Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L STM
190º Fisheye (2026 ~ today)
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
R1 R3 R5II R5 R5C R6III R6II R6 R6V R R8II R8 RP
R7 R10 R50 R50V R100 Bodies Compared
Canon RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM (rear slip-in filters only, 16.7 oz./473g with hoodlet as shown, 0.5'/0.15m close focus, 0.35× macro ratio, $1,899). bigger.
I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Amazon or at Adorama, or get it used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), or get it used at KEH.
My junk-free, all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to the places I use myself when you get anything, and it costs nothing more. I've bought from these places for over 100 combined years because they have the best service, the best selection, the best prices, and usually 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new goodies. As an Amazon Associate and eBay Partner Network Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks! Ken.
October 2026 Better Pictures Canon Reviews RF Lenses EF Lenses Flash All Canon Reviews All Reviews
EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye (2011 ~ 2019, 543g, use with EF to RF adaptor on mirrorless)
EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye (1987-2011, 319g, use with EF to RF adaptor on mirrorless)
Sample Images top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Macro, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.
These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.
These are all shot hand-held as LARGE NORMAL (
At 14mm on Full-Frame
190º from corner-to-corner:
Pacific Beach Pier, 3:05 PM, Saturday, 12 September 2026. Canon R6 III, RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at 14mm at f/4 hand-held at 1/20 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 8.4), Skylum Luminar software to lighten the underside of the pier, darken the sand and add color, Radiant Photo software to add light everywhere while retaining highlights. bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 11.8 MB JPG.
At 10mm on Square-Cropped Full-Frame in the Manner of the HASSELBLAD ZEISS T✻ F-Distagon 30mm f/3.5
190º from corner-to-corner:
Positano. 10:48 AM, Saturday, 12 September 2026. Canon R6 III in square-crop mode, RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at10mm at f/8 at 1/320 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.4), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights. bigger or camera-original 22 MP (square-crop) © 7.3 MB JPG.
At 7mm on Square-Cropped Full-Frame with Secret White Border Processing
190º on every diagonal.
At 7mm all we get is a ball in the middle of our full-frame. Please use the square crop mode so you don't waste space storing the blank, black sides of the frame, and more importantly you'll make your thumbnails much bigger.
Under the Pacific Beach Pier, 3:04 PM, Saturday, 12 September 2026. Canon R6 III in square-crop mode, RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at 7mm at f/8, hand-held at 1/8 at Auto ISO 200 (LV 8.0), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights and Skylum Luminar software to amp it up, secret white-border fisheye process in Photoshop. bigger or camera-original 22 MP (square-crop) © 6.8 MB JPG.
Introduction top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
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Overview
This is a circular-image fisheye at 7mm on full-frame, and fills the frame when zoomed longer. The size of the circle grows as zoomed longer, giving very different effects.
At 7mm on APS-C the image circle extends just beyond the left and right side of the image and the corners are dark. Zoom-in to 8mm to fill the APS-C frame, and if you like there is a zoom limiter to keep you from zooming wider than 8.5mm to prevent dark corners on APS-C.
The hood is to protect the bulging and delicate front element. It will block some of the image when zoomed shorter than 13mm on full-frame or shorter than 8mm on APS-C.
Optical Quality intro top
As expected, it's ultra sharp. Fisheyes never used to be this sharp; the huge and exotic Nikon 8mm f/2.8 has crummy image quality by comparison. This is a great choice if you're using software to remap the images to rectilinear or cylindrical projections.
Corrections and Projections intro top
Sadly Canon is behind the game with in-camera distortion correction. While you can set Distortion Control ON or OFF at MENU > CAMERA > LENS ABERATON CORRECTION, I don't see anything obviously changing. I suspect the the in-camera correction is either a placebo or simply correcting the lens to an idealized r = fθ fisheye projection for scientific use.
Distortion Correction should have settings of OFF (Fisheye), r = fθ (Equidistant Fisheye), ORTHOGRAPHIC, RECTILINEAR and CYLINDRICAL. While I've been doing in-computer rectilinear conversions for decades, now with mirrorless Canon should be doing this in-camera and letting us see these conversions live as we shoot. In other words, in the RECTININEAR setting we should see perfectly straight, frame-filling Ultra-Ultrawide images in the finder as we compose. As I have written, we can't compose properly for cylindrical or rectilinear conversion if we can't see it live.
