Canon RF 85mm f/1.4 L VCM Lens Released – Hybrid Lens Set Complete

by Omri Keren LapidotSeptember 13^th, 2025

Subscribe to News - Lenses

Canon has announced their fifth hybrid VCM prime lens, joining the 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm VCM line, all with a wide f/1.4 aperture, encased in an identical external chassis. These primes join the Canon 24-105mm f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM Z hybrid zoom lenses. But what exactly is a “hybrid lens”? Join us and Canon’s Mark Fensome for some insights, straight from the IBC trade show in Amsterdam.

The Canon RF 85 mm f/1.4 L VCM is the latest addition to the company’s growing hybrid lens series, comprised of four primes and two zooms as of the writing of this article. Lens sets have been very popular in the cinema world, offering both mechanical and optical consistency across the focal range. These sets weren’t a thing in the still photography segment, since consistency wasn’t as important there. The hybrid segment has mostly evolved as still cameras gained cinematic capability. This led hybrid shooters to use optics designed for stills in their filmmaking. As time went by, hybrid creators honed their craft and practice to a point at which lenses designed for stills started to impose limits on their creativity.

Enter the hybrid lenses

Hybrid lenses, like hybrid cameras, try to merge both stills and motion capture features into a single lens, hoping to get the best of both worlds. The sharpness, compactness, and coverage of still-oriented lenses are reinforced with fundamental cine features:

• Optical consistency throughout the range
• Mechanical consistency for rigging
• minimal focus breathing
• parfocal design for zoom lenses
• smooth aperture/iris ring
• Linear focusing

The lens that started Canon’s hybrid lens set, the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4 L VCM, includes all these, followed by the rest of the series and the most recent RF 85mm f/1.4 L VCM.

With the new RF 85mm f/1.4, Canon greatly expands the VCM range to include a classic portrait focal length that will greatly cater to the needs of both photographers and videographers. Along with its four sisters, it should cover most creative needs.

Price and availability

The Canon RF 85mm F/1.4L VCM should be available this month for $1,649. At approximately half the size and weight compared to the RF 85mm F1.2L USM, this lens is a solid option for filmmakers and content creators looking for a lightweight, professional, portrait prime lens.

Do you use hybrid lens sets in your workflow? Are you using them for filmmaking? Stills or a bit of both? Let us know in the comments.