The future of EOS-M

[Bazsl]

Has Canon said anything about the future of the EOS-M line? I assume that there will be an RF-S lens mount in the future if Canon plans mirrorless replacements for the current line of APS-C DSLRs. It seems unlikely that Canon plans to support three different lens mounts in the future so my guess is that EOS-M has a limited future but I would really like to know what Canon's plan is.

[Tronhard]

Canon's adaptors for the new digital mount allow EF and EF-S lenses to be used, but they do not allow EF-M lenses to be used.  It would be tempting to suggest that this implies the end of the M series, but the fact that they deliberately launched a new EF-M lens the same week as their FF MILC suggest to me that they are making a statement of commitment to that mount.

The R body has the ability to work as a full frame or crop sensor unit.  This, and the fact that it will take EF and EF-S lenses implies that Canon are not going to orphan their enormous market of current lens users from the new format. 

Still the EF-M series is being supported as seen by that release, so I am going to stick my neck out and suggest that EVENTUALLY they will discard the crop sensor APS-C bodies of the Rebel (canon XXXD), and perhaps XXD, in favour of the smaller M mount. I am not predicting that this will happen immediately or even soon, as strong rumours suggest that they have impending releases for the 7DIII and the 90D - I have seen no such suggestions for a new rebel unit.

To put it another way, I would not be surprised to see no more EF-S lenses released, but a continue release of R, EF and EF-M lenses to enhance the MILC line of cameras.  I note that they released several quality EF lenses very recently, supporting their higher end DSLR bodies in particular.  Remember there is already an adaptor for EF and EF-S lenses to fit the M mount, so those lenses CAN be used on that body configuration.

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@Bazsl wrote:

Has Canon said anything about the future of the EOS-M line? I assume that there will be an RF-S lens mount in the future if Canon plans mirrorless replacements for the current line of APS-C DSLRs. It seems unlikely that Canon plans to support three different lens mounts in the future so my guess is that EOS-M has a limited future but I would really like to know what Canon's plan is.

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[RobertTheFat]

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@Tronhard wrote:

Canon's adaptors for the new digital mount allow EF and EF-S lenses to be used, but they do not allow EF-M lenses to be used.  It would be tempting to suggest that this implies the end of the M series, but the fact that they deliberately launched a new EF-M lens the same week as their FF MILC suggest to me that they are making a statement of commitment to that mount.

The R body has the ability to work as a full frame or crop sensor unit.  This, and the fact that it will take EF and EF-S lenses implies that Canon are not going to orphan their enormous market of current lens users from the new format. 

Still the EF-M series is being supported as seen by that release, so I am going to stick my neck out and suggest that EVENTUALLY they will discard the crop sensor APS-C bodies of the Rebel (canon XXXD), and perhaps XXD, in favour of the smaller M mount. I am not predicting that this will happen immediately or even soon, as strong rumours suggest that they have impending releases for the 7DIII and the 90D - I have seen no such suggestions for a new rebel unit.

To put it another way, I would not be surprised to see no more EF-S lenses released, but a continue release of R, EF and EF-M lenses to enhance the MILC line of cameras.  I note that they released several quality EF lenses very recently, supporting their higher end DSLR bodies in particular.  Remember there is already an adaptor for EF and EF-S lenses to fit the M mount, so those lenses CAN be used on that body configuration.

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@Bazsl wrote:

Has Canon said anything about the future of the EOS-M line? I assume that there will be an RF-S lens mount in the future if Canon plans mirrorless replacements for the current line of APS-C DSLRs. It seems unlikely that Canon plans to support three different lens mounts in the future so my guess is that EOS-M has a limited future but I would really like to know what Canon's plan is.

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If they're going to keep releasing new APS-C cameras but stop releasing new EF-S lenses, I'd think they'd have to start making some EF lenses with focal lengths that are a better match for an APS-C camera than most of their current EF lenses are.

That said, I can't help noticing that they've steadfastly declined to produce a 50-150mm f/2.8, arguably the ideal telephoto lens for an APS-C camera. So who knows?

[Waddizzle]

"If they're going to keep releasing new APS-C cameras but stop releasing new EF-S lenses, I'd think they'd have to start making some EF lenses with focal lengths that are a better match for an APS-C camera than most of their current EF lenses are.