Tell Canon we need these options in the Distortion Correction menu:
● OFF (Fisheye): Normal Fisheye effect.
● r = fθ (Equidistant Fisheye): Normal fisheye effect, but corrected slightly for scientific use. For all I know this is what the ON setting does today.
● ORTHOGRAPHIC: An even more distorted fisheye effect used in science and engineering that maps equal sources of illumination to equal image areas.
● RECTILINEAR: Straight lines stay straight and the image always fills the frame, with increasing angles of view as zoomed wider. This is by far the most useful way to use this lens, as a way to simulate full-frame ultra-ultrawides of 14mm down to an insane 0mm with a 180º diagonal angle of view!
● CYLINDRICAL: Render the image looking like a swept panorama, exactly as iPhone panoramas look, but made in one click. Perfect for group photos; people standing in a half-circle around the camera will look like a line of people looking at the camera, completely undistorted!
Petition your local Canon employee for this. Imagine being able to have any wide-angle focal length just by turning the zoom ring in RECTILINEAR mode and seeing the effects live in-camera!
Practical Use intro top
With no ability to take any front protective filter, this lens is doomed to a sheltered life because even the slightest front element damage essentially destroys this lens. I carry this capped all the time on my camera even while out actively shooting, removing the cap only to compose and shoot.
Any damage, dirt or fingerprints are often visible in the image due to this lens' almost limitless depth of field. Unlike a tele where an obvious front-element chip can simply be filled-in with black paint and never be seen again (honest), even minor dust can become sufficiently in focus to be seen in some images, especially if the sun or other brilliant source of light is in the image or shining on the front surface. Thankfully it has a fluorine coating to resist crud, but dust still collects because the cap does not seal and lets in dust.
Be careful shooting action and dangerous things like aircraft with rotating propellers. People have been killed getting too close; you will be much closer than your finder image makes it seem.
190º intro top
See the little clear dot looking at us in the glass at the top?
I'm taking this photo from the level of the bottom of the lens, and it's still looking at me — behind itself!!!
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger.
I got my RF 7~14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at B&H. I'd also get it at Amazon or at Adorama, or get it used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), or get it used at KEH.
New intro top
World's first 190º zoom fisheye lens. Take off the hood and it sees behind itself at 7mm!
Canon's first fisheye for its mirrorless system.
Good intro top
Superb optics. Ultrasharp at every aperture, limited only by diffraction at small apertures.
Light weight.
Not that expensive considering what a high-tech, odd and low production lens this is.
Programmable focus lock button.
AF/MF switch.
Made in Japan.
100% U. S. A. - based high-quality technical support at (800) OK-CANON.
Bad intro top
With no ability to take any front protective filter, this lens is severely susceptible to dirt and damage to the front element, and even the slightest front element damage essentially destroys this lens because its depth-of-field is so deep that minor damage or even fingerprints usually will be visible and in focus.
Fisheye lenses have very few to no practical use. I've owned many of them since I was a little kid, and it's nearly impossible to create interesting, unique images that say anything other than "Look at me, I have a fisheye lens!"
Plastic exterior, typical of what consumers accept in 2026.
Missing intro top
No image stabilization, but works great if you have a stabilized camera.
No Stabilizer switch for in-camera stabilization.
Mounting index not raised so it can't be found by feel in the dark.
Will not work with any teleconverters. Like this is a problem?
Specifications top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
I got my RF 7~14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at B&H. I'd also get it at Amazon or at Adorama, or get it used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), or get it used at KEH.
Compatibility specifications top
This lens only works on Canon's EOS-R series of mirrorless cameras.
It won't work with any teleconverters.
It won't fit on, and cannot be adapted to, any DSLR because a DSLR has too much distance between its sensor and its lens mount flange.
Canon calls this the RF7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L FISHEYE STM:
RF: Works only on Canon's EOS-R Mirrorless cameras.
L: Expensive as L.
STM: STepper (autofocus) Motor.
USM: UltraSonic (autofocus) Motor.
