
The lens shares the same dimensions as Canon's RF 24mm f/1.4L and RF 50mm f/1.4L lenses, allowing for seamless organization in your camera bag. This consistency in size makes it easier to pack multiple lenses for diverse shooting scenarios without adding unnecessary bulk.
Its well-proportioned size offers a satisfying in-hand feel, while the smooth control ring and responsive manual focus ring further enhance usability. These features are particularly valuable for astrophotography, where precision and control are paramount.
Weather-Sealing for Cold Nights Under the Stars
Astrophotography often calls for patience under freezing skies. The RF 35mm f/1.4L’s advanced weather-sealing offers reliable protection against moisture, dust, and frost, making it a trusted ally for those extended night shoots. With this lens, you can confidently embrace the unpredictable elements and focus entirely on capturing the beauty of the night sky.
COMPARISONS TO COMPETITORS: How Does It Stack Up Against the Stars?
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM
While the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM is slightly lighter (524g vs. Canon’s 580g) and matches the RF 35mm’s sharpness, it falls short in critical areas for professional use and videography. Its weather-sealing is less comprehensive, making it less reliable in harsh environments. The lens also features a less intuitive control layout, with a narrower focus ring and fewer customizable buttons, which may slow down adjustments in fast-paced shoots.
Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S
Nikon’s Z 35mm f/1.8 S offers a budget-friendly option but compromises with a narrower f/1.8 aperture, reducing its low-light capability and background separation compared to f/1.4 rivals. While optically solid, it struggles in astrophotography and dim settings, requiring higher ISO settings that introduce noise. Notably, Nikon has yet to release a native f/1.4 35mm lens for its Z-mirrorless system, leaving a gap for enthusiasts seeking extreme low-light performance.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art
The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art delivers excellent sharpness but at a slight weight penalty (645g) and bulkier design, which may hinder portability during long shoots. Its autofocus system, though accurate, lacks the responsiveness of Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF, particularly in tracking moving subjects or video applications. Additionally, Sigma’s finish and weather-sealing feel less refined compared to Canon’s L-series build.
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 II
Compared to its predecessor, the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II, the RF version exhibits similar sharpness but with slight increases in vignetting and corner softness. These trade-offs likely stem from new design elements aimed at enhancing videography performance. However, for tracked panoramas with significant overlap (40–50%), these drawbacks are negligible. The RF 35mm also benefits from updated coatings, improving light transmission and contrast in real-world scenarios.
Canon’s RF 35mm f/1.4L distinguishes itself with meticulous engineering: robust magnesium alloy construction, industry-leading weather-sealing, and ergonomic refinements like a customizable control ring and smooth focus grip. These features, combined with near-zero coma correction and exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness, make it the premier choice for astrophotographers and professionals prioritizing reliability in challenging conditions. While competitors excel in specific areas (e.g., Sony’s portability, Sigma’s affordability), the RF 35mm f/1.4L balances performance, durability, and usability for demanding applications such as videography.
WHY PRIME LENSES EXCEL IN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY?
Prime lenses are a cornerstone of astrophotography, offering unmatched optical performance that makes them ideal for capturing the night sky. Unlike zoom lenses, primes have a fixed focal length, allowing for a simpler and more precise optical design. This minimizes common flaws such as distortion and chromatic aberration, resulting in sharper, cleaner images—a critical factor when photographing stars and celestial details.
Another major advantage of prime lenses is their ability to gather light efficiently. Their wider maximum apertures, such as f/1.4, enable them to collect significantly more light than most zoom lenses, making it possible to capture faint stars, nebulae, and the intricate textures of the Milky Way in a single exposure. This light-gathering capability is especially vital in low-light conditions where every photon counts, reducing the need for longer exposures or higher ISO settings that could introduce noise.
Beyond technical advantages, prime lenses often inspire confidence in astrophotographers due to their reliability and consistency. Their straightforward design ensures dependable performance, making them a go-to choice for those seeking the highest image quality. Whether you’re shooting wide-field panoramas or isolating specific celestial features, the precision and clarity of a prime lens make it an indispensable tool for night sky photography.
35MM, CAPTURING THE NIGHT SKY WITHOUT COMPROMISE
While 35mm might seem narrow for astrophotography, it captures stunningly detailed night skies. To photograph the entire Milky Way, you’d need 24–36 overlapping shots. Modern star trackers like the Benro Polaris automate this process, aligning each frame precisely. This eliminates guesswork, making multi-shot panoramas quick and accurate.
