Selects: Best Canon 85mm Lens for Portraits: RF or EF?

When discussing the best portrait lenses in each of Canon’s lens ranges, it all comes down to the RF for mirrorless and the EF for DSLR. In the portraiture world, there’s plenty of debate about the pros and cons of shooting with mirrorless or DSLR bodies. But which system boasts the greatest native lenses? In this article, we compare the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L for mirrorless against the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4 L IS USM for DSLR.

Why choose the f/1.4 lens in the EF range when the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM is available? While the EF f/1.2 is a match aperture wise, this model still can’t keep up with the RF f/1.2 in terms of overall image quality. Plus, as its name suggests, the f/1.4 L IS boasts image stabilisation. This, for many portrait photographers, makes the EF f/1.4 a wiser choice than the EF f/1.2.

These tests aren’t exactly scientific, but we will provide real-world images in real-world shooting scenarios to help you better understand rendition, colour, sharpness and overall handling. Sharpness is often the default decider for many portrait photographers. However, rendition and handling of skin texture and tonality are also important. Some top-rated portraiture lenses sacrifice sharpness for a little magic, which can help make those face shots really pop.

We asked two photographers to shoot in close proximity to one another with the EF-mount Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR and the RF-mount Canon EOS R5 mirrorless. Both photographers used equivalent settings for the 5D Mark IV and the EOS R5.

Read our Canon EOS 5D Mark IV review review and our Canon EOS R5 review.

We shot both lenses at their respective largest apertures—the RF at f/1.2 and the EF at f/1.4. Both lenses initially impressed us, but we were truly wowed when cropping to 100%.

While both lenses are sharp at their widest apertures, it's impressive just how sharp the RF is at f/1.2. We have to remove the sensor from the equation—but, even then, the sharpness from the lens can’t be disguised by res.

Despite this, the 85mm f/1.4 L IS is pretty good. It provides beautifully organic images with pleasing skin tones and a softness that only a fast 85mm can yield.

The RF 85mm lens was always able to wow with exceptional sharpness. Each time we see these shots, we can’t quite believe they shot at f/1.2. But are they too sharp?

There is something to be said about softness in portraiture and the EF proves that. Its strength in yielding beautiful portraits is still as strong as ever. Sharpness, while not useless, is not required to produce a good image.

Even at 100% crop, we can see amazing detail in both images—but the more recently-released RF-and-R5 combo really delivers superlative sharpness and detail.

So, what have we learned by comparing the EF 85mm and the RF 85mm lenses? There is extensive talk online about sharpness, which has become the way we often judge a lens—but it shouldn’t be. It’s fair to say the RF f/1.2 was sharper at f/1.2 than the EF was at f/1.4 during our test. Some of the EF lens’ images were preferable due to their organic feel, which benefits skin tones and renditions. That’s not to say the RF was too sharp. It’s not too difficult to tone down sharpness in post and achieve a more organic look. 

As lens manufacturers, Canon have gathered everything they’ve learned about lens design and maximised the shorter flange size of mirrorless cameras to give us optical perfection—a lens that might be too sharp for some, but is easily toned down in post. Depending on what purpose you use RF lenses, you have the option to make it behave however you want. For those shooting on DSLRs, the 85mm f/1.4 EF is still a phenomenal lens and is arguably a ‘purer’ portrait lens. It’s fully open and still super sharp, but delivers an organic image straight out of the box. 

You can read more about Canon RF vs EF in our article comparing 24-70mm lenses, or explore more reviews and kit comparisons at the MPB content hub.