A few months with the Canon RF 45mm F1.2

This is a field note about the Canon RF 45mm F1.2 STM, the first lens I ever pre-ordered the moment I saw the announcement.

I’d been after something small, light and versatile, and this fit the brief. At 346g and about 75mm long it’s one of the more compact primes in Canon’s RF lineup, yet it still opens all the way to F1.2. It’s not an L lens, so I wouldn’t throw it at the elements the way I would other kit (there’s no weather sealing, and the hood is sold separately), but I used it a lot on my recent trip to the eastern Nepali Himalayas and it performed great. My first DSLR lens, twenty years ago, was the 50mm F1.8. These days I find 50 a touch too tight, and I tend to shoot at 35. So 45mm at F1.2 is a fair tradeoff, and I adapted my eye to it quickly. It sits in that comfortable middle ground without feeling like either of the lenses I’m used to.

Someone described it as “vintage for digital,” talking about how its so-called flaws (some distortion, a bit of chromatic aberration wide open) actually give it a nice character. I think that was a video comment, and I agree with it. The rendering has a look rather than clinical perfection.

I like the size, I like the F1.2. It lets me shoot and film the early and late edges of the day when the light is thin. It pairs nicely with my R3, and I’ve used it on the R5 II as well. Most of the clips below were shot on it: a short edit from when we woke up very early to walk and drive higher into the hills to photograph sunrise over the Himalayas. It was insanely windy, even for such a small lens the gusts where moving my hands around. The sort of type II fun that Jannico (pictured below) and I thoroughly enjoy.

Play the video

Searching fo red pandas, mostly filmed on the Canon RF 45mm F1.2 + CANON EOS R3.

A note on what this is and isn’t. I’m not a pixel peeper, and this isn’t a review. It’s my rationale for buying the lens, how I’ve been using it, and why I’ve been enjoying it. I set those parameters on purpose, because gear conversations online have a way of fixating on the wrong things. You know going in that you’re not buying the most incredible glass out there, but at this price it’s a great piece of kit, and actual hands-on time trumps spec sheets. Like everything, it isn’t for everyone. This is just my use of it.

Capturing the arly morning colors at f1.2, paired with the R3.

The stunning views once we were far above the clouds, in the eastern Nepali Himalayas

I've used it as a all-around documentation lens. Here capturing the high altitude drive above the clouds in search of the Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral).

Scanning for himalayan ghorals on the cliff faces, we got great views and some images despite the distance.

I’ve used it travelling, and at home on the camera trap too (those images will be for another post), where I’ve been experimenting with shallower depth of field in those images lately. In short, it’s a lens I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and one that’s found a lasting place in my bag.