That said, I can't help noticing that they've steadfastly declined to produce a 50-150mm f/2.8, arguably the ideal telephoto lens for an APS-C camera. So who knows?"

Canon now has APS-C and full frame bodies in both DSLR and mirrorless formats.  The mirrorless bodies support the EF and EF-S lens families.  If mirrorless is the future, then why is it that the two mirrorless bodies have lens mounts that do not seem to be compatible with one another? 

[Bazsl]

Canon now has APS-C and full frame bodies in both DSLR and mirrorless formats.  The mirrorless bodies support the EF and EF-S lens families.  If mirrorless is the future, then why is it that the two mirrorless bodies have lens mounts that do not seem to be compatible with one another?

Thanks for stating the question more clearly than I did. Either Canon plans a future where it will be impossible to use full frame RF mount lenses on their APS-C EF-M mount bodies or the plan for the future is to create a line of APS-C bodies with an RF compatible lens mount, lets call it the RF-S mount, that will allow RF lenses to be used on APS-C bodies just as we can now use EF lenses on EF-S mount APS-C bodies. If Canon chooses the second option it is hard to believe that they will not drop the EOS-M line since it makes no sense to be building lenses for three different mounts.

[Waddizzle]

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@Bazsl wrote:

Canon now has APS-C and full frame bodies in both DSLR and mirrorless formats.  The mirrorless bodies support the EF and EF-S lens families.  If mirrorless is the future, then why is it that the two mirrorless bodies have lens mounts that do not seem to be compatible with one another?

Thanks for stating the question more clearly than I did. Either Canon plans a future where it will be impossible to use full frame RF mount lenses on their APS-C EF-M mount bodies or the plan for the future is to create a line of APS-C bodies with an RF compatible lens mount, lets call it the RF-S mount, that will allow RF lenses to be used on APS-C bodies just as we can now use EF lenses on EF-S mount APS-C bodies. If Canon chooses the second option it is hard to believe that they will not drop the EOS-M line since it makes no sense to be building lenses for three different mounts.

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Canon is still releasing new EF-S and EF-M lenses.  They recently released an EF-S 35mm Macro, as well as an EF-M version of the same lens.  Canon also announced a new EF-M lens with the RF lens introduction  

Personally, I think the EF-S mount bodies will go away before the EF-M mount bodies will.  The EF-S mount bodies can only use EF and EF-S lenses.  The EF-M bodies can use EF, EF-S, and EF-M lenses.  But, the present incompatibility between EOS R and EOS M mounts is a real head scratcher.

[Tronhard]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Personally, I think the EF-S mount bodies will go away before the EF-M mount bodies will.  The EF-S mount bodies can only use EF and EF-S lenses.  The EF-M bodies can use EF, EF-S, and EF-M lenses.  But, the present incompatibility between EOS R and EOS M mounts is a real head scratcher.

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I agree - the Rebel series of cameras limited to the APS-C sensor size is now covered by the much more compact M series of cameras and I think that follows a trend to make that market as portable as possible . They have been careful in doing so not to exclude the EF and EF-S lenses, but with bodies like the M5 and touted M5 MkII it seems to me Canon are going in that direction - that said I think they have much mroe work to do in that space.

On the other end of the scale the FF and crop sensor capability of the Canon R mount is available for those who want to use the big gun new series of lenses, yet they have kept the door open for their huge ownership of legacy EF and EF-S lenses.   I think there may be physical or optical reasons why they have not made an adaptor available for the M mount, or it could be sheer marketing.  I have no info on that.

[Bazsl]

I think there may be physical or optical reasons why they have not made an adaptor available for the M mount, or it could be sheer marketing.  I have no info on that.

The RF mount uses a 20 mm flange distance while the EF-M mount uses an 18 mm flange distance. You can't make an adapter that is 2 mm thick.

[Tronhard]

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@Bazsl wrote:

I think there may be physical or optical reasons why they have not made an adaptor available for the M mount, or it could be sheer marketing.  I have no info on that.

The RF mount uses a 20 mm flange distance while the EF-M mount uses an 18 mm flange distance. You can't make an adapter that is 2 mm thick.

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