Manual focus operation on Canon RF lenses - direct or 'fly by wire'?

Has anyone used these lenses in manual mode?

Is the focus mechanism a direct 'gear' drive or is it encoder style? (i.e. not directly mechanically coupled but controlled 'fly by wire'.)

If the later can one vary the 'feel' of the focus ring in the camera's menu, if not how does it respond?

Have found this interesting Canon lens focus info page with good background info and video clips

of the internal focus mechanisms of STM and USM types.

 

Canon Focusing Technology - Tech Guide For Lenses - Canon Ireland

But if the lenses are range-finder lenses, there will be NO connection at all--you simply turn the focus ring until the image is sharp in the finder on either a EF or FD mount camera body, then you stop down the lens to the metered exposure and shoot.

 

The Canon original RF mounts are compatible with Leica and many other 39mm mount.

 

As far as I know, and I don't know much, there are no Canon/Leica 39mm to Canon EOS(EF) adapters that do anything but physically mount the lens on the body. Maybe some of the new small mirrorless cameras have something more complex, but if they don't have it now, don't wait for it.

Yep, the RF lenses are 'fly-by-wire' , the focus rotation direction can be changed and focus ring response can be modified.

 

From Canon Hong Kong website : 'To cope with various user applications on focus operation, all RF lenses adopt the electronic ring design to drive the motions of the focus ring and control ring, making customization possible. RF lenses allow users to change the rotation direction (clockwise or anti-clockwise) of the focus ring and control ring to match their preferences. Besides, the focus ring rotational sensitivity during manual focusing can also be customized. By default, it is set to “Varies with rotation speed”. Sensitivity of the focus ring will depend on the speed at which the ring is turned, the focus will change by a greater degree when the ring is turned faster; while slower rotation allows fine focus adjustments. Another option “Linked to rotation degree” is also available in which the focusing distance will be directly proportional to the rotation degree, regardless of the rotation speed. This option can provide the same control characteristic and sensation similar to cinema lenses. It is extremely convenient for videographers who want to manually and precisely control the focus position'.

 

Link: Canon launches the New RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM

If you say so.

Are we talking about the older rangefinder lenses or the newer mirrorless lenses? Or one of each?

This thread discusses both methods - direct mechanical focus for the majority of legacy lenses used on regular dSLRs and the electronic focus in the recent Canon EOS R camera system.

According to Canon websites the new RF lenses in manual mode have no direct focus linkage like traditional lenses but use positional feed back data to emulate a range of adjustable 'manual' focus functions.

Edited December 3, 2018 by matt_t_butler