Focal Length & Resolution: Balancing Detail and Efficiency
Longer focal lengths (e.g., 35mm) enable lower-megapixel cameras to achieve exceptional resolution through panoramas. For instance:
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Canon R8 (24MP) paired with a 35mm lens, using a 3-row × 12-column grid (36 photos, 50% overlap), produces a 312MP final image (26,000 × 12,000 pixels).
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Canon R5 (45MP) with a 15mm lens, using a single-row × 6-photo grid (50% overlap), delivers 156.7MP (28,672 × 5,464 pixels).
This comparison demonstrates that smaller sensors, when combined with longer focal lengths and multi-frame panoramas, can achieve higher-resolution results than high-megapixel cameras using wider lenses and fewer frames. This approach proves critical for astrophotographers prioritizing resolution over sensor size.
IMAGE QUALITY: A detailed analysis
Astrophotography demands high optical performance from lenses, and the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L may disappoint some photographers given its price. This section examines its image quality under the microscope, focusing on key attributes like sharpness, vignetting, coma, and distortion. The lens's overall performance proves it to be a good choice for night sky photography, though a few trade-offs are worth noting.
Let's delve deeper into how this lens performs in capturing the stars.
Sharpness
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L excels in sharpness, even when used wide open at f/1.4. The centre is incredibly detailed, capturing fine elements like distant stars and subtle textures with remarkable clarity. When stopped down to f/2, the lens achieves even greater sharpness, with the entire image becoming uniformly crisp from the centre to the corners.
This level of sharpness is crucial for astrophotography, particularly when stitching panoramas, as each frame must align seamlessly without compromising detail. Whether photographing the night sky or intricate landscapes, the RF 35mm f/1.4L ensures consistent, precise results that are vital for both single-shot compositions and multi-image stitches.
Vignetting
Wide open at f/1.4, the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L exhibits notable vignetting of approximately 2.5 stops, a characteristic common among fast prime lenses. Stopping down to f/2 reduces this to 1.2 stops, and by f/2.8, the effect becomes virtually negligible.
While this level of vignetting can be visually distracting in certain compositions, particularly when shooting evenly lit scenes like the night sky, it is relatively straightforward to correct during post-processing.
However, it’s important to note that while software can mitigate vignetting, these corrections may inadvertently introduce unwanted digital noise, particularly in the darker areas of an image. This is especially relevant in astrophotography, where preserving clean shadows is critical for capturing the subtle nuances of the night sky. Canon's decision to prioritize the lens’s compactness and light-gathering ability over strict vignetting control reflects a trade-off that benefits portability and videography but presents challenges for achieving perfect edge-to-edge uniformity.
For astrophotographers, understanding this balance is key. While the vignetting is not severe enough to overshadow the lens's other strengths, careful handling in both shooting and editing is essential to ensure the final image retains its integrity without compromising quality.
Coma
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L demonstrates exceptional performance in coma control, ensuring that stars appear round and well-defined even at the edges of the frame. This level of precision is a crucial asset for astrophotographers, as irregular star shapes can quickly compromise the authenticity and aesthetic of night sky images. Whether capturing the dense star fields of the Milky Way or isolated constellations, this lens delivers remarkable consistency, preserving the integrity of celestial details.
Compared to its predecessor, the EF 35mm f/1.4L II, the RF version takes star-shape retention to the next level. While the EF lens was already well-regarded for its coma performance, the RF 35mm f/1.4L refines this further, particularly in the corners, where older lenses often struggle.
For example, wide-field images of the Milky Way or tracked astrophotography panoramas, where edge sharpness is crucial, greatly benefit from this improvement. With enhanced quality, you can reduce the overlap between frames, which is advantageous for creating panoramas.
The better the quality, the less overlap is needed.
Distortion
The RF 35mm f/1.4L lens performs well in controlling coma, but it does show noticeable barrel distortion, especially at wider apertures. In uncorrected RAW images, this distortion can reach up to 4%, which may affect the edges of your compositions.
While this distortion can be corrected in post-processing, doing so may require additional time and could lead to a slight loss of image resolution. In my experience, this issue is not significant when stitching panoramas, as the distortion is easily managed in post-production.
However, if you're considering this lens for other types of photography, I recommend researching further.
Compared to its predecessor, the EF 35mm f/1.4L II, the RF version exhibits more pronounced barrel distortion, suggesting that Canon's shift to hybrid technology may be a downgrade in quality for some photographers.
PROS AND CONS: Is the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L Worth It?