Optics specifications top
Canon RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM internal construction. Regular Optical Glass, Aspherical and UD glass, elements. Dark blue dashes show Air-Sphere coatings. The rear optical flat is the drop-in filter.
16 elements in 11 groups.
2 Aspherical elements.
5 UD extra-low dispersion elements, which help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.
Super Spectra multicoating.
Air Sphere variable-refractive index coating (ASC).
Fluorine exterior coating to resist dirt and smudges.
It zooms internally. Nothing moves externally when zoomed, except for the zoom ring.
Diaphragm specifications top
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Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger. |
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger. |
9 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/22 - f/29.
Filters specifications top
It takes no front protective or other front filters.
It has no slot for gelatin filters.
It takes only rear slide-in filters:
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger.
Here is the included Drop-In Clear Filter A:
Canon Drop-In Clear Filter A (included). bigger.
You always must have a filter in the lens. Even ignoring all the dirt that will get in through the open slot if you shoot without a filter, the optics are designed to work with a certain amount of flat glass behind them. You need the clear filter for the focus and optical alignment to be correct. You can shoot with no filter, but no guarantees as to optical performance.
Hint: Don't force it. The filter only slides in one way.
Also available are:
Drop-In Variable ND (1.5 ~ 9 stop) Filter A.
and
Drop-In Circular Polarizing Filter A.
Don't use a polarizer on a fisheye. The sky's natural variation in polarization across the sky will lead to weird dark bands in your skies.
Angles of View, Full Frame specifications top
190º ～ 180º diagonal.
190º ～ 149º 45' horizontal.
190º ～ 99º 50' vertical.
Autofocus specifications top
No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Focus Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infinity Focus Stop specifications top
No.
You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.
Depth of Field Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infrared Focus Index specifications top
No.
Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane) specifications top
0.5 feet (6" or 0.15 meters).
Working Distance (distance from subject to front of lens at close-focus distance) specifications top
Only about 3/4" (2cm)!
At Close-Focus Distance! bigger.
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
1:2.9 (0.35×).
Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Image Stabilizer specifications top
None.
Caps specifications top
Crummy plastic Front Cap 7-14, included:
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| Dust and crud easily flow through the vents all around this Cap 7-14. bigger. |
The front cap locks-on, which is good, but ultimately the front cap is crappy. It's dinky hard plastic with no felt lining and lots of airspace between the cap and the lens, so:
1.) With no seal typical of a proper solid-alloy felt-lined ultrawide cap as included with the EF 14mm f/2.8L, dust, sand and other crud easily makes it around the cap and onto the front of this lens. Boo!
Here's a shot of all the light (and dust) sneaking around the cap, shot with the cap on the lens!
View of the Cap 7-14 While Mounted on the 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L. bigger.
2.) Because the hard plastic cap is always rattling against the lens' plastic hood, wear marks appear from contact with the mounting points of the cap:
Wear Marks on My New Lens from the Crappy Cap 7-14. bigger.
The rear cap is a standard RF II Rear Lens Cap (p/n 7464C001), or the older RF Rear Lens Cap (p/n 2962C001), depending on when your 14mm was made.
Hood specifications top
The Canon EW-76 Hood is included.
It's more of a front-element protector than a hood.
Case specifications top
Nice LP1219 pseudosuede sack included:
Canon LP1219 Lens Sack. bigger.
Size specifications top
3.012" ø maximum diameter × 4.307" extension from flange.
76.5 mm ø maximum diameter × 109.4 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
16.680 oz. (472.9 g) actual measured weight.
Rated 16.8 oz. (476 g).
Quality specifications top
Made in Japan.
Announced specifications top
11 PM, 04 February 2026, NYC Time.
Included specifications top
Lens.
EW-76 Hood (attached to lens).
Cap 7-14 (attached to hood attached to lens).
Drop-In Clear Filter A (attached to lens).
RF II Rear Lens Cap (p/n 7464C001) or the older RF Rear Lens Cap (p/n 2962C001), depending on when your 7-14mm was made.
Packaging specifications top
Microcorrugated cardboard box:
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Box. bigger. |
Box end. bigger. |
Corrugami inner supports.
Model Numbers specifications top
Model number: RF7-14LFESTM.
