Canon too busy working on "those dumb RF lenses" to make the great EF 50 prime we all need

Nov 12, 2016
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They made a new 50mm prime. By all accounts it's an incredible lens. Sorry, the future is here. If you want the best lens, you have to upgrade. If IS is what you're after, all signs point to future mirrorless cameras gaining IBIS.

If you insist on staying with EF, you can always buy an EF 50mm f1.2, which is, for all the grief it gets, still a perfectly competent lens. But to expect Canon to spend all this time and money developing a brand new 50mm for the RF mount, and then circle back and develop an additional entirely new 50mm for a lens mount that is on its way out, sorry, you're dreaming. (And no, they couldn't just make the RF 50mm into an EF lens due to how far back in the lens the glass elements extend.)
 
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Mar 26, 2014
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They made a new 50mm prime. By all accounts it's an incredible lens. Sorry, the future is here. If you want the best lens, you have to upgrade. If IS is what you're after, all signs point to future mirrorless cameras gaining IBIS.

A new EF 50mm was missing since Nikon announced the 58mm f/1.4g, Sigma announced the 50mm f/1.4 art, Tamron announced the 45mm f/1.8 vc, etc years before the RF mount was announced.

If I am to buy both a new camera and new lenses, I might as well switch brands.
 
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brad-man

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They made a new 50mm prime. By all accounts it's an incredible lens. Sorry, the future is here. If you want the best lens, you have to upgrade. If IS is what you're after, all signs point to future mirrorless cameras gaining IBIS.

If you insist on staying with EF, you can always buy an EF 50mm f1.2, which is, for all the grief it gets, still a perfectly competent lens. But to expect Canon to spend all this time and money developing a brand new 50mm for the RF mount, and then circle back and develop an additional entirely new 50mm for a lens mount that is on its way out, sorry, you're dreaming. (And no, they couldn't just make the RF 50mm into an EF lens due to how far back in the lens the glass elements extend.)
So, the rumor of the upcoming EF24-70L IS may not be true?

 
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Nov 12, 2016
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A new EF 50mm was missing since Nikon announced the 58mm f/1.4g, Sigma announced the 50mm f/1.4 art, Tamron announced the 45mm f/1.8 vc, etc years before the RF mount was announced.

If I am to buy both a new camera and new lenses, I might as well switch brands.
Then switch brands.

If you have an EF camera, there is still the EF 50mm f1.2. It is not the greatest lens by modern standards, but it is still perfectly usable. I used one for years, even adapted it onto the EOS R, until I decided it was time to put up the cash for the RF 50mm.

If you're going to complain that you cannot accept anything but a flawless lens, then sorry, you have to pony up. You can't complain that you want the absolute best, and then get indignant when having the absolute best equipment requires you to actually spend money.
 
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Mar 26, 2014
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Then switch brands.

Thanks, what would I have done without your advice?

If you have an EF camera, there is still the EF 50mm f1.2. It is not the greatest lens by modern standards, but it is still perfectly usable.

So is the EF 50mm f/1.4. Or I could buy a better lens by modern standard from Sigma. Or I could switch brands. Or I could wonder why is it Canon chose to release an EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM, but passed on an EF 50mm f/1.4L IS USM.

If you're going to complain that you cannot accept anything but a flawless lens, then sorry, you have to pony up.

There is no flawless.

You can't complain that you want the absolute best

I wasn't complaining. I was showing my amazement at Canon not filling the hole just about every other manufacturer in the field made (read: modern fast normal prime, preferably with IS, you know - something between the 35mm f/2 IS USM and 85mm f/1.4L IS USM).
 
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Nov 12, 2016
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I wasn't complaining. I was showing my amazement at Canon not filling the hole just about every other manufacturer in the field made (read: modern fast normal prime, preferably with IS, you know - something between the 35mm f/2 IS USM and 85mm f/1.4L IS USM).
The hole is filled, the EF 50mm 1.2 exists. The fact that it is still not good enough for you, yet you can't accept the fact that the EF mount's lifespan is too close to its end to spend millions of dollars developing an entirely new lens, especially when exactly such a lens already exists for the new mount, really does amount to complaining.
 
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Mar 26, 2014
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The hole is filled, the EF 50mm 1.2 exists.

You writing so repeatedly does not make it so. It just reflects on you.

yet you can't accept the fact that the EF mount's lifespan is too close to its end to spend millions of dollars developing an entirely new lens

It wasn't too close when Canon released the EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM on August 2017.

especially when exactly such a lens already exists for the new mount, really does amount to complaining.

How does said RF lens qualify for "already exists", beyond your need to bad mouth me?
 
