EF, a past master or a passed master ?

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

Canon are transitioning to the RF mount.  There are only a handful of EF lenses still being produced.  But there are many people still using them.

Aoi Usagi wrote:

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

Canon are transitioning to the RF mount. There are only a handful of EF lenses still being produced. But there are many people still using them.

Millions of them are being used to this day but canon is concentrating mostly on RF lenses. so, the EF production will slowly come to a halt till it is forgotten. if you have "L" lenses, i'd hang on to them but if you starting from scratch, then getting RF would be a better option.

Scott Larson wrote:

There are far more EF mount cameras than RF mount cameras in use so it's strange business to stop producing products for the larger market at this point.

Canon is going all in and heavily invested with the mirrorless RF mount. They need new consumers as well as existing ones to buy more of their products, as well as getting pressured by the stock holders to make a mirrorless camera. They know who will buy into it and who wont (yet). Right now, Canon make various adapters to use EF and EF-S mount lenses to work flawlessly with the RF mount, to make the transition easier for consumers. I would not be surprised if Canon stopped making the adapters within a few years so that buyer will have no choice but to purchase new RF lenses.

I also assume that mirrorless cameras are cheaper to manufacture.  No more mirror mechanism, expensive prisms, and the problems associated with a separate and dedicated AF module.  No more fine tuning the AF (micro AF adjustment) and the complaints associated with it.  If there is a problem (and I did read somewhere on this forum about AF issues with mirrorless) it can be fixed with a simple firmware update.

Aoi Usagi wrote:

Scott Larson wrote:

There are far more EF mount cameras than RF mount cameras in use so it's strange business to stop producing products for the larger market at this point.

Canon is going all in and heavily invested with the mirrorless RF mount. They need new consumers as well as existing ones to buy more of their products, as well as getting pressured by the stock holders to make a mirrorless camera. They know who will buy into it and who wont (yet). Right now, Canon make various adapters to use EF and EF-S mount lenses to work flawlessly with the RF mount, to make the transition easier for consumers. I would not be surprised if Canon stopped making the adapters within a few years so that buyer will have no choice but to purchase new RF lenses.

I would be surprised if Canon stopped making the adapters from choice. It would only happen if everybody who did not already have an adapter deserted EF lenses and they could not sell enough adapters to keep the production line working. At the moment there are at least half a dozen different EF - EOS R mount adapters being made by other manufacturers, so Canon not making one wouldn't help them sell more RF lenses.

I also assume that mirrorless cameras are cheaper to manufacture. No more mirror mechanism, expensive prisms, and the problems associated with a separate and dedicated AF module. No more fine tuning the AF (micro AF adjustment) and the complaints associated with it. If there is a problem (and I did read somewhere on this forum about AF issues with mirrorless) it can be fixed with a simple firmware update.

There is the cost of providing the EVF.  A lot of room for improvement there, both in quality and cost.

neilt3 wrote:

Scott Larson wrote:

There are far more EF mount cameras than RF mount cameras in use so it's strange business to stop producing products for the larger market at this point.

It's not a strange or unknown strategy for Canon .

In the 80's they dropped their FD mount manual focus gear in favour of the EF Autofocus gear and it worked out for them .

I remember it well. They introduced the EF mount in 1987, their last FD lens was released due to popular demand in 1989; a year after its EF equivalent was released.

It hacked a load of their loyal user's off who dumped Canon when they changed to AF cameras but it clearly was a new market that they were looking for then , I would say it's the same now .

But it was the collapse of FD lens sales due to the overwhelming attractions of autofocus that did for FD. The FD mount Canon T60 released in 1990 sank almost without trace. The trouble with being a loyal user is that the market is fickle.

At least this time an adapter is available to retain full function with your EF lenses so they should retain more value than the FD gear did when they brought out the EOS range .

We can hope. EF lenses are adaptable to just about every mirrorless camera sold, not to mention professional video cameras, while FD lenses were almost unusable on new cameras until 2010-12 when the E and EF-M mounts arrived.

Scott Larson wrote:

There are far more EF mount cameras than RF mount cameras in use so it's strange business to stop producing products for the larger market at this point.

Not really strange at all, that's how it works with technology products.

Scott Larson wrote:

Mark B. wrote:

Scott Larson wrote:

There are far more EF mount cameras than RF mount cameras in use so it's strange business to stop producing products for the larger market at this point.

Not really strange at all, that's how it works with technology products.

Companies stop selling products even though there is a demand for them? Good news for Sony I guess.

Canon is of course still producing DSLRs and EF lenses, but they will taper off as there are more R products introduced.  Already Canon has stopped supporting older products by making no longer repairable.

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

Pretty sure that EF mount is dead. Canon might just keep DSLR's alive, but they will probably change the mount if they do another DSLR. Why? They'll update DSLR's to do all the things mirrorless cameras are doing. And they'll probably update the pinout to match RF, and possibly change everything else to match RF too. So yeah, EF will die, but, DSLRs might just live on.

djphil wrote:

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

Pretty sure that EF mount is dead. Canon might just keep DSLR's alive, but they will probably change the mount if they do another DSLR. Why? They'll update DSLR's to do all the things mirrorless cameras are doing. And they'll probably update the pinout to match RF,

No they won't change the mount, because nobody in their right mind would buy it. And I can't see Canon relaunching a new range of DSLRs with a brand new mount.

and possibly change everything else to match RF too. So yeah, EF will die, but, DSLRs might just live on.

With all the video cameras that use EF, the mount could survive the DSLR. But it would be a niche product, all the same.

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

canon produces stuff that sells well. But since EF lenses aren’t rare second hand and fully supported by R cameras EF is far away  from being dead.

Sittatunga wrote:

djphil wrote:

ShootingD60 wrote:

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on the site but having watched a review of the BlackMagic blah blah 6K G whatever they did mention that Canon are producing fewer EF mount lenses ? So, is EF dead ?

Pretty sure that EF mount is dead. Canon might just keep DSLR's alive, but they will probably change the mount if they do another DSLR. Why? They'll update DSLR's to do all the things mirrorless cameras are doing. And they'll probably update the pinout to match RF,

No they won't change the mount, because nobody in their right mind would buy it. And I can't see Canon relaunching a new range of DSLRs with a brand new mount.

Probably true. It does seem that technology will solve most of the "problems" that make DSLRs look good. A big one is power usage. A DSLR can theoretically run much longer with the same battery. But, most likely batteries will just keep getting better. And CPU's will keep getting more efficient, etc. Even so, there still could be an ultra long life DSLR camera, maybe it can take like 10,000 shots on one battery. But then thinking about things like AF and IBIS, it seems unlikely. Would probably have to scrap all the tech goodies and make a barebones machine, most likely something the market would hate. And it might end up with wildly different battery life depending on the lenses used, would be a nightmare for consumers who have to have every little thing explained to them in absolute perfect detail in order to comprehend how something works.

and possibly change everything else to match RF too. So yeah, EF will die, but, DSLRs might just live on.

With all the video cameras that use EF, the mount could survive the DSLR. But it would be a niche product, all the same.