Product code: 7343C002 (7343C001 in Japan).
JAN code: 4549292-252385.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
February ~ October 2026 (Introduction)
$1,899 at B&H, at Amazon and at Adorama.
About $1,616 "new" at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, but these sales seem to be from unauthorized dealers simply claiming them to be "new," so there is not likely to be any valid USA warranty. USA warranties only apply when bought new from a dealer authorized by Canon.
258,500 ¥ in Japan.
Accessories top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Optional
Drop-In Variable ND (1.5 ~ 9 stop) Filter A.
Drop-In Circular Polarizing Filter A.
Included
Cap 7-14 .
RF II Rear Lens Cap (p/n 7464C001) or the older RF Rear Lens Cap (p/n 2962C001), depending on when your 7-14mm was made.
Performance top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing
Distance Recording Bokeh Coma Distortion
Ergonomics Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes
Lens Corrections Macro Min & Max Apertures
Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
I got my RF 7~14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at B&H. I'd also get it at Amazon or at Adorama, or get it used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), or get it used at KEH.
Overall performance top
I've covered 99% of what matters back at my Introduction. This lens is an ultrasharp fisheye, but fisheyes are very difficult to use.
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus isn't instant, but does focus immediately and silently.
Manual Focus performance top
Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.
No matter what you do, all Canon EOS-R cameras as of October 2026 in SERVO AF mode will continue to autofocus as soon as you stop turning the manual focus ring. Sadly only Nikon has this all figured out today.
Focus Breathing performance top
Focus breathing is the image changing size (growing and shrinking slightly) as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe (change size) as focus gets pulled back and forth between different actors as they speak. The image is said to breathe because it expands and contracts as the focus follows the dialog back and forth.
There is little to no breathing at 7mm.
The image grows slightly as focussed more closely at 14mm, but who cares? I don't think I want to watch a movie with dialog between two actors at different distances in the same fisheye shot.
Focus Distance Recording performance top
The focused distance is recorded in the EXIF data.
I read this in the lower left of my screen in Photoshop's lens correction filter.
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is mediocre wide-open, but who cares, as it's almost impossible to get things out of focus with this lens. I was only inches away from my weather station.
The bokeh is superb at macro distances.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo, sort of. Click any for the © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Vantage Vue Wireless Sensor Suite (use with WeatherLink console), 10:14 AM, Friday, 25 September 2026. Canon R6 III at 1/3,200, 1/800 and 1/200 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.0, 14.6 and 14.6), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights. bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 14mm at f/3.5 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
It's a fisheye. Distortion is the whole point, and in-camera distortion correction has no visible effect.
Ergonomics performance top
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Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger. |
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger. |
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger. |
Ergonomics are straight-ahead: just a lens with three control rings!
The front ring is a programmable clicked control ring. Set it in your camera for aperture, exposure compensation or whatever your camera provides.
The fat rubber ring is also usually programmable (depending on your camera), and is usually manual focus.
You may or may not be able to get instant manual focus override depending on how you set your camera; no big deal, use the AF/MF switch.
With no ability to take any front protective filter, this lens is very susceptible to front element damage. Therefore I have to I carry this lens capped all the time if it's on my camera, removing the cap only to compose and shoot.
Any damage, dirt or fingerprints are often visible in the image due to this lens' almost limitless depth of field. Unlike a tele where an obvious front-element chip can simply be filled-in with black paint and never be seen again (honest), even minor dust can become sufficiently in focus to be seen in some images, especially if the sun or other brilliant source of light is in the image or shining on the front surface. Thankfully it has a fluorine coating to resist crud, but dust still collects because the cap does not seal and lets in dust. Even a fingerprint is often visible as a dark blotch in the image due to the huge depth-of-field, and even minor damage often destroys this lens.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
Flare and ghosts are exceptionally well controlled.
Bravo to Canon for using exotic Air-Sphere coatings where they are needed. In older days lenses this wide suffered from bizarre flare and ghosts.
See examples at Sunstars.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
There are no lateral color fringes when shot as JPG with the default Chromatic Aberration Correction left ON, which is superb performance.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images you may — or may not — be responsible to correct this on your own.
