Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM & Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II Discontinued

Ozarker

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This thread has proven something important. I have seen f/4 lenses get all kinds of hate at times. Now the other side of the coin is revealed with descriptions like “legendary “. What does this prove? That we should never assume that what we don’t like is a viewpoint shared by everyone else.
 
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The biggest problem of course, is not RF vs. EF, it is interchangeable lens cameras vs. everything else. And, as far as that goes, I wouldn't even venture a guess as to where things are headed.
It is not only RF vs EF.
If Canon kills off EF then they pretty much have to kill off EF-M.
That would be putting all of its eggs in the same basket.
Fuji and Pansonic both have 2 incompatible mounts.
Canon has 2 incompatible mounts and a 3rd mount that adapts to the other 2.
Canon may well end up with only 1 mount but right now only they have 5 cameras and 18 lenses.
I can't see how that is enough evidence to say that any of the other 2 camera systems are toast.
 
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unfocused

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It is not only RF vs EF.
If Canon kills off EF then they pretty much have to kill off EF-M.
That would be putting all of its eggs in the same basket.
Fuji and Pansonic both have 2 incompatible mounts.
Canon has 2 incompatible mounts and a 3rd mount that adapts to the other 2.
Canon may well end up with only 1 mount but right now only they have 5 cameras and 18 lenses.
I can't see how that is enough evidence to say that any of the other 2 camera systems are toast.
You know, that is an excellent point and one that gets little to no attention here. Abandoning EF sets off the dominos in EF-M and EF-S. The bulk of camera sales are in the EF-M and EF-S lines and Canon would need to have one heck of a lot of confidence in the future of RF to jump off that cliff.
 
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SteveC

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You know, that is an excellent point and one that gets little to no attention here. Abandoning EF sets off the dominos in EF-M and EF-S. The bulk of camera sales are in the EF-M and EF-S lines and Canon would need to have one heck of a lot of confidence in the future of RF to jump off that cliff.

Again, that doesn't make sense. I can see EF-S necessarily being killed (because, after all it's only a minor mod to the EF mount), but EF-M is a totally different animal in spite of the similarity in name.

It may be on the chopping block, but not just because EF is.

And there's one very good reason to keep EF-M: the sales of M50s are fantastic!
 
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stevelee

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The unknown is what percentage of existing customers Canon can retain with the R system and what percentage they will lose either to competitors (If Nikon does indeed continue to develop DSLRs) or simply lose to people deciding not to purchase new cameras (the current state of DSLRs and EF system is good enough that one can argue that no one truly 'needs' a new camera or lens and given the aging out of the customer base, it is certainly plausible that many current customers may never buy another camera if the R system does not excite them).
I think you have described me. While I always enjoy getting new toys, I can’t think of anything that would make me make a major photo purchase at this point. I never pick up my camera and think, “Gee, I wish this thing didn’t have a mirror,” or even, “I sure wish this camera could . . . ,” or even ”I need a different lens.” Money doesn’t even come into it. I have a year’s worth of travel and entertainment funds lying around in my checking accounts waiting for me to go somewhere and do something. I’m still interested in where technology is going, and so I keep reading this board. But it is no longer a matter of my coming here to follow rumors to see when something I am waiting for will come out.
 
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we went through this on this post, and possibly the reason why these lenses are being said as being discontinued. It certainly appears as if they are.

As a counter-argument, Canon Japan posts a list of support period for its products. Support expiring roughly seven years after discontinuation, and current products are marked as "undetermined" (未定)。 (The page is in Japanese, but you should be able to make out the dates without Google Translate's help.)

According to that web page, 40STM, EF-S 60, 85F1.2L, 200F2L, 70-200F2.8L(non-IS), 300F4L, EF-S 18-200 all have support expiration dates defined, a good indication that they are indeed discontinued. But 70-200F4L II, 85F1.8, and 800F5.6L do NOT have expiration dates attached to them.

