Canon's New Ultra-Wide Hybrid Lens Is Seriously Impressive (And Expensive)

The lens makes the shot. While the camera is important, as are its capabilities and quality, especially for digital photography, the lens is responsible for additional quality, perspective, and focus. It mainly has to do with how the lens allows in and controls light through refraction, which forms the image on the internal sensor. A high-quality lens can make even the cheapest cameras better, while a low-quality lens can do the exact opposite for the most expensive pieces of hardware. That's why upgrading the lens on your phone's camera is one of the best ways to instantly improve picture quality. And that is precisely why photographers go cuckoo for a great lens. Enter Canon's newest ultra-wide hybrid lens, the RF 14mm f/1.4L VCM.

It's anything but cheap with an MSRP of $2,599, which also makes it currently one of the most expensive lenses in Canon's lineup. It's an excellent choice for wide shots, for tasks like landscape and panoramic shots, astrophotography, architecture, sports photography, and wildlife capture. What makes it solid for these activities, why is it so impressive, and why is anyone excited about it?

For starters, the ultra-wide focal length combined with the ultra-wide aperture allows for wider, more expansive shots while providing a distinctive and realistic look. That's accentuated by the f/1.4 aperture rating, which is sharp and clear. It's also fast and smooth at image capture, with strong low-light performance, the latter of which is ideal for darker settings like astrophotography. But above all, it delivers excellent performance and clarity in a compact and lightweight design — the smaller and more capable the lens, the more groundbreaking for field work where you're limited in terms of what equipment you can carry. Plus, the 14mm size allows more to fit in a shot without maneuvering too much.

Canon describes it as the "brightest" 14mm ultra wide-angle lens it's "ever made." But it's the specifications and performance that make it so desirable. The excellent low-light performance is a big bonus, plus its shallow depth of field and lightweight, fixed-aperture design. Together, these properties allow for more cinematic and breathtaking shots while reducing the need to carry significantly heavier and larger lenses to capture such high-quality photography. The sheer versatility of the lens also makes it a solid choice for a wide range of photography tasks, again, just further enhancing the usability and value.

The VCM in the name stands for Voice Coil Motor, which enables fast, accurate, and quiet capture, including while shooting video. What this translates to during use is a quick and accurate autofocus during still shots, and smooth, positive focus transitions during video shots. That accuracy and speed are what frame it as a solid lens for sports and wildlife shots, in addition to the sweeping landscape and scenery captures. Although this lens is brighter and lets in more light during use, you might want to consider a UV protection lens filter for bright light or day shots.

The RF lens is compatible with Canon's EOS R system cameras, which should include some of Canon's best digital cameras for everyday use or versatile shots. Canon also has a unique system for labeling compatibility on the cameras themselves, with differing symbols visible for the various mounting formats.