How many discontinued lenses do you have?

I just saw on canonrumors that Canon has discontinued the MP-E 65mm macro lens. So my collection of discontinued lenses just increased without having to purchase anything.
This is an odd lens to discontinue, since there's no RF equivalent.

I believe/think most of our EF (L) lenses we own are discontinued, except the few RF lenses we have.

The oldest EF lens we own is the EF 50 mm F/1.8 mk1 (build code UB0200 = 02-1987)

Photobygms wrote:

I believe/think most of our EF (L) lenses we own are discontinued, except the few RF lenses we have.

The oldest EF lens we own is the EF 50 mm F/1.8 mk1 (build code UB0200 = 02-1987)

Interesting. Where can I find build codes, and how do I read them? I have no idea which is my oldest. Several of them I bought used.
Never mind. I found a resource . My 200mm f/1.8 has serial 17520 but I don't find a date code. My 135L has serial 126067 and I don't find a date code on it either.

The date codes are printed/engraved at the lens mount on many lenses.

Not all lenses do have a date code.

Photobygms wrote:

The date codes are printed/engraved at the lens mount on many lenses.

Not all lenses do have a date code.

Yeah, I looked but didn't find anything. The 200mm lens was introduced in 1988 and discontinued 2004, so it would be in that range.

I looked more closely at the 135L and it's 2004. The 200mm lens is 1998 (UM0550).

I know one is discontinued, and I will assume two more.  If they aren't they will be soon.  My seven vintage lenses were of course discontinued decades ago.  I have one third party lens that is still current!

Hope to purchase two or three discontinued lenses on the used market in the next couple of years.

John Crowe wrote:

I know one is discontinued, and I will assume two more. If they aren't they will be soon. My seven vintage lenses were of course discontinued decades ago. I have one third party lens that is still current!

Hope to purchase two or three discontinued lenses on the used market in the next couple of years.

I wasn't even considering third party lenses. I have a discontinued EF Sigma 180mm macro lens.

Maybe all of them ... I have 12 or so EF lenses, including some L zooms plus 8 EF-M lenses.  If they aren't already discontinued I suspect they will be in the not too distant future.  I also have several bodies, all of which are now discontinued.

Do they all work?  Absolutely and all are in pristine condition.  And since my current equipment meets my needs I'm in no hurry to upgrade to the latest and greatest ... just patiently watching the evolution of digital photography.

Out of my 4 EF lenses I use regularly just one is discontinued - 70-200/2.8 II. I will keep it until it dies since the RF counterpart does not offer me anything which would be justified by its huge price.

I have the original 70 - 210 /f4 push-pull and frankly when I use it its not at all bad. Pretty darn sharp for that age and having constant f/4 is a big plus.

JRET wrote:

Maybe all of them ... I have 12 or so EF lenses, including some L zooms plus 8 EF-M lenses. If they aren't already discontinued I suspect they will be in the not too distant future. I also have several bodies, all of which are now discontinued.

Do they all work? Absolutely and all are in pristine condition. And since my current equipment meets my needs I'm in no hurry to upgrade to the latest and greatest ... just patiently watching the evolution of digital photography.

Going by what B&H still lists that I can buy today, of my dozen EF lenses these are still on the site:

35 f2 IS

50 STM

85 f1.8

16-35 f4 IS

24-70 f2.8 II

70-300 IS II

70-200 f2.8 non IS (ancient lens!)

So I guess that makes for 5/12 that are now discontinued. Soon to be more of them, as my new-to-me 70-200 f2.8 IS II is currently in the mail from KEH. I'm consolidating a bit; my current 70-200 along with the 70-300 and 50 STM will be traded or sold towards this lens. Ha! I'm moving 3 current lenses to 'upgrade' to a discontinued lens. The irony!

Most of my lenses are EF lenses, but all of the lenses I consider to be in my regular kit are currently being manufactured.

I have a Sigma 400mm f/5.6 lens from the 1980s that is long discontinued, but I got it for almost nothing and it's more of a toy than an actual part of my kit.

I suppose that some of the lenses I use will probably be discontinued in a few years, but it doesn't really bother me. Assuming they don't break, I will probably stick with my current lenses for a long time. They are on the whole quite good, so upgrading is probably not on my list of priorities.