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jd7

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The hole is filled, the EF 50mm 1.2 exists. The fact that it is still not good enough for you, yet you can't accept the fact that the EF mount's lifespan is too close to its end to spend millions of dollars developing an entirely new lens, especially when exactly such a lens already exists for the new mount, really does amount to complaining.
I don't think the hole that Ahsanford and Antono Refa are talking about is filled. As I read what they are saying, they are not looking for an L lens at all. They are looking for a lens which gives a higher priority to being small, light and moderately priced, and they are willing to give up some IQ (they would like something better than a 50 STM but they are not expecting the IQ of an RF 50) and some aperture (to f/1.4 or perhaps f/1.8) to get that. As I've seen it put, they are looking for a 50mm equivalent of the 35 f/2 IS (rather than a 50mm equivalent of something like a 35 f/1.4L II).

I don't think what they are asking for is unreasonable, and to be honest I'm a little surprised Canon hasn't released a refreshed EF 50 f/1.4 before now. Canon seems to think 50mm prime lenses still matter, since they led with an RF 50 f/1.2L, and I would have thought there was a market for a cheaper version which gave up some quality to hit a price point and size. That said, I was talking to a salesman in a camera shop just before Christmas and we got to talking about the RF 35 f/1.8 IS, and he commented that it wasn't selling that well really. He said he hears a lot of people talk about wanting relatively small and light lenses, but the lenses which actually sell, at least for full frame cameras, are the high end, wide aperture ones. Obviously that's only one salesperson's experience, but perhaps Canon's market research shows something similar. (I suppose it mirrors my own experience to some degree too. I had the 35 f/2 IS for a while but changed to a Sigms 35 Art after trying one out. The 35 f/2 IS is a good lens and I do miss its size and weight sometimes. However I tend to use zooms for convenience and primes for aperture/IQ, so I have the 24-70 f/4L IS for its relatively small size and weight (and IS, macro and price) to go with the Sigma 35 Art.)

Anyway, my guess is Canon will release something along the lines of a 50 f/1.4 or 50 1.8 IS in the next year or two ... but I wouldn't be very surprised if it is an RF lens rather than an EF lens. Time will tell. (I'm not in the market for a new 50mm lens but as someone who is not particularly keen on an EVF, I won't be sorry if Canon releases an EF lens ... but my money is on an RF lens.)
 
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unfocused

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FAKE NEWS! Misleading headline and the story takes a innocuous quote and plunks it down into the story ignoring the actual statement.

Canon Quote:

“And of course, should the market demand it, we are ready to create new EF lenses. But for now, our focus is on RF.”

That's a far cry from the fake news headline: "Canon Done Making EF Lenses Unless Photographers Demand More."

No. They are simply concentrating their resources for the time being on developing new RF lenses. The EF lens lineup is very robust and while there may be individual lenses that some people would like to see added to the lineup, it's understandable if Canon hasn't seen a market for those lenses.

No one, including Canon, knows what the future of the camera market may be. They are busy building out the RF system, but if DSLRs remain a popular item (and I think they will) Canon is going to continue to sell and support DSLRs.
 
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Michael Clark

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That said, I was talking to a salesman in a camera shop just before Christmas and we got to talking about the RF 35 f/1.8 IS, and he commented that it wasn't selling that well really. He said he hears a lot of people talk about wanting relatively small and light lenses, but the lenses which actually sell, at least for full frame cameras, are the high end, wide aperture ones. Obviously that's only one salesperson's experience, but perhaps Canon's market research shows something similar.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

Talk all you want about balance between price, size/weight, and IQ but what sells lenses today is how well they image a flat test chart wide open. Period. End of story.

No matter that the best lens for shooting anything other than a flat test chart with the aperture wide open may not be the same lens. The vast majority of buyers have absolutely no concept whatsoever that the "sharpest" wide open lens shooting a flat test chart at relatively close distance may not also be the lens that can produce the best image they desire to produce of something other than a flat test chart.
 
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AlanF

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FAKE NEWS! Misleading headline and the story takes a innocuous quote and plunks it down into the story ignoring the actual statement.

Canon Quote:



That's a far cry from the fake news headline: "Canon Done Making EF Lenses Unless Photographers Demand More."

No. They are simply concentrating their resources for the time being on developing new RF lenses. The EF lens lineup is very robust and while there may be individual lenses that some people would like to see added to the lineup, it's understandable if Canon hasn't seen a market for those lenses.

No one, including Canon, knows what the future of the camera market may be. They are busy building out the RF system, but if DSLRs remain a popular item (and I think they will) Canon is going to continue to sell and support DSLRs.
It’s easier to predict the past than the future.
 
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