Another data point from Canon Japan is their catalogue of EF lenses, which show "low inventory" (在庫僅少) or "discontinued" (販売終了) on some lenses. 40, 60, 85F1.2L, 200, 70-200F2.8L, 300, 18-200 all have either "low inventory" next to them, while 70-200F4L II, 85F1.8, and 800 do not have anything attached to them. So this list correlates cleanly with the earlier list, and not with Canon USA's list of "out of stock" items.

tl;dr: I am highly skeptical about 70-200F4L II being actually discontinued. Considering the extreme supply constraints on RF lenses right now*, a more likely explanation is that Canon is using all of its manufacturing lines to push out RF lenses, and they don't have a timetable on when they'll get back to producing the poorer-selling EF lenses.

* Last weekend, a sales rep at one of the major camera shops in Tokyo told me that he doesn't have any RF lens in stock except RF 50 STM. Yow.
 
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... all have support expiration dates defined, a good indication that they are indeed discontinued...

Another data point from Canon Japan is their catalogue of EF lenses, which show "low inventory" (在庫僅少) or "discontinued" (販売終了) on some lenses.

The 180mm f/3.5 L macro has an end of support date of November 2027 but is not marked as either "low inventory" or "discontinued" in your second link. (It's also available from a local retailer here in Australia.) I don't think they ever sold many copies, so I guess it's possible that they don't have many left but the few they do have is enough to sell for a long time.
 
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Maximilian

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... I have seen f/4 lenses get all kinds of hate at times. ...
Fully agree.
I don't get general judgements and opinions at all. Every photog and every subject is different.
Of course an execellent wide aperture lens (zoom or prime) is always the more versatile tool. But also more expensive, bigger and heavier.
And - yes - more critical and difficult to use to the max.
But if a lens serves ones purposes well, e.g. because it is small, light, has excellent IQ wide open at f/4 or simply does the job, then why diminish that tool.
 
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koenkooi

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The 180mm f/3.5 L macro has an end of support date of November 2027 but is not marked as either "low inventory" or "discontinued" in your second link. (It's also available from a local retailer here in Australia.) I don't think they ever sold many copies, so I guess it's possible that they don't have many left but the few they do have is enough to sell for a long time.
The date code on the 180L I bought in July 2020 is 'UH0318', which decodes to a production date of March 2019. That was a lot more recent than I expected, less than 18 months between manufacture and sale.
 
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As a counter-argument, Canon Japan posts a list of support period for its products. Support expiring roughly seven years after discontinuation, and current products are marked as "undetermined" (未定)。 (The page is in Japanese, but you should be able to make out the dates without Google Translate's help.)

According to that web page, 40STM, EF-S 60, 85F1.2L, 200F2L, 70-200F2.8L(non-IS), 300F4L, EF-S 18-200 all have support expiration dates defined, a good indication that they are indeed discontinued. But 70-200F4L II, 85F1.8, and 800F5.6L do NOT have expiration dates attached to them.

Another data point from Canon Japan is their catalogue of EF lenses, which show "low inventory" (在庫僅少) or "discontinued" (販売終了) on some lenses. 40, 60, 85F1.2L, 200, 70-200F2.8L, 300, 18-200 all have either "low inventory" next to them, while 70-200F4L II, 85F1.8, and 800 do not have anything attached to them. So this list correlates cleanly with the earlier list, and not with Canon USA's list of "out of stock" items.

tl;dr: I am highly skeptical about 70-200F4L II being actually discontinued. Considering the extreme supply constraints on RF lenses right now*, a more likely explanation is that Canon is using all of its manufacturing lines to push out RF lenses, and they don't have a timetable on when they'll get back to producing the poorer-selling EF lenses.

* Last weekend, a sales rep at one of the major camera shops in Tokyo told me that he doesn't have any RF lens in stock except RF 50 STM. Yow.
Interesting!

However, to counterpoint, there is no reason Canon USA would prevent users from placing orders on back ordered items if they were going to get in stock.
if anything, people placing orders on back-ordered items allows them to judge better how many they need to get from Japan. For instance, there are at least a dozen EF lenses all on backorder, all of them would be in the same scenario - unlikely to know when they would be shipped overseas from Japan again. The only reason to prevent someone from ordering is that you don't expect any stock. ever. Also, one region may run out of stock faster than others. Consider that Japan leads in switching to mirrorless and USA still is quite lagging behind, it would stand to reason that Canon USA may run out of inventory quicker than Japan.
 
