Canon 85mm f/1.8
Canon · LTM · 1961 · Five-element, 5e/4g
Also known as: Canon 85mm f/1.8 · Canon 85mm f1.8 · Canon 85/1.8 · Canon 8.5cm f/1.8
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon 85mm f/1.8 | LTM | 1961 | — | No figure published |
- Canon's own thread before 1951 was 39 mm at 24 threads per inch (1.058 mm pitch), against Leica's 26 tpi — close enough that the lenses interchange in practice, and the difference is why an early Serenar can feel tight on a Leica. The Serenar 50mm f/1.8 of late 1951 was the first Canon lens cut to the Leica pitch (Leica Copies Japan).
How to tell them apart
Canon 85mm f/1.8:
- Marketed March 1961, ¥31,000 · 470 g · 58 mm filter · stops to f/22 · 13 blades
- Black; 58 mm filter; 470 g; 68 mm long; 13 blades
Specifications
- Formula
- Five-element, 5e/4g
- Designed by
- Mukai Jirō — optical design (camera-wiki)
- Construction
- 5 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/1.8–f/22
- Diaphragm blades
- 13
- Min. focus
- 1 m
- Weight
- 470 g
- Filter
- 58 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1961
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥31,000 (March 1961, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥176,000)
What reviewers say
- James Fox-Davies (35mmc), on a Leica M3 (blog) — Slightly soft at f/1.8, sharp from f/2 with a vintage feel, excellent contrast for its age, 13 blades that draw pleasant blur, 470 g that balances well; the rotating aperture collar is the irritation. "Shot wide open it has a really nice rendering of the out of focus areas."
- Frank Mechelhoff (klassik-cameras.de) (blog) — "This makes very sharp and contrasty pictures, very perfect like the best modern glass."
History
Mukai Jirō’s five-element replacement for the f/1.9, marketed in March 1961 at ¥31,000: shorter, 470 grams, black, with a thirteen-blade diaphragm. Mechelhoff: “very sharp and contrasty pictures, very perfect like the best modern glass.”
James Fox-Davies used one on an M3 and found it slightly soft at f/1.8, sharp from f/2, with excellent contrast for its age and out-of-focus areas he liked — “as sharp as it needs to be, and really fits well both in proportion and weight” — against an awkward rotating aperture collar. It is scarcer than the f/1.9 and asks more.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Canon 85mm f/1.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Canon 85mm f1.8 LTM - Leica mount
- [Near MINT+++] Canon 85mm f/1.8 Portrait Lens Converted to Leica M Mount from JP
- 85mm F/1.8 Manual Focus Standard Lens for Canon 5D 6D 7D II III 800D 750D 70D
Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.