Viltrox RF 85mm f/1.8 STM review: high quality, low price

It’s been nearly four years since Canon introduced the RF mount with the EOS R. Since then, Canon has been steadily releasing new RF lenses and EOS R bodies like the R3, R5, R5C and R6, and yet third party lenses have been noticeably absent. As a result, Canon users have been forced to choose between new, expensive RF lenses made by Canon and older EF lenses mounted with an adapter.

Thanks to Viltrox however, that trend may be starting to change with the release of the RF 85MM f/1.8 Mark II — a surprisingly robust prime lens with autofocus and a large f/1.8 aperture. It’s a lens ideally suited for portraiture and long telephoto images (and videos) with shallow depth of field and glowing bokeh.

Costing hundreds less compared to Canon’s 85mm prime lenses, the Viltrox RF 85mm is remarkably affordable. But what about image quality and sharpness? In this video review, I share my experience using the Viltrox RF 85mm on both the Canon EOS R5 and R6, and offer my opinion on who the lens is best suited for.