The RF-System is more expensive when you compare the equivalent products
Cameras:
Canon 6D ($2000) vs. Canon R (2500€) / R6 (2600€)
Canon 5DIV ($3500) / 5Ds ($3700) vs. Canon R5 (4400€)
Lenses Holy Trinity, current prices:
EF 16-35/2.8 vs. RF 15-35/2.8 IS: ca. 2000€ (no longer available) vs 2450€
EF 24-70/2.8 vs. 24-70/2.8 IS: 1950€ vs. 2550€
EF 70-200/2.8IS III vs. RF 70-200IS: 2100€ vs 2850€
EF 100-400L IS vs RF 100-500L IS: roughly 2000€ vs. 3000€
Primes
EF 50L vs. RF 50L: 1500€ vs. 2450€
EF 85L vs RF 85L: ca. 1800€ (not longer available) vs. 2950€
EF 135L vs 135L IS: 1000€ vs. 2500€
APS-C Lenses
EF-S 10-18 vs RF 10-18: 230€ vs 360€
The increase in price is about 50%. One would expect at least the mirrorless Cameras to be cheaper, because you need no Mirror - therefore mirrorless - (and in some cases even no shutter), but instead the prices went up. One could argue, that Canon implemented IS in the Wideangle- and Standard zooms, but also the prices for the ultra-wide slow zooms with IS went up (EF 16-35/4IS vs 14-35/4IS: 1000€ vs. 1400€). The most substancial increase was the prices for the fast primes - more than 50%. Even the price for the nifty-fifty went up (120€ vs 200€), nearly doubling!
Only the Entry level full-frame Camera, the RP was initially cheaper than the entry-level Full-frame DSLR, the 6D. (1300€ vs. ca. 2000€).
You're comparing apples and oranges.
The nominal launch prices of bodies have always increased over time. Let's compare US prices here. In 2008, the 5Dii launched at $2700. In 2012, the 5Diii was $3500. In 2016, the 5Div was $3500 (a rare example of the nominal price not increasing). In 2020, the R5 was $3900. In 2024, the R5ii was $4300. Even putting aside the notion that these cameras may not be exactly equivalently positioned, we must account for inflation. Using
this calculator based on US CPI inflation data, the launch prices of each of these cameras, expressed in 2024 dollars, would be:
5Dii: $3959
5Diii: $4812
5Div: $4603
R5: $4757
R5ii: $4300
If you account for inflation, the R5ii is actually the
second-cheapest of these cameras at launch, and the cheapest since the 5Dii (which was released back in 2008). Additionally, there are two RF cameras that essentially borrowed sensors from an EF predecessor. The RP uses the sensor of the 6Dii; the R uses the sensor of the 5Div. Both of the mirrorless cameras launched at a lower price than their DSLR counterparts sold for at the time. Canon
did pass on a savings to the consumer on that front.
It's true that, when the RF system came out, bodies were more expensive, in part because there were no APS-C bodies and because you couldn't buy a used body from an older generation (since those were all EF). But RF bodies are now available for a
lot less. B&H will sell a very good condition used R5 for $2300, or an R6 for under $1500. You can get even cheaper ones if you're willing to put in a little bit of work. Both of those are excellent modern cameras. (It's true that you can get old EF bodies used for even less, but that's natural.)
Similar comments could be said about lens prices to some extent (repricing of new products matching launch of original + adjustment for inflation). But we must also not forget that some of these lenses are
wildly different from their predecessors. Take the 85/1.2, to give just one example. The EF 85/1.2 Mark II was using the same optical formula as the original EF 85/1.2 from the 1980s (with some new coatings). I actually owned one of those lenses. It got you f/1.2, but at the cost of a ton of fringing and softness if you didn't stop down. The RF 85/1.2 is essentially perfect. It's a totally different lens.
Compare the results for yourself. If Canon had come out with those lenses on the EF mount, you'd see a similar increase in price.
And if you like the older lenses, they are plentiful on the used market. A number of them (such as the latest 70-200/2.8 EF lenses) are
quite good. You don't really lose any capabilities using an EF lens on an RF body. I use a ton. The RF system introduced new options, greatly enhanced the bodies' capabilities and made all the existing lenses cheaper in terms of street price. The EF lenses aren't about to go bad, and they work seamlessly with RF cameras.
Still some obvious holes but the real question is whether Canon sees them as such.
Wide/fast primes ie 20mm or wider, f1.8 or bigger with good coma performance
=> Canon could allow Sigma etc to convert theirs to RF if Canon didn't want to make them. f2.8 is/was the max aperture and 14/2.8 was expensive and not "stellar" (pardon the pun).
RF replacements for EF end-of-sale specialty lenses are also holes eg EF8-15mm/4, MP-E65mm, EF180mm macro.
RF replacement of TS-E lenses given the patents granted.
People also complain about mid priced big white primes not being available similar to the situation of 50/1.2 and 50/1.8 with nothing between until recently. 300/4, 500mm (any aperture), 600/5.6, 800/6.3 etc on a weight diet.
None of these are high volume sellers but definitely still "holes".
Mark 2 of existing RF lenses could be a higher priority.
For sure, there are lenses that they don't offer and could add. Sigma's 14/1.8 is still the best 14mm prime compatible with the RF system. But, as you note, Canon never made an ultrawide prime that fast during the EF days, either. But when I say there are no holes, I mean that all the bases are covered for generalists and many specialists. (Of course, the EF lenses remain usable, too.) For instance, a number of the lenses you mention have no equivalent on Sony or Nikon's mirrorless system either. If Sony has a complete system, Canon has one too.
The MP-E 65mm was ultra-specialist. I wouldn't hold my breath for a replacement, especially now that we live in a world where Laowa make a similar ultra-macro lens. The 8-15 fisheye still seems in stock at major retailers, and a CR2 from a while ago said it's getting an RF successor. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 180 macro or similar come along eventually, too.
Of course, the RF system has also given us other new lenses with
no EF equivalent, such as the 24-105/2.8 and 28-70/2. And both those lenses have been positively received! That's not even counting vastly improved lenses like the 85/1.2 and 50/1.2, which are in totally different leagues from their EF counterparts.
