topic Re: How much longer will EF be around? in EF & RF Lenses

How much longer will EF be around?

chahath — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 16:45:04 GMT

I know photography is more than just gear, and a lens that was great 5 years ago didn't get worse just because newer better ones are out, but I fear that if I don't sell my EF lenses soon they'll become worthless when everyone and their dog have moved on to the RF mount. I don't shoot professionally and I'm not made of money, so I'd rather not have to write off all the money I spent on EF lenses if I can avoid some of the loss by selling them while they're still worth something.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

kvbarkley — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 16:53:43 GMT

As long as there are EF and EF-S cameras being made there will be EF lenses. We have people here who are still using film EOS cameras. The installed base of EOS DLSR's is *huge* and will not go away soon.

Why are you asking us? We have no idea which way the market will go.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

wq9nsc — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 18:21:46 GMT

There is not a mirrorless yet that offers the performance of a Canon 1 series so don't expect the EF lenses to disappear soon.

Canon just introduced a newer version of their excellent 400 F2.8 EF that I will be acquiring shortly. I will be obsolete long before my EF lenses become obsolete 🙂

The lower end EF lenses (and probably EF-S) will be the first to go as will lower end DSLR bodies as light weight mirrorless bodies chew up some of that market and many more with little understanding of photography will never move up from smartphones to more capable photo gear. But even in the current dynamic market, lenses aren't a true investment other than a business one for current pros and your money is better off in true financial investments if future value is the concern.

Rodger

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

shadowsports — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 18:30:39 GMT

@chahath wrote:
I know photography is more than just gear, and a lens that was great 5 years ago didn't get worse just because newer better ones are out, but I fear that if I don't sell my EF lenses soon they'll become worthless when everyone and their dog have moved on to the RF mount. I don't shoot professionally and I'm not made of money, so I'd rather not have to write off all the money I spent on EF lenses if I can avoid some of the loss by selling them while they're still worth something.

UC Browser SHAREit MX player

Mods delete this trash. Note the links being peddled at the bottom of this post.

Edit, seems the OP removed them..

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Tronhard — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 19:13:11 GMT

If you want some idea of Canon's intentions I recommend reading this extensive interview witht top Canon execs on a number of issues, including lens and body developments.

Imaging Resource Interview with Canon

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

ebiggs1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:55:35 GMT

2 years give or take!

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Tronhard — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 00:41:03 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
2 years give or take!

WIth all due respect I think you are a bit pessimistic there...

According to Canon's OWN comments in the interview I referred to above, looking at the US market:

"when it comes to digital SLRs and mirrorless, of course the technologies will evolve, and the mirrorless cameras will be getting better and better, and the overall performance could be better than the DSLRs some time later. But when it comes to specific points, like the optical viewfinder, and actually seeing the images in real time, while mirrorless is using sensor-based viewing, through the EVF, that type of specific difference based on the structural difference, we don't know yet if mirrorless can achieve better performance over the DSLR; that we don't know yet.

But generally speaking, the mirrorless technology will keep getting better and better. So we will continue to develop both better DSLR technologies and mirrorless technologies, and we'll see what happens in the future."

AND

"approximately 65-70% of the market is still digital SLRs. Focusing just on mirrorless would not be the right answer at this point. Either DSLR or mirrorless? No, both are important and we must satisfy both."

I can't see the DSLR market collapsing in a couple of years, and with lenses in the pipeline - according to their spokespersons they are still developing EF and EF-M lenses, I think EF lenses will be around for a while, again according to Canon Inc.:

"... we saw very strong demand [for] DSLRs including 5D Mark IV, 6D Mark II, 80D and Rebel series during the holiday shopping season. Also, the EOS M50 has been very popular since its launch.

Canon offers a wider range of cameras and lenses over any other brand to meet various demands of our customers. Currently, we are simultaneously developing new products in the DSLR family, EOS R series and EOS M series. The most important thing for us is to carefully listen to what customers want and make decisions accordingly."

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Waddizzle — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 02:42:46 GMT

Hey Canon,

If you want to revolutionize your DSLRs, then give the user the option to set shutter speed in Movie Mode as a shutter angle.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

RobertTheFat — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 04:08:56 GMT

@Tronhard wrote:
If you want some idea of Canon's intentions I recommend reading this extensive interview witht top Canon execs on a number of issues, including lens and body developments.

Imaging Resource Interview with Canon

I wonder if the "Entry Level" version will have the R mount but an APS-C sensor, presumably making it smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the R. And if so, wouldn't that diminish the possibility of a 7D Mark III? Or even of a 90D?

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Tronhard — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 19:56:59 GMT

Hi Robert: Happy New Year!

I saw, but cannot find, an item that referred to the continuing expectation for those DSLR crop cameras. It seems Canon is not shutting up shop on those models as long as there is a demand from customers, and apparently there is demand - I think many users have too much investment in Ef and EF-S lenses and for various reasons (technical, or emotional) are not ready to move to the R mount and mirrorless environment yet, so I think we will still see those units, but as always we have to wait and see...

