Canon just made VR waaaaaay more affordable, with this $500 lens

Back at The Photography & Video Show in March – and a few other events around the world – I and others were admiring Canon's "Concept Model 001 and 002, as well as the VR Concept Camera. Canon told us they were "heavily invested in VR" and now the fruits are available in the stores for all – in the form of the Canon RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM Dual Lens.

The Dual Lens system, designed for APS-C, attaches to a camera like the EOS R7 and captures a stereoscopic view through two separate lenses which have a 63-degree field of view.

Despite the tech, the lens appears relatively normal (unlike the Concept Model 001), and weighs just 130g (0.28 pounds). Its STM AF has a control/focus ring which will be familiar to Canon users, and a 58mm thread for filter attachment. There are seven diaphragm blades and the aperture range is from f/4 to f/16.

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Close focusing is an impressively tight 0.15m (5.9 inches), but it won't surprise you to learn you can't use its specialist optics with Extenders.

What can you do with it? The lens is able to record side-by-side images which can be viewed in VR glasses (or tech) to create a 3D image. I tried Canon's demo using a Meta Quest headset.

In the case of the RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM the interpupillary distance – the distance between the middle of the two lenses – is 11.6mm. That's similar to the distance between the two cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 series which Apple use to create spatial video (though obviously not as far apart as human eyes).

What that means is the best effects will be apparent with objects nearer the lens (so that close focusing distance will come in handy). The focus ring can even be used to tweak the focus left or right, though this isn't something you'll need to do a lot.

Getting the video to mainstream viewers is a matter of using either the EOS VR plugin for Adobe Premier or EOS VR Utility (which requires a subscription), but from there you can view content on all 3D-friendly devices, including the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3.

For creatives access to this tech is exciting not least because Apple and Meta, among others, are looking for 3D content to promote their platforms! As we've covered elsewhere, Apple has been working with Canon on creating immersive films.

The Canon RF-S 7.8mm f4 STM Dual is on sale for an RRP of $449 / £519 / AU$799 and we're seeing not just pre-order buttons but estimated shipping dates within the next few weeks.

If you're interested in seeing all around, why not check our guide to the best 360-degree cameras?