Canon Marketing Malaysia (“Canon”) today announced the RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye, a lens designed to equip more users with virtual reality (VR) capabilities. Small, lightweight, and autofocus-capable, the company’s second dual fisheye lens is built for APS-C cameras and currently supports the EOS R7. Like the existing RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye, the new lens significantly streamlines the workflow for high-resolution 3D VR photos and videos, increasing accessibility to VR content creation.

VR provides a more immersive, engaging way of experiencing content. Viewers of the VR videos can explore the scene beyond the field of view shown in a traditional 2D still image or video and choose whether to look up, down, left, or right, opening new possibilities for digital storytelling, documentation, and creative expression.

Edward Chang, Head of Image Communication Business Division at Canon Marketing Malaysia, said, “Canon aims to revolutionize VR content creation with the RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye, making it more accessible than ever. We are confident this lens will pave the way for creators to experiment with innovative ideas and capture their vision in entirely new ways. The RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye is a testament to Canon’s commitment to innovation, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in visual storytelling.”

Conveniently create 4K VR movies

Like the RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye, the RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye consists of two fisheye lenses positioned some distance from each other, allowing two images with parallax to be captured simultaneously on a single image sensor. The resulting data is a 144° angle of view, which can be converted into 180° 3D VR movies with the EOS VR Utility software or the EOS VR Plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro. Setting up, synchronising, and stitching images shot on multiple cameras is not required, making the creation of high-quality, high-resolution VR content more accessible and affordable. 

As Canon’s first dual fisheye lens to support autofocusing (AF), the RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye is capable of swift, precise AF with simple operations like an ordinary RF lens. This is due to a dual-lens STM mechanism that drives both the left and right lenses in unison. If necessary, fine adjustments of the left-right focus difference can be easily carried out with the electronic focusing/control ring and a focus difference adjustment mode switch.

Users can also control the location of the AF frame with the EOS Utility or Camera Connect apps, improving ease of operation when shooting from unique angles and locations where it is challenging for the operator to be situated right behind the camera.

Excellent image quality even in backlight

The RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye is the first non-L lens to feature anti-reflective ASC (Air Sphere Coating), which promises clean and clear images with minimal ghosting and flaring even when strong light sources are in the frame. On the EOS R7, the lens achieves the same high pixel density (number of pixels per 1º angle of view) as the RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye on the EOS R5 during 4K recording, providing corner-to-corner high definition.

Other notable features

The RF-S3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye is approximately the same size as the RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye but weighs slightly lighter (approx. 290g not including rear filter holder). Its compact design also allows for excellent portability. The lens is also bundled with a rear filter holder that can take commercially available gelatin filters as well as 30.5mm screw-in filters.

To find out more about Canon’s products, visit: my.canon/en/consumer/products.