Canon: RF Lens Developer Stories
RF Lens World
Canon's RF Lens World groups eight lens-development interviews inside its R&D and production feature. They range from product planning and optical design to Nano USM, compact construction, and ghost suppression.
They are listed below in the order used by Canon's feature and grouped by lens. The links target the corresponding interview panels on the official page.
RF100mm F2.8 L Macro IS USM
Open the RF100mm F2.8 L Macro on Surface & Stop.
RF70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF70–200mm F4 L IS USM
Open the RF70–200mm F2.8 L on Surface & Stop.
Open the RF70–200mm F4 L on Surface & Stop.
RF15–35mm F2.8 L IS USM
Open the RF15–35mm F2.8 L on Surface & Stop.
- Development Story: Specification
- Development Story: Small Size
- Development Story: Optical Design
- Development Story: Nano USM
- Development Story: Ghost Suppression
Additional RF Development Stories
Canon's corporate technology library contains two more substantial RF lens-development features. One follows the optical, mechanical, and workflow engineering behind Canon's first dual-fisheye lens; the other explains the design of the RF100–500mm super-telephoto zoom.
| Lens | Official article | Surface & Stop |
|---|---|---|
| RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye | The EOS VR System: Dramatically Expanding VR Imaging Possibilities | — |
| RF100–500mm F4.5–7.1 L IS USM | RF Super-telephoto Zoom Lens | RF100–500mm F4.5–7.1 L |
Canon Lens History
Canon's RF Lens World also hosts a lens history timeline running from the 1946 Serenar 50mm F3.5 to the 2026 RF fisheye and power-zoom designs. Each milestone pairs a lens with the advance it introduced — fluorite elements, ground aspherics, image stabilization, diffractive optics, subwavelength and fluorine coatings, and the recent power-zoom designs. The page is Japanese-language.
The following milestones have exact catalog matches. Years follow Canon's timeline.
| Year | Milestone lens | Surface & Stop |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | RF-S14–30mm F4–6.3 IS STM PZ | RF-S14–30mm F4–6.3 IS STM PZ |
| 2023 | RF24–105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | RF24–105mm F2.8 L Z |
| 2023 | RF200–800mm F6.3–9 IS USM | RF200–800mm F6.3–9 IS USM |
| 2023 | RF10–20mm F4 L IS STM | RF10–20mm F4 L IS STM |
| 2022 | RF135mm F1.8 L IS USM | RF135mm F1.8 L |
| 2021 | RF100mm F2.8 L MACRO IS USM | RF100mm F2.8 L MACRO |
| 2018 | EF400mm F2.8 L IS III USM and EF600mm F4 L IS III USM | EF400mm F2.8 L IS III · EF600mm F4 L IS III |
| 2018 | RF28–70mm F2 L USM | RF28–70mm F2 L |
| 2015 | EF35mm F1.4 L II USM | EF35mm F1.4 L II |
| 2015 | EF11–24mm F4 L USM | EF11–24mm F4 L |
| 2014 | EF100–400mm F4.5–5.6 L IS II USM | EF100–400mm F4.5–5.6 L IS II |
| 2013 | EF200–400mm F4 L IS USM Extender 1.4× | EF200–400mm F4 L Extender 1.4× |
| 2012 | EF-S18–135mm F3.5–5.6 IS STM and EF40mm F2.8 STM | EF-S18–135mm · EF40mm F2.8 STM |
| 2012 | EF28mm F2.8 IS USM | EF28mm F2.8 IS |
| 2011 | EF8–15mm F4 L Fisheye USM | EF8–15mm F4 L Fisheye |
| 2010 | EF70–300mm F4–5.6 L IS USM | EF70–300mm F4–5.6 L IS |
| 2009 | EF100mm F2.8 L Macro IS USM | EF100mm F2.8 L Macro IS |
| 2008 | EF24mm F1.4 L II USM | EF24mm F1.4 L II |
| 2001 | EF400mm F4 DO IS USM | EF400mm F4 DO IS |
| 1989 | EF50mm F1.0 L USM | EF50mm F1.0 L |
| 1982 | New FD14mm F2.8 L | New FD14mm F2.8 L |
| 1953 | Serenar 100mm F3.5 I | Serenar 100mm F3.5 I |
| 1951 | Serenar 50mm F1.8 I | Serenar 50mm F1.8 |
The 2012 and 2018 rows each mark a single milestone that Canon credits to a pair of lenses, and both lenses of each pair are in the catalog.
L Lens World
A companion RF Lens World feature, Lレンズの世界 (The World of L Lenses), traces the L designation itself across four chapters on one page. It is Japanese-language.
| Chapter | Subject | Official section | Surface & Stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The origin of "L" — the first Serenar lenses and the adoption of fluorite | Read at Canon | Serenar 50mm F1.8 |
| 2 | The red line — the FD300mm F4L of December 1978, the first L lens | Read at Canon | — |
| 3 | Canon's white — white telephoto barrels from the 1960 TV 2000mm | Read at Canon | — |
| 4 | The F2.8L and F4L zoom series | Read at Canon | — |
Chapter 2 concerns the FD300mm F4L specifically. The catalog holds the earlier FD300mm f/4 S.S.C., which is a different lens, so the row is not cross-linked.