EF vs RF

[markel]

I currently have a Canon EOS R and have been wanting to start getting the "Holy Trinity" but I am stuck trying to decide if I want to bite the bullet and save for the RF Glass or if I could get by with the EF versions. Does anyone with experience with both have any input?

[Tronhard]

Hi Market, welcome to the Forum!

If you check out my profile, you will get a list of the lenses and gear that I have and use.  Hopefully that will give you confidence that I have experience in this.

First: a lot depends on -

1 -  What you are prepared to spend: this can get expensive.
2 -  What subjects you shoot, and in particular what you mean by the 'Holy Trinity' of lenses?
For example, my hope is to get three RF lenses that will cover the range from 10 to 500mm.   The 10-24 (vaporware, on the roadmap, but may be an RF-S 🙁).  I have the 24-105L and the 100-500 at the moment.  Your choices might be different if you are shooting people or weddings, in which case you may look at a different focal range up to 200mm, but with faster lenses.
3. - What are you going to produce?  The demand for top-end glass is less pressing if one is not going to produce large, detailed Art images, compared to sharing on social media or displaying on digital devices.
4 - What bodies do you intend to use with these lenses?  The earlier R and RP models don't have IBIS, and tracking like the later R units for example, and the new R7 and R10 will be cropping images from RF lenses.

General Comments:

Without doubt, the new RF glass is brilliant, but at a price.  So far, I have tested most of my existing EF lenses with the R5 and R6 bodies that I have and found they all work as well as they ever did via the Canon EF-RF adapters. What you don't get is the combination of optical stabilization and IBIS - if you can accept the same level of performance, then you can wait and in all likelihood there will be more offerings, considering Canon announced the release of 32 new lenses in the next four years.   If you shoot a lot, you will know the lenses you have, and so pairing them with a new body will give you an idea of the benefits.

So, some examples of EF glass with R bodies:

This was taken casually, through rather grubby double-glazing of a bird in my garden:
EOS R5, EF 70-300MkII@300mm, f/8, 1/320sec, ISO-800

EOS R5, EF 70-200 F4MkII@128mm, f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO-200

Using the R6 with the EF 70-300 IS USM MkII
R6, EF 70-300MkII@226mm, f/9, 1/640sec, ISO-100

R6, EF 24-105L MkI @61mm, f/4, 1/5sec, ISO-200

Off the top of my head those are some examples I have shot.  All hand held (last one with elbows on a fence).

If you can offer more specific details on what, and how you shoot, I may be able to provide more assistance.  In general though, you have nothing to lose by getting an adapter and trying your own lenses to see if they work to your satisfaction.  There are lot of lenses to come out and the prices will drop.

[ebiggs1]

"I currently have a Canon EOS R  ...'

Although Trevor goes into great detail, the bottom line is if you are going R you need to be buying R glass.  The EF line will disappear soon. As more and more R gets a following and more and more gear comes to market the less and less EF will become. Do you really want to buy into a dying line and tech? If you are using EF for a stop gap on spending that's fine but not any new purchase.

[Tronhard]

Ernie brings up a good point.  I interpreted you original statement to be that you actually have some EF lenses.  Ernie, as I understand it, sees it that you have nothing and are going to buy your holy trinity from scratch, in which case his statement is very valid. 

Can you please clarify that point for us?  Thanks!!