Will Canon allow EF lenses to work on future RF bodies?

Arthur Stanley Jefferson wrote:

Messier Object wrote:

I think the answer is YES, EF lenses will continue to work if not explicitly supported,

however there is no guarantee that there won't be future camera features which will only work with RF lenses because of certain EF lens electromechanical performance limitations. And perhaps Canon will contrive to make that happen

Peter

I agree with your assessment Peter. You have also been very diplomatic with your wording.

I believe EF support will be withdrawn, once RF bodies have reached a certain saturation of the market and the migration of most dslr users has occurred.

If you're talking about ceasing to make EF lenses, that will happen when people stop buying new ones. Canon are committed by various countries' legislation to supporting EF lenses in the sense of providing spare parts for servicing and repair for seven years after discontinuing them.

If you're talking about making yet to be introduced bodies less capable of using EF lenses than their current bodies, that doesn't make sense.  Why would anybody with EF lenses upgrade their camera bodies? It would be cheaper to buy a Nikon Z and a Fringer adapter than to upgrade with another Canon body and replace the EF lenses at the same time. Canon might get away with that in twenty years' time when the stock of working EF lenses has dwindled and those lenses are only serviceable by cannibalising others, but it certainly wouldn't work while they are legally obliged to keep parts available for at least some of their EF lenses.

Canon have not been particularly proactive in the last sixty years about discontinuing lenses. In my experience that's generally been forced on them by the sales figures.

Financially it makes sense to drive customers to new RF sales and new revenue, but I assume they may continue to make some EF lenses that are highly profitable too until their RF version lenses are available.

I still cannot see the financial sense in Canon producing the only mirrorless cameras without support for EF lenses. Adaptability of vintage lenses is surely a major selling point for mirrorless cameras. As is respect for previous lines, hence the availability from the manufacturers of adapters for four-thirds lenses to micro four-thirds, Sigma SA and Sony/Minolta A lenses to Sony E, Nikon F to Nikon Z.

Support won’t be a sudden switch off that would alienate EF users, probably more of a slow fade over next 4 years or so.

Canon can't force people to buy EF lenses, but if people stop buying them there's no point making them. Producing an R10 II or an R8 II that won't be as good with EF lenses as the current models, which is what you're implying with your four year timescale, is definitely a sudden switch off.

How they “contrive to make that happen”? ….and when ? are the unknowns right now.

"Why on earth would they need to?" is a much more important unknown.