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

ebiggs1 — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 02:01:54 GMT

"WIth all due respect I think you are a bit pessimistic there... "

I said "giver or take"!

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Tronhard — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 02:14:02 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
"WIth all due respect I think you are a bit pessimistic there... "

I said "giver or take"!

Fair enough then!

I hope that the EF, EF-M, lenses along with the XXD, XD, and M5 Mkxx series bodies continue for a while yet. I just bought the 5DMkIV and like it a lot. Santa also brought me the EF 70-200 L IS USM f4 MkII - not to mention that 70-300 MkII I reviewed recently...

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

royd63uk — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 11:12:43 GMT

Mine will never be obsolete coz i will continue to use them 🙂

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Tronhard — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 18:08:17 GMT

@royd63uk wrote:
Mine will never be obsolete coz i will continue to use them 🙂

I still use my canon 400D (Rebel XTi in North America?). It's a good camera with a very small form factor, and the low MP count can actually be an advantage. Going back to that "obsolete" gear reminds me to work on technique rather than tech.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

ebiggs1 — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 15:04:55 GMT

"Mine will never be obsolete coz i will continue to use them"

Hmmm, what a concept!

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

John_SD — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:11:22 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
2 years give or take!

I think that's about right. DSLRs aren't going to die outright in the next few years, as there is such an established base of users and gear. But Canon's EOS R and Ni*on's Z6 and Z7 offerings are basically version 1 in a new line of mirrorless cameras and lenses. They have a ways to go to catch up to S*ny. But the trend is clear and everyone knows that the future is mirrorless, and both companies seem to be off to a decent start with their new mirrorless gear.

My advice to the OP is hang on to the EF lenes he uses the most, start selling off the ones he doesn't really use, and don't invest any more money in new ones. Make use of what you have and plan to move into Canon or N*kon's mirrorless systems in due course.

And speaking of DSLR price drops, I see that the Canon online store is offering NEW 6D Mark 2 bodies for $1299. That's $700 off of what it was just a little over a year ago. I wonder how much of that drop is due to the shift into mirrorless.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

ebiggs1 — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:47:32 GMT

" DSLRs aren't going to die outright in the next few years, as there is such an established base ..."

Did not make any difference to Canon when they stopped the FD and went to EF. I had one big, I mean huge, argument with our Canon rep in the middle of C&J Photography as the FD was abandoned. I probably didn't win that argument, FD is history, but he knew where I stood on it. Plus agreement from the crowd we drew! Yeah, it was 'heated'!

But in the end it was for the better and I suspect the new mount will be also.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

Waddizzle — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 17:09:51 GMT

@John_SD wrote:

And speaking of DSLR price drops, I see that the Canon online store is offering NEW 6D Mark 2 bodies for $1299. That's $700 off of what it was just a little over a year ago. I wonder how much of that drop is due to the shift into mirrorless.

The current list price is more in line with what the camera is worth. The 6D2 was quite a bit overpriced when it was first introduced, IMHO. The asking price was roughly a 50% increase over the selling price of the 6D. Maybe it was a marketing strategy to sell off 6D bodies.

The higher introductory price probably had something to do with the reviews that it received. I think the camera has a lot of new features that were hardly mentioned in reviews. They added exposure compensation in Manual mode, for example. This is a powerful feature when combined with Auto ISO.

It has the same two types of Auto WB found in the 1Dx II. Somehow, Canon managed to increase the resolution by 30% without significantly reducing the size of individual photosites. I think the 6D2 is a good preview of a 7D3.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

RobertTheFat — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 13:46:21 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
" DSLRs aren't going to die outright in the next few years, as there is such an established base ..."

Did not make any difference to Canon when they stopped the FD and went to EF. I had one big, I mean huge, argument with our Canon rep in the middle of C&J Photography as the FD was abandoned. I probably didn't win that argument, FD is history, but he knew where I stood on it. Plus agreement from the crowd we drew! Yeah, it was 'heated'!

But in the end it was for the better and I suspect the new mount will be also.

The situations aren't all that comparable, are they? Canon has seemingly gone out of their way to make EF (and even EF-S) lenses usable on the R.

Re: How much longer will EF be around?

ebiggs1 — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 14:57:16 GMT

Bob said, "The situations aren't all that comparable, are they?"

Perhaps not but there is more to that story. Canon did make a small concession to the owners of the more expensive "L" series lenses, by making a 4-element optical adapter which acted as a low power multiplier (1.26x). Also worked on a few non "L" lenses. This was intended to ease the transition from FD to EF. The price at the time was around $250, but they didn't make them for long. Canon didn't make many either and today they sell used for prices as high as $1000 if you can find one.

You can bet and rest assured the days of EF has been set. BTW, not only EF lenses but the cameras that use them. Things and times change. Go with it or get left behind.