EF to RF Lens Purchases

mr_nice wrote:

Ed Rizk wrote:

mr_nice wrote:

MitchAlsup wrote:

Tazz93 wrote:

If you're like me, you are probably questioning any new lens purchases (EF or RF mount). With the RF mount looking to be the direction Canon is moving, it seems a little odd to buy new EF lenses and then possibly adapt them in a year or two. It also seems odd to buy an RF lens prior to a viable body being available. That's not a knock on the EOS R, but it just isn't for me. Share your views or thoughts.

Lenses are tools, if you need a tool you buy one. When you no longer need it you ell it.

The more lenses one has the less one thinks about new/better/more exotic lenses. There is a level of saturation where you have a lens for everything, and quit thinking about lenses as particles of acquisition and start thinking about using them for the task at hand.

I, for one, don't give a rats sphincter about the R or its lenses, I happen to like looking through an optical viewfinder, and especially the rapid snick of a dSLR taking a picture.

In any event, the EF line has decades of life left in it. decades.

Decades? It will be essentially dead in 5 years tops. I predict that in 10 years Canon has no DSLR's for sale.

But I admit, many of you are very, very stubborn about OVF and mirror slapping sounds. So who knows how long we will have DSLR's.

I guess it's kind of like the people who keep records around. On one hand, you can have superior sound and performance with all your music stored weightlessly in the cloud. On the other, you have to store thousands of pounds of giant vinyl disks with limited resolution that wear out over time. Nostalgia is a powerful thing it seems.

Per unscientific DPR poll, 40% prefer OVF over EVF. Since most DPR forum posters are gear heads, and most gear heads love higher tech gear for higher tech's sake, the number in the general population is probably over 50% that prefer OVF.

Personally, I prefer EVF, but have never considered mirror less because of the other advantages of a DSLR. Mirrorless is just now getting some competitive AF systems, although the real speed freaks that shoot sports and wildlife aren't buying it yet. Low light AF is just now getting competitive, which is important to me. Finally we have a couple of big mirror less cameras, another of my critical requirements. I don''t want a rinky dink body with fiddly controls. I might get a small something for travel by plane, but for my main system, I would rather have bigger than smaller. I'm 60. I was never particularly athletic. And I have never had the slightest difficulty carrying or lifting my camera gear.

It would be foolish to discontinue a product that such a large segment of the market prefers.

It's exactly what you say though. Finally we have a couple of big mirrorless cameras. Before now one could potentially understand why photographers didn't like mirrorless, because the two best camera companies hadn't thrown in yet. But now that they have most of the complaints should be a thing of the past. Once people experience the higher end R and Z systems the stats will shift more in their favor.

Like a lot of DSLR fans, I will take a better overall product over the latest tech.   Unlike a lot of them, I actually prefer EVF, though using it all day might or might not be as good, so I will wait until I can rent one for a weekend of  lots of shooting to make a final judgement on EVF.    The extended time will also be good to check out the actual comfort of the new bigger bodies.

But, you have to remember that I am more open minded than most of the other luddites.  Manufacturers have to make products that people want.   I'm not a speed freak and don't keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as the hard core sports and bird shooters.  Any eye strain from the EVF or slight AF speed limits will be a much bigger deal to them than to me. Then there are those who just LIKE looking through the OVF more regardless of the benefits of EVF.   There are enough of them to make a market.

Long lenses aren't getting any benefits from the new mount, so there is no down side to getting a good long lens and just buying a dedicated adapter for it if you go mirror less later.    The cost is negligible considering the price of a good telephoto.   Buy what you want when you want it, if you are staying with Canon.   It looks like everything will always work fine.