Canon CN-R Cinema Lenses with Native RF Mount Announced

Lens News

by Florian MilzSeptember 12^th, 2023

Just before the start of IBC 2023 later this week, Canon announced today that they will start offering their cinema lenses with native RF mounts, next to the existing EF and PL options. The first lenses with the native RF mounts will be the seven CN-R prime lenses. Communication between the RF lenses and cameras will allow control of the same features as the CN-E EF lenses offer.

Canon will offer their first modern cine lens series, the original CN-E EF-mount cine primes with native RF-mounts and the resulting name CN-R. The focal lengths and T-stops remain the same, but the native RF mount will allow communication between the RF lenses and cameras without the need for a lens adapter.

Seven CN-R cine prime lenses

The 7-lens set with native RF-mount is comprised of:

– CN-R 14mm T3.1
– CN-R 20mm T1.5
– CN-R 24mm T1.5
– CN-R 35mm T1.5
– CN-R 50mm T1.3
– CN-R 85mm T1.3
– CN-R 135mm T2.2

RF-mount communication

Features that are enabled with these RF-mount lenses attached to RF camera bodies include:

– magnification
– chromatic aberration correction
– peripheral light correction
– dual-pixel focus guides
– lens distortion correction (NEW)

More RF lens options planned

Canon is planning to release more of their cinema lenses with RF-mount options to enable native communication between their professional cine lenses and RF-mount cameras, like their currently available EOS C70 and EOS R5 C.

The company is advertising these lenses highlighting their “high optical performance, suitable for use with 4K and 8K cameras by optimally positioning large-diameter aspherical lens elements and lens elements with anomalous dispersion glass.” Canon’s cinema prime and zoom lenses are color-balanced to provide uniform color consistency across the entire range.

You can find details about all of Canon’s cinema and photo lenses in our Lens Database!

Pricing and availability

The new CN-R cine prime lenses with RF-mount will be available in phases starting in late January 2024 with 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm focal lengths. Following up in late February 2024, the 14mm will become available, with the 20mm lens available in late March 2024. The last lens to become available will be the 135mm focal length in late April 2024.

Lenses will be priced between $3950 and $4220, depending on the focal length.

At this point, we don’t have any information as to whether the RF lens mounts will be available separately, if they will be compatible with existing CN-E lenses, or if you will have to buy new lenses for the native RF mount.

You can find more information about the Canon CN-R lenses on the manufacturer’s website.

Do you own Canon CN-E lenses? What are your experiences with these lenses? Will you buy the new CN-R cine primes or are you waiting for other Canon cinema lenses to become available with an RF-mount? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!