What's the difference between Canon RF and EF lenses?

[kamal123]

Hi All,

I'm Kamal Hinduja, based in Geneva, Switzerland (Swiss) . Can anyone share in detail what the difference is between Canon RF and EF lenses? 

Thanks, Regards

Kamal Hinduja Geneva, Switzerland 

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

The two biggest differences between the EF and RF mount are flange distance and communication speed.  

EF mount flange distance 44 mm  

RF mount flange distance 20 mm 

The bidirectional communication between the camera and an RF lens is also much faster on RF than EF lenses.  

[March411 · Accepted solution]

EF lenses use 8 pins to communicate with the body. When used on an RF body it might impact the advanced features burst rate and performance improvements offered by RF lenses, especially the communication and image stabilization

RF uses 12 pins to communicate with the body results in faster data transfer between lens and body, enabling more sophisticated control and corrections

[kvbarkley]

The main difference is that EF lenses are for dslrs with the EF mount and RF lenses are for mirrorless cameras with the RF mount

[kamal123]

Great answer.

Thanks, Regards

Kamal Hinduja Geneva, Switzerland  

[kamal123]

Thanks for Providing Valuable Information.

Thanks, Regards

Kamal Hinduja Geneva, Switzerland 

[kamal123]

Valuable information.

Thanks, Regards

Kamal Hinduja Geneva, Switzerland 

[jrhoffman75]

https://www.usa.canon.com/learning/training-articles/training-articles-list/still-using-a-dslr-consi...

[wq9nsc]

If you are looking at high end lenses and aren't price averse, buying new RF glass for your R series body is the way to go.  If you are price limited, it is a little more complex because used comes into play and I would go with a L level prime or zoom in the EF series with adapter over a lower end RF series lens.  Of course you also have to factor warranty and cost/ability to repair when looking at a used lens so it comes down to a personal decision.  I would always go higher optical quality used over lesser grade new if I were constrained to a price point requiring that decision but others will come down on the other side of the equation.

The RF lens do have a faster communications bus and this can sometimes limit frames per second speed with R bodies given the need to rapidly step the aperture between "look" and capture apertures at a high frame rate but the mechanics of focusing even in a prime is far more involved and communications speed is far less of a factor since the limiting factor is generally the inertia, overshoot, and hysteresis involved in moving multiple elements as opposed to aperture change which just involves simple movement of extremely lightweight blades.

My advice has always been to buy the best "glass" in your price range in order to have the best possible image quality and system performance.  My choice of camera body and lens has always been driven primarily by sensor performance in lower light settings and lens quality (maximum aperture, focusing speed, and overall image quality).  Good lenses are good for a very long time.  I have the last version of the 70-200 ef 2.8 IS Canon produced but last weekend I was shooting some senior/parent celebrations at a football game where I wanted to use a higher pixel count camera so my late version EF 70-200 f2.8 and EF 400 f2.8 lenses were on a pair of 1DX III bodies on a camera harness for game use while I had the original non IS EF 70-200 f2.8 I bought with my first Canon digital (1D Mark II) back in 2004 mounted on a 5DS R body and it still works perfectly and produces perfect images.

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

"Can anyone share in detail what the difference is between Canon RF and EF lenses? "

Optically or IQ wise I doubt many will see any difference and that is the main most important thing isn't it. It's the nice to have and the must have thingy. Get what works for you which does include price as well as IQ and or features.