Lens Corrections performance top
Other cameras may vary as the years roll on, but my EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R5, R6 III, R6 II, R6, R6V, R, R8 II, R8, RP, R7, R10, R50, R50V and R100 all have options to correct for falloff (Peripheral Illumination Correction), Distortion and a Digital Lens Optimizer which corrects for a suite of other aberrations.
You can turn any of these ON or OFF.
If you turn off the Digital Lens Optimizer, you are then offered à la carte ON/OFF options for Chromatic Aberration Correction and Diffraction Correction.
I can't see that Distortion Correction does anything.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct these as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
Macro Performance performance top
This lens focuses to within a fraction of an inch (2cm) of the front element, and it's so close that even as a fisheye it still looks close.
It was very difficult to get any light on the subject this close.
The bokeh is better at macro distances.
At f/3.5
It's super sharp, even wide-open focused right in front of the lens. I had a heck of a time trying to hold this shot, so the watch isn't pointed straight at the camera, thus the sides of the face are softer due to my sloppy photography. Of course the bezel is all out of focus here due to no depth of field as in every macro image wide open.
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, Thursday, 01 October 2026. Canon R6 III at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
The texture you're seeing is the watch face solar cell.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (119 × 178 cm).
At f/8
The lens is sharp, but I don't have the watch square to my camera. Tough, if you want a traditional macro shot, use a real macro lens.
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, Thursday, 01 October 2026. Canon R6 III at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
The texture you're seeing is the watch face solar cell.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (119 × 178 cm).
Maximum & Minimum Apertures performance top
Maximum Aperture |
Minimum Aperture |
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| 7mm | f/2.8 |
f/22 |
| 8mm | f/3.2 |
f/22 |
| 9mm | f/3.2 |
f/25 |
| 11mm | f/3.5 |
f/25 |
| 14mm | f/3.5 |
f/29 |
Mechanical Quality performance top
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger.
It's nicely made with all plastic on the outside and mostly plastic with some metal on the inside, with a metal mount.
Exterior Finish mechanics performance top
Black plastic.
Hood mechanics performance top
Plastic bayonet.
Front Bumper mechanics performance top
None.
Filter Threads mechanics performance top
None.
Hood Bayonet Mount mechanics performance top
Plastic.
Barrel Exterior mechanics performance top
Plastic.
Front Control Ring mechanics performance top
Hard plastic.
Focus Ring mechanics performance top
Rubber-covered plastic.
Slide Switches mechanics performance top
Plastic.
Function (AF Lock) Button mechanics performance top
Rubber-covered.
Identity mechanics performance top
Printed around front of lens just ahead of the red L-band in nearly invisible gray on gray, also "7-14" engraved and filled with paint on the top of the barrel.
Internals mechanics performance top
Mostly plastic with what may be metal zoom sleeves.
Dust Gasket at Mount mechanics performance top
Yes.
Mount mechanics performance top
Chromed metal.
Markings mechanics performance top
Paint.
Serial Number mechanics performance top
Canon 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. bigger.
Laser engraved in warm black on black on the bottom of the barrel.
This is a highly detailed and well-lit studio photograph which makes it far more legible than it is in actual life. To read it in person you'll need a flashlight.
Date Code mechanics performance top
The serial number contains a date code.
My serial number starts with 165, which means it was made in May 2026.
Noises When Shaken mechanics performance top
Very mild clattering.
Truth & Ethics mechanics performance top
Made in Japan.
Sharpness performance top
Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness.
Every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.
If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.
People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.
This lens is super sharp all the way out to its circular edges, limited by your vision as an artist and of course by diffraction at the smallest apertures. Avoid f/16 and smaller unless you really need them for extreme depth of field because diffraction takes its toll. See also How to Calculate the Sharpest Aperture.
Used properly, all of Canon's RF lenses are equally sharp. The differences are in maximum apertures and focal lengths, but none of them are soft if you know how to use them. Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness.
Canon MTF wide-open at f/xx at 10 cyc/mm (black) and 30 cyc/mm (blue). Sagittal (solid) and meridional (dashed).
