Canon has officially introduced its cheapest and smallest spatial VR lens, the $450 RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual. It’s the same size as a regular camera lens, but it’s designed to let creators shoot 3D VR content for headsets like the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro. In fact, it was first teased alongside Apple’s latest Vision Pro OS at WWDC 2024 in June.
There’s one catch, though: the lens is designed for APS-C (not full-frame cameras) and currently only works with Canon’s 32.5-megapixel (MP) EOS R7. That camera costs $1,300 for the body alone, so a full shooting solution runs around $1,750.
The company has dabbled with stereoscopic VR lenses before, most recently with the RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye. However, that product is larger and more cumbersome, much more expensive at $2,000 and only supports manual focus. Its main advantage is a field of view of about 180 degrees which is closer to human vision and improves 3D due to the wide 2.36-inch gap between the elements.
In comparison, the new 7.8mm crop sensor lens has a very narrow field of view of 63 degrees. The fact that the two elements are so close to each other (.46 inches) also reduces the 3D effect, especially when you are far from the subject (for best results, you should be about 6 to 20 inches away, which is not ideal for content creators). However, the autofocus support is a huge advantage, and it comes with a button and control wheel that allows for separate manual focus for the left and right sides.
Photos and videos captured with the EOS R7 and the new lenses must be processed using Canon’s EOS VR Utility app or a plugin for Adobe’s Premiere Pro, both of which are paid apps. After that, they can be viewed on the Meta Quest 3, Vision Pro and other headsets in a variety of formats, including 180-degree 3D VR, 3D theater and spatial video. The RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens is on pre-order now for $449 and will arrive sometime in November.
If you buy the Meta Quest 3S now, you’ll also get a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadows and a three-month free trial of Meta Quest+. The combined value of the two freebies is $70. The Meta Quest+ subscription unlocks about 25 games, as well as multiplayer support for some titles. Additionally, you can redeem two free games a month. All redeemed apps are yours too, so they won’t disappear when your subscription ends.