Have just seen the first third-party EF - RF mount adaptor - from Commlite, which appears to be a direct replica of the Canon EF- RF mount adaptor.
It's about 2/3 of the price, doesn't carry the Canon logo, not a big deal in itself and nothing that will make anyone really excited - other than the fact that it exists at all.
I predicted a while back that if Canon wanted to protect the RF mount they would put in some authentication circuitry into RF lenses and RF adaptors that would prevent anything non-Canon from being useable with the RF mount. If a Chinese company can replicate the EF-RF adaptor in such a hurry it would indicate that this is NOT the case.
This means there is no technical reason why a third party couldn't produce an RF mount lens. All they'd have to do is mimic the circuitry in this adaptor and use the standard EF protocols they already know about.
What this does mean is that there will no doubt be a possible confusion between future lenses that have an RF mount but still use the old (slow) EF protocols and genuine RF mount lenses which use the new faster protocols. But if this is an issue it'll no doubt come across in future comparative reviews.
Companies such as Sigma generally produce one lens with multiple mounts, the Sony FE mount versions usually being just longer bodies effectively with the FE->sigma adaptor built-in. They could not potentially do the same for RF lenses, but this wouldn't give any advantage over buying the EF mount version and using an adaptor (well, there's a minor advantage in one less moving part and one less thing to go wrong). But I can't see Sigma putting RF style control rings on their lenses just for R users.
It's about 2/3 of the price, doesn't carry the Canon logo, not a big deal in itself and nothing that will make anyone really excited - other than the fact that it exists at all.
I predicted a while back that if Canon wanted to protect the RF mount they would put in some authentication circuitry into RF lenses and RF adaptors that would prevent anything non-Canon from being useable with the RF mount. If a Chinese company can replicate the EF-RF adaptor in such a hurry it would indicate that this is NOT the case.
This means there is no technical reason why a third party couldn't produce an RF mount lens. All they'd have to do is mimic the circuitry in this adaptor and use the standard EF protocols they already know about.
What this does mean is that there will no doubt be a possible confusion between future lenses that have an RF mount but still use the old (slow) EF protocols and genuine RF mount lenses which use the new faster protocols. But if this is an issue it'll no doubt come across in future comparative reviews.
Companies such as Sigma generally produce one lens with multiple mounts, the Sony FE mount versions usually being just longer bodies effectively with the FE->sigma adaptor built-in. They could not potentially do the same for RF lenses, but this wouldn't give any advantage over buying the EF mount version and using an adaptor (well, there's a minor advantage in one less moving part and one less thing to go wrong). But I can't see Sigma putting RF style control rings on their lenses just for R users.