Meike’s New 85mm f/1.4 to be the First 3rd Party Autofocus Lens for Canon RF

Meike has announced a new 85mm f/1.4 autofocus lens for Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L, and — surprisingly — Canon RF mounts. If this stands, Meike will be the first third-party manufacturer to come to market with an autofocus-equipped lens for Canon’s mirrorless mount.

While Meike isn’t the first third-party camera lens manufacturer to make an autofocus-equipped Canon RF lens, if things stand it will be the first to actually successfully sell it.

For example, Rokinon (also known as Samyang), tried to release a 14mm f/2.8 autofocus lens for Canon RF and Viltrox attempted to sell several autofocus lenses that would mount to Canon’s mirrorless cameras, but those companies quickly heard from Canon’s lawyers and ceased production.

Last September, Canon confirmed that it was pursuing legal action against manufacturers that were producing autofocus lenses for its RF mount. It’s not clear if anyone who actually purchased any of those lenses received them, and — until now — no third-party manufacturer has tried to produce another since Canon’s legal department is particularly aggressive — the company has repeatedly shown that outside of cameras in its printer department as well.

The only third-party RF lens to get the official nod from Canon is the Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1 aspherical, which is notably not an autofocus lens.

For now, though, Meike is going through with the promise of RF mount support. The new 85mm f/1.4 STM lens is described as a lens that supports full-frame cameras and features an aperture range of f/1.4 through f/16 via a 12-bladed diaphragm. Inside, Meike says it is constructed of 13 elements arranged into five groups, although the company doesn’t say if any special lenses are included.

The lens features a front filter thread size of 77mm, a minimum focusing distance of 0.98 meters, and has a diagonal angle of view of 28.87 degrees, horizontal of 24.1 degrees, and vertical of 16.14 degrees.

In addition to RF mount, Meike intends to make the stepping motor-driven autofocus lens available for Sony E, Nikon Z, and Leica L-mounts (though the company humorously refers to it as Panasonic L mount).

At the time of publication, Meike had not determined a final price or the release date. The lens is currently on display at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. It remains to be seen if Canon will allow Meike to actually produce the RF mount version of the lens.

Image credits: Meike