What we did see, though, is the R lenses are not only entirely new optics, they are also largely new electrical and mechanical systems. There are a lot of different things in here that we haven’t seen in any Canon EF lenses. Some of them we should have expected, like the increased electronics going to the control ring. Others we don’t really understand yet, like the tension spring in the ring USM motor or the increased electrical shielding.
But one thing that is very clear: the RF lenses contain some new technology they haven’t used before. There’s a lot of engineering that’s gone into these. Things are different inside here. As we’ll see in the next teardown we do, some of that is carrying over to at least some EF lenses. What does this mean? It means Canon has invested very heavily into developing the lenses of the R system. This level of engineering didn’t all happen in the last year, they’ve been working on this for quite a while.
Roger Cicala
Fascinating article, both for the conclusions above, and the level of detail documenting the careful disassembly of one of Canon’s brand new full-frame mirrorless lenses. Coupled with recent rumors that multiple RF lenses are set to launch in 2019, along with maybe two EOS R bodies (an entry-level version and a high-end, 75 mp body), it sure looks like Canon is fully committed to expanding this new ecosystem, while also relying on their strengths by offering a wider selection of superior lenses.
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