Every lens comes with its strengths and trade-offs, and the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L is no exception. Astrophotographers and content creators alike often seek a balance between performance, versatility, and cost, making it essential to weigh the pros and cons before making an investment. In this section, we’ll dive into the standout features that make this lens shine under the stars and the areas where it could leave you wanting more. Whether you’re wondering if this lens is worth the price or curious about how it stacks up for your specific needs, this breakdown will help you make an informed decision:
Pros
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Unmatched Sharpness: Exceptional detail across the frame, even wide open.
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Wide Aperture: f/1.4 provides incredible low-light performance, perfect for astrophotography.
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Compact and Lightweight: Portable enough for extended astrophotography sessions.
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Weather-Sealing: Reliable in challenging environments, ensuring durability.
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Minimal Coma: Perfectly round stars, even in the corners, with negligible aberrations.
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Advanced Autofocus: The VCM + Nano USM system ensures silent, accurate focusing, a bonus for both stills and video.
Cons
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Price: At $2,699 AUD, it’s a significant investment, placing it out of reach for many hobbyists.
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Vignetting: Noticeable at f/1.4, though manageable in post-processing.
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Barrel Distortion: It is more pronounced than its predecessor.
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Time to Market: Canon’s delay in releasing this lens may have frustrated fans eager for an update.
REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE: Capturing the Night with the RF 35mm f/1.4L
A lens can look great on paper, but real-world results are what truly matter. Here are some images captured during my journey through the vast Australian Outback, where the untouched night sky, rugged landscapes, and the magic of night photography pushed the RF 35mm f/1.4L to its limits.
THE FALLEN TREE
Sky: Canon R8 Astromod | 35mm | f/2.2 | 2x 12 x 61s (Tracked Sky with a Benro Polaris) | 800 ISO
Foreground: Canon R5 | 15 mm | f/8 | 1/15s | 3200 ISO
ROAD TO ORION
Sky: Canon R8 Astromod | 35mm | f/1.4 | 3x 15 x 35s (Tracked Sky with a Benro Polaris) | 640 ISO
Foreground: Canon R5 | 15 mm | f/11 | 1s | 500 ISO
Details of the Orion Nebula and Barnard's Loop and the Gum Nebula
THE WALLS OF INDIA
Sky: Canon R8 Astromod | 35mm | f/2 | 3x 12 x 75s (Tracked Sky with a Benro Polaris) | 640 ISO
Foreground: Canon R5 | 15 mm | f/11 | 10s | 3200 ISO
INDIA
Sky: Canon R8 Astromod | 35mm | f/2 | 3x 12 x 75s (Tracked Sky with a Benro Polaris) | 640 ISO
Foreground: Canon R5 | 15 mm | f/9 | 30s | 3200 ISO
Details of the Galactic Centre and Rho Ophiuchi, and the Cygnus Region Nebula
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L is a game-changer for Canon astrophotographers, combining cutting-edge optics with a premium build quality that elevates the lens to new heights. Its ideal focal length makes it a perfect choice for capturing the vastness and beauty of the night sky, while its remarkable sharpness and minimal coma ensure crisp, clear images, whether for single-frame astrophotography or complex tracked panoramas.
Canon's recent additions to the RF lineup, including the 35mm f/1.4L and the new 24mm f/1.4L, mark a monumental shift in the brand’s approach to night sky photography. These lenses address long-standing gaps in the market, offering top-tier performance for astrophotographers. While the visible vignetting and higher price tag of the 35mm might deter some, the inclusion of videographer-friendly features like smooth focus transitions and minimal focus breathing elevates this lens’s versatility. For astrophotographers, these features might seem secondary, but for those working across both mediums, they are a significant asset.
For dedicated astrophotographers, the RF 35mm f/1.4L is an exceptional tool that meets—and often exceeds—the demands of the craft. It excels in sharpness, coma control, and overall performance, making it a reliable and inspiring choice for capturing the wonders of the cosmos. The steep price may give some pause, but the lens’s quality and versatility justify the investment. This lens pushes the boundaries of creative expression, encouraging photographers to explore new possibilities under the stars. With the addition of the RF 35mm and the 24mm f/1.4 to Canon's lineup, the game has truly changed for astrophotographers, offering unmatched performance for those who demand the best in both photography and video. The Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L firmly establishes itself as the ultimate companion for night sky exploration and beyond.
Before wrapping up, I want to extend my gratitude to Canon Professional Services in Sydney for generously lending me this lens multiple times, allowing me to thoroughly test it for this review.
Good light and happy shooting!
