The Best Lenses for Minimal Depth of Field

[rs-eos]

When wanting to achieve the narrowest possible depth of field, there are several factors.  Three of which are focal length, aperture, and minimum focusing distance.

What follows is a current listing of mostly RF L-series lenses (with two EF L-series lenses sprinkled in which I own):

Key: MFD (Minimum Focus Distance), DOF (Depth of Field).

1. RF 70-200mm f/4 L @ 200mm, 60 cm MFD, 0.14 cm DOF
2. RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L @ 500mm, 120 cm MFD, 0.14 cm DOF
3. RF 70-200 f/2.8 L @ 200mm, 70 cm MFD, 0.15 cm DOF
4. RF 135mm f/1.8 L, 70 cm MFD, 0.23 cm DOF
5. RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L @ 105 mm, 45 MFD, 0.24 cm DOF
6. RF 800mm f/5.6 L, 260 cm MFD, 0.25 cm DOF
7. RF 28-70mm f/2L @ 70mm, 39 cm MFD, 0.31 cm DOF
8. RF 24-105mm f/4 L @ 105 mm, 45 cm MFD, 0.34 cm DOF
9. RF 50mm f/1.2 L, 40 cm MFD, 0.4 cm DOF
10. RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L @ 70mm, 38 cm MFD, 0.41 cm DOF
11. RF 1200mm f/8 L, 430 cm MFD, 0.44 cm DOF
12. EF 135mm f/2 L, 90 cm MFD, 0.45 cm DOF
13. EF 50mm f/1.2 L, 45 cm MFD, 0.51 cm DOF
14. RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L, 180 cm MFD, 0.51 cm DOF
15. RF 400mm f/2.8 L, 250 cm MFD, 0.56 cm DOF
16. RF 85mm f/1.2 L (both DS and non-DS), 20 cm MFD, 0.64 cm DOF
17. RF 14-35mm f/4 L @ 35mm, 20 cm MFD, 0.65 cm DOF
18. RF 200-800 f/6.3-9 @ 800mm, 330 cm MFD, 0.69 cm DOF
19. RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L @ 35mm, 28 cm MFD, 0.95 cm DOF
20. RF 600mm f/4 L, 420 cm MFD, 1.01 cm DOF
21. RF 10-20mm f/4 L, 25 cm MFD, 3.47 cm DOF

Takeaways:

• Sometimes, it's not lenses with the widest apertures that will produce the narrowest results.
• The top prime (hurray!) is the RF 135mm f/1.8 L
• The top zoom is a tie between the RF 70-200 mm f/4 L and RF 100-500mm f/4-7.1 L.  Though the 70-200 f/2.8 version is just 1/10 of a millimeter behind them, so practically a three-way tie.

[rs-eos]

Some of Canon’s zooms do have the same MFD at all focal lengths. Others do vary. When building the list, I always took the maximum focal length and the documented MFD at that value.

One lens I didn’t mention was the RF 100mm f/2.8 Macro. I wanted to omit macro lenses as they would have a whole different level of DOF. This lens would be 0.07 cm.

[p4pictures]

Great set of information, I use a TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens when I want to be exceptionally selective with depth of field, maybe not the amount but the placement of it due to tilt.