While it's usually valid to compare rated MTFs between different lenses of similar vintage from the same maker, every maker measures or simply calculates MTF very differently, and therefore one cannot compare these curves between brands. For instance, Sony seems to ignore diffraction and simply calculate overly optimistic MTFs that hug 100%, which no real lens can do at f/8, while other brands are more realistic and include diffraction. Only Canon offers any insight on how they arrive at their curves.
See also my article on MTF and Canon's article on MTFs.
Spherochromatism performance top
Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on background highlights and magenta fringes on foreground highlights.
Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate and long focal lengths when shooting contrasty items at full aperture.
Spherochromatism goes away as stopped down.
Spherochromatism is seen when the spherical aberration at the red and blue ends of the color spectrum (which together make magenta) is corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum (green).
Spherochromatism is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral color fringes and therefore cannot be corrected with software or automatic corrections.
I can't see any significant spherochromatism:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance, Friday, 25 September 2026. Canon R6 III at 1/2,500 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (4 × 6 feet or 119 × 178 cm).
Image Stabilization (IS, OSS, VC or VR) performance top
This lens has no Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)), and it works remarkably well with in-camera stabilization.
While sensor-shift stabilization works poorly in the corners with ultra-ultrawide lenses due to geometry, the way a fisheye lens maps and distorts an image allows sensor-shift stabilization to work great everywhere in the image.
"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of hand-held, free-standing with no support or bracing, frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness as viewed at 300% on a 100 DPI monitor.
Looking at images from my stabilized R6 III at 300% on my 100 DPI monitor from 2½ feet (76 cm/s) away are the same as scrolling around a 18 × 12 foot (5.5 × 3.6 meters!) print, from just 2½ feet (76 cm/s) away — and images are still perfectly sharp for almost every shot at FOUR FULL SECONDS at 7mm!!
Of course we all will get different results hand-holding. While your speeds will vary, the number of stops of improvement should be the same for all of us regardless of who's shooting or how picky you are about what constitutes "perfect" sharpness.
Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed.
This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:
At 7mm on my stabilized R6 III
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 4s |
2s |
1s |
1/2 |
1/4 |
1/8 |
1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
| Stabilization ON | 90 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
20 |
40 |
45 |
82 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
I see 5½ stops of real-world improvement.
At 14mm on my stabilized R6 III
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 4s |
2s |
1s |
1/2 |
1/4 |
1/8 |
1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
| Stabilization ON | 10 |
70 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
25 |
84 |
100 |
I see SIX stops of real-world improvement! SIX!!!
Sunstars performance top
With a 9-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get great 18-point sunstars on brilliant points of light at moderate and small apertures.
Ignore the vertical smear at large apertures. This is a sensor artifact called interline transfer smear and is a camera, not a lens, defect.
Likewise ignore the crazy rainbow dots around the sun at small apertures; these are sensor artifacts caused by interference among the divisions between pixels on the sensor, as well as minor dust on the front of the lens which becomes in focus at small apertures.
These are made visible because we're using enough exposure to show the dark underside of a huge palm tree, and then putting the blinding disk of the mid-day sun in it. Doing this will show everything due to the insane lighting range.
Click any to enlarge:
Click any to enlarge
Recommendations top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
This is a lens for the truly demented.
I've owned many fisheyes over the decades, and rarely am able to make decent images from them unless I convert to rectilinear images later in my computer. Even if I do convert images I can't see anything about my composition while I'm shooting, pretty much a lost cause until my dreams about in-camera conversion become real.
I can't use a clear (UV) protective filter to protect my lens, so I always carry it around my neck with its cap on, removing the cap only to compose and shoot, and then immediately replace it for protection.
Ultra-ultrawide lenses are by far the most difficult lenses to use well. Most hobby photographers get horrible results with lenses this wide, so be sure you are fluent in How to Use Ultrawide Lenses.
Be sure to get yours only from my recommended sources so that you can just send it back if you don't love it. You never have to guess about how well it will work for you; order it and see for yourself. That's why I've used B&H and Adorama since I was a kid in the 1970s: I can try it in my own environment with my own other gear and if I don't love it, back it goes:
I got my RF 7~14mm f/2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM at B&H. I'd also get it at Amazon or at Adorama, or get it used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), or get it used at KEH.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, gray-market, store demo or used fisheye — and all of my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new lens. I've used many of these stores since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new fisheye before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken.
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