Canon’s Sleeper Strategy: Produce the Best Mirorrless Lenses (by far), with High-Res Pro Body to Come?
Get Canon EOS R system at B&H Photo.
It is now clear having tested all Nikon NIKKOR Z lenses except the 14-30mm that Nikon is producing very good but “high consumer grade” lenses for the Z system. I expect the Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S to rely even more heavily on sharpness-damaging distortion correction, and that’s not the only sharpness-damaging optical shortcut. I am disappointed in Nikon serving up lenses that are excellent in many ways, but fall flat on the most important areas: resolving power and micro contrast.
Even Leica uses such tricks with very expensive lenses—a disagreeble trend in the era of high resolution digital.
Canon plans to succeed with discerning pros?
Canon is taking another tack, producing “L” lenses that are true pro grade that are second to none. Canon has stated that very high optical quality is the goal and that size and weight are not priorities. This is a very different approach from Nikon or Leica, with Sony doing some of both, but falling short of Canon’s commitment to excellence.
To wit: the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L and Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L are extremely impressive performers, and I expect no less of the new Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L*.
Canon’s pro-grade lens strategy makes sense if there is a high megapixel Canon EOS R body coming this year. The top-flight L lenses should make a killer combination.
* The Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS is a dud, but every vendor needs a kit lens.