Victor Engel wrote:

John Crowe wrote:

I know one is discontinued, and I will assume two more. If they aren't they will be soon. My seven vintage lenses were of course discontinued decades ago. I have one third party lens that is still current!

Hope to purchase two or three discontinued lenses on the used market in the next couple of years.

I wasn't even considering third party lenses. I have a discontinued EF Sigma 180mm macro lens.

Good news on this one - the AF was failing on mine this summer - and Sigma repaired it within a week

gipper51 wrote:

Going by what B&H still lists that I can buy today, of my dozen EF lenses these are still on the site:

35 f2 IS

50 STM

85 f1.8

16-35 f4 IS

24-70 f2.8 II

70-300 IS II

70-200 f2.8 non IS (ancient lens!)

So I guess that makes for 5/12 that are now discontinued. Soon to be more of them, as my new-to-me 70-200 f2.8 IS II is currently in the mail from KEH. I'm consolidating a bit; my current 70-200 along with the 70-300 and 50 STM will be traded or sold towards this lens. Ha! I'm moving 3 current lenses to 'upgrade' to a discontinued lens. The irony!

My son (13) was here and assumed you're my work colleague. Said to tell you you don't need so many lens. Get a iPhone Pro. Has just 3 lens and can capture everything... LOL.

Talk about discontinued ? I feel now "discontinued".

KevinRA wrote:

Victor Engel wrote:

John Crowe wrote:

I know one is discontinued, and I will assume two more. If they aren't they will be soon. My seven vintage lenses were of course discontinued decades ago. I have one third party lens that is still current!

Hope to purchase two or three discontinued lenses on the used market in the next couple of years.

I wasn't even considering third party lenses. I have a discontinued EF Sigma 180mm macro lens.

Good news on this one - the AF was failing on mine this summer - and Sigma repaired it within a week

Nice. I was going to use it the other day but wound up using my EF 100-400 II instead to catch a few insects buzzing around my yard, like this one.

This wasp was a bit high up to have been captured by the 180. I was really interested in how many bugs were sipping something off the palo verde: wasps, butterflies, moths, syrphid flies, other flies, and whatever I didn't notice.

JRET wrote:

Maybe all of them ... I have 12 or so EF lenses, including some L zooms plus 8 EF-M lenses. If they aren't already discontinued I suspect they will be in the not too distant future. I also have several bodies, all of which are now discontinued.

Do they all work? Absolutely and all are in pristine condition. And since my current equipment meets my needs I'm in no hurry to upgrade to the latest and greatest ... just patiently watching the evolution of digital photography.

Hello JRET, same here, relaxing with my discontinued EF lenses...

In the last few months, always contemplated this inevitable move to RF mount...

Now patiently waiting on the sidelines...

I have decided I will now upgrade from EF -> RF when the Mark ii of the current L new RF lenses are available, and the Mark iii of the current R bodies are also available...

Don't want and cannot pay such a premium for the newest thing...

My 90s tech EF 50 F/1.4 USM, EF 100 F/2 USM and EF 135 F/2 work 100% fine

My newer lenses EF 28 F/2.8 IS, EF 35 F/2 IS, EF 24-104 F/4 IS Mk ii also work fine

And I am in the process of getting a pristine 2nd hand EF 100-400 Mk ii

I guess I am good to go with my EF lenses for another 5 to 10 yr

Kind rgds, Gaul

gaul wrote:

EF 100 F/2 USM

Kind rgds, Gaul

Wanted to ask  = how's your EF 100 F/2 in terms of general lens quality? I ask since maybe I had a bad copy as I found it pretty mediocre in comparison to my EF 85 f/1.8.

bmninada wrote:

gaul wrote:

EF 100 F/2 USM

Kind rgds, Gaul

Wanted to ask = how's your EF 100 F/2 in terms of general lens quality? I ask since maybe I had a bad copy as I found it pretty mediocre in comparison to my EF 85 f/1.8.

Very sharp 👌

Metal bayonnet vs the plastic one on the sister lens .. the 85 f/1.8

But similar lenses