Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM vs Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II — Optical Ray-Tracing & Bokeh Comparison

Portrait At-a-Glance Comparison (Upper Body Framing)

Optical & Portrait Metric	Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM	Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II	What It Means in Practice
Upper-Body Working Distance	3.41 m	3.41 m	Identical working distance—both frame an upper-body portrait from the exact same spot.
Effective Focal Length (Breathing)	88.4 mm (+4.0%)	83.0 mm (-2.4%)	At 3.4 m, Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM frames like a 88.4 mm lens while Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II frames like a 83.0 mm lens.
Depth of Field (Sharp Zone)	17 cm (3.33 m – 3.49 m)	20 cm (3.31 m – 3.51 m)	The Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM has a 14% thinner focus zone (17 cm vs. 20 cm)—requiring more precise eye focus.
Entrance Pupil Diameter	70.8 mm (f/1.2)	60.7 mm (f/1.4)	Distant background blur discs are 17% larger on the Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM.
Minimum Focus Distance	0.85 m	0.85 m	Both lenses share the same 0.85 m close-focus limit.
Patent Prescription	US20200012073A1 (14/9)	WO2025239028A1 (14/11)	Published optical prescriptions traced in the 3D simulator above.

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Questions

Which blurs the background more, Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM or Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II?

At the same subject framing, distant background blur scales with the entrance pupil diameter (focal length ÷ f-number). Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM at f/1.2 has a 70.8 mm entrance pupil, while Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II at f/1.4 has a 60.7 mm entrance pupil.

How does working distance differ between Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM and Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II?

For an upper-body portrait, Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM stands 3.41 m from the subject (sharp zone 17 cm, from 3.33 m to 3.49 m), whereas Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II stands 3.41 m away (sharp zone 20 cm, from 3.31 m to 3.51 m).

How do the optical designs of Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM and Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II compare?

Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM uses 14 elements in 9 groups (US20200012073A1, effective focal length 88.4 mm at portrait distance). Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II uses 14 elements in 11 groups (WO2025239028A1, effective focal length 83.0 mm).

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Also see: depth of field, bokeh, crop factor, lens compression.