Canon RF 50mm F1.4 L VCM

Reviewers found the centre very sharp from f/1.4 through f/11 and resolution close to what the high-resolution test sensor can record at the best apertures, but sharpness drops off-centre at wide apertures and the whole frame is only consistently sharp around f/5.6. Colour fringing is well controlled, while vignetting at f/1.4 and some distortion in uncorrected files are left to in-camera correction.

Autofocus is the highlight: fast, accurate and virtually silent, with breathing well suppressed, which makes it an easy recommendation for video. Background blur is pleasing but not perfectly smooth; testers noted swirl, cat's-eye highlights toward the edges and some onion-ring texture, and the f/1.2L renders a little more smoothly. Other notes: occasional hunting at close range with small AF areas, a floating group that rattles when the camera is off, and flare artefacts with a strong light source in frame.

Owners praise sharpness wide open, the background blur, quick and silent focus lock and the low weight compared with the f/1.2L, and several say they get most of the f/1.2 look for less money.

One owner notes it is expensive next to the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, though worth it, and another found it less versatile than expected and best suited to portraits. One owner was unhappy with the plastic build, a hood that scratched quickly and the RF caps that fit in only one position, and felt it needed stopping down to f/4 for sharp images.