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ctk

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What gets me totally puzzeled is what they are planning for the Rebel/Kiss/xxxD/xxxxD/EF-S audience. :unsure:o_O
Esp. with the rumors that EOS M system is about to end, too.
Is that consumer market dead and lost to smartphones?
Will it continue? Will there be something else?
I don't know about EOS M, but I can say with some level of confidence that in 2021 the Rebel/Kiss/etc audience does not exist. And if they do, they have millions of used/new-old-stock bodies to choose from. From Canon's POV there's no point in dedicating any production capacity to them.

I hope they invest in EOS M. They are 2-3 bodies and maybe 3-4 lenses from having a full entry level system there. I would seriously consider ditching my R to go to EOS M if the right bodies and lenses were there (IBIS 32.5 MP body, decent 15-xx zoom)
 
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MartinF.

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Seems a pretty narrow range of a camera to try to be between the between 6D mkII and 5D mkIV. What (and more importantly why) in the world would that be?


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My only argument is, that Canon has more or less official said, that there will be no direct successor for the 5DmkIV.
That statement opens for final EF mount DSLR. And my quess is (was) that it would be a no-nonsense 5D style camera for primary still shooters.
However - as writing this on april 8th. and with the announcement of further discontinued EF lenses, I am not to sure that there will ever me one more final EF mount camera.
 
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Going thru the list:
There is no evidence EF 14 mm f/2,8 USM II is discontinued (Maybe the prior version).
There is no evidence EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM is discontinued
There is an EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM which is newer and better.
There is no evidence EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM II is discontinued (Maybe the prior version).
The big white primes are surprising and have nothing I would consider as a replacement on EF or RF but those lenses are crazy expensive. Maybe they are going to be made to order?)
 
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The unknown is what percentage of existing customers Canon can retain with the R system and what percentage they will lose either to competitors (If Nikon does indeed continue to develop DSLRs) or simply lose to people deciding not to purchase new cameras (the current state of DSLRs and EF system is good enough that one can argue that no one truly 'needs' a new camera or lens and given the aging out of the customer base, it is certainly plausible that many current customers may never buy another camera if the R system does not excite them).

I would buy every lens in the EF lineup before I considered buying into the R system, heh. As you stated, the "R" does not excite me. No more EF = no more sales for this photog. Don't think need to switch to another brand as all the EF lenses Canon already has are reference level IMO.
 
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I would buy every lens in the EF lineup before I considered buying into the R system, heh. As you stated, the "R" does not excite me. No more EF = no more sales for this photog. Don't think need to switch to another brand as all the EF lenses Canon already has are reference level IMO.
Let's not get carried away.
Some of those lenses are pretty expensive.
If Canon made a 5D with IBIS then I would never have bought an R5.
I am glad that I did.
I already had a G9 so it was not my first DSLM.
That being said I am not completely sold on mirrorless and still want a DSLR.
If Canon makes a 5D or 6D with IBIS or Nikon does the same then they have an automatic sale from me.
I have looked into Pentax and the K1 seems prehistoric.
I heard that Olympus started IBIS first with DSLRs but only Pentax followed them.
Panasonic was the first that I am aware of to do IBIS + OIS + EIS which was the main reason I got a G9.
Canon and Nikon are now doing the same but unfortunately only on mirrorless.
There is no reason that I am aware of that they can't do that on DSLRs.
 
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Ozarker

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Let's not get carried away.
Some of those lenses are pretty expensive.
If Canon made a 5D with IBIS then I would never have bought an R5.
I am glad that I did.
I already had a G9 so it was not my first DSLM.
That being said I am not completely sold on mirrorless and still want a DSLR.
If Canon makes a 5D or 6D with IBIS or Nikon does the same then they have an automatic sale from me.
I have looked into Pentax and the K1 seems prehistoric.
I heard that Olympus started IBIS first with DSLRs but only Pentax followed them.
Panasonic was the first that I am aware of to do IBIS + OIS + EIS which was the main reason I got a G9.
Canon and Nikon are now doing the same but unfortunately only on mirrorless.
There is no reason that I am aware of that they can't do that on DSLRs.
Which Olympus DSLR had IBIS? Pentax DSLR with IBIS? News to me. I only go back about 12 years, but must admit I am ignorant about DSLR cameras with IBIS.
 
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