Canon officially discontinues a lot more EF lenses

[unfocused]

Continue reading...

Where is the press release? No press release. No statement from Canon? Not official.

 

[unfocused]

There’s a confirmed APS-C R camera coming...

Confirmed by whom? Certainly not Canon.

 

[unfocused]

Given that Canon can’t even meet demand for simple things like batteries and basic adapters, much less lenses and bodies, it should come as no surprise that they are pausing EF production to get their supply chain functioning again. But absent any evidence this is just fake news or more accurately click bait.

 

[Fletchahh]

Have you looked at the Sony α6600? 24MP APS-C with fast AF and tracking, IBIS, face/eye and animal eye AF, and there are several EF lens mount adapters available, including one from Sigma that should be well paired (in terms of its electronic command protocol) to their Art lenses (if you have to adapt your EF lenses anyway, why limit yourself to Canon bodies?). Sony also makes a US$2000 200-600 lens that looks amazing. You can see some examples of what people are doing with it here.

I take a look at it, I'll probably just wait and see what Canon announces and look to it as a backup in the unlikely event whatever Canon releases happens to be terrible.

Confirmed by whom? Certainly not Canon.

Maybe I should have said basically confirmed, but there's a [CR3] rated blog post about it (here) near the end of last year.

 

[woodman411]

I am also surprised that they discontinue lenses BEFORE they even announced (yet alone actualy deliver) equivalent lenses (with equivalent focal length and aperture)....

Ideally, if it didn't cost Canon anything, I think they would love to wait until there is an equivalent RF replacement. But I think it places a burden on the RF system, see below.

If these lenses are being discontinued, it seems obvious that the reason is that sales numbers are way down or non-existent, regardless of how popular the lens might have been at one time. My guess is that those buying the latest DSLR's (The 1DX III and the 5D IV) are users that were already in the FF system and not buying new EF lenses in any substantial number. Canon would have that info, and clearly they will use the time and facilities they have to produce what is in demand now - and that is RF lenses. Would you schedule manufacturing time making EF lenses when your R5 and R6 Cameras are selling beyond expectations and lenses are on backorder everywhere?

Not necessarily, I've seen slow sellers from Canon before (eg. older EF-M bodies and lenses) and they would go on fire-sale, not so with various EF lenses I looked at recently. Just one example, the EF 35 f/1.4L II, which is not a new lens, did not go down in price at all during all of 2020 and 2021, and the same story plays out in other EF lenses I've looked at (EF 85 f/1.2L II and 85 f/1.4L IS), all of which does not indicate slow selling:



I postulate another reason to discontinue. Many have noticed that most EF lenses work flawlessly with RF bodies. I don't think this is an accident. I can see Canon rigorously testing many EF lenses against RF bodies using their adapters, and this no doubt takes a lot of time and effort, not just for autofocus accuracy, but also to get the IBIS working right, with and without lens IS, in addition to extenders and other accessories. By discontinuing an EF lens, it's one less lens to test when a new RF body is developed, and I'm sure they are looking to contain the development time.

 

[GoldWing]

Continue reading...

The Canon f/2.8 300mm IS USM II is possibly one of the best lenses Canon has ever made.

 

[dilbert]

If Canon is going to discontinue all of their EF lineup then it would be good to see some leadership from Canon with regards to the e-waste situation that they are now setting up. What does that mean? Offering trade-ins for owners of EF cameras and lenses so that those discontinued models don't just end up in land fill and go back to Canon for Canon to take responsibility for disposing of.

 

[Tessar]

What many people often forget is that Canon is a company, not a charity...
Companies need to compete in the global marketplace and respond to changes in the market. For example nearly all of the entry market get replaced by smartphones with better quality images and more gimmicks. Also still images are more and more replaced by videos for streaming or publish on platforms like Instagram or Tiktok from younger generations.
What's left is mostly the private enthusiasts and the professionals (which earn their living with photography or videography)
Now I guess the overwhelming profit for Canon is in the professional market.
So streamlining their production facilities is a big cost saving factor. Retrofitting older production lines with low volume EF lenses for probably higher volume (and higher margin) future RF lenses is the smartest way to go.

So people say farewell to the old and say welcome the new. Time moves on. Things are changing all the time. Does anyone miss their buttons only (and tiny screen) cellular phones?

 

[Ozarker]

If Canon is going to discontinue all of their EF lineup then it would be good to see some leadership from Canon with regards to the e-waste situation that they are now setting up. What does that mean? Offering trade-ins for owners of EF cameras and lenses so that those discontinued models don't just end up in land fill and go back to Canon for Canon to take responsibility for disposing of.

As soon as I read of Canon discontinuing lenses I threw my EF 135mm f/2L in the garbage. Everyone knows that discontinued lenses don't work anymore... so the landfills be damned. I'd imagine people all over the world have been dumping their glass into the landfills for the past week.

 

[koenkooi]

As soon as I read of Canon discontinuing lenses I threw my EF 135mm f/2L in the garbage. Everyone knows that discontinued lenses don't work anymore... so the landfills be damned. I'd imagine people all over the world have been dumping their glass into the landfills for the past week.

So, ehm, asking for a friend: where do you dump your garbage?

 

[Fischer]

I am also surprised that they discontinue lenses BEFORE they even announced (yet alone actualy deliver) equivalent lenses (with equivalent focal length and aperture)....

Canon has huge issues keeping up with the demand for RF lenses. I was lucky getting my RF 100-500mm after only a few weeks. So Canon is probably making space for moving new RF lenses forward faster and maintaining a better production rate. This makes sense as the likelihood of seeing any new EF mount bodies released seems to be zero. Meanwhile every delayed order adds the risk that buyers go elsewhere with their money.

 

[petitBogueBogue]

IMHO, I think this signifies that very soon, existing EF lenses will be totally incompatible with forthcoming RF cameras as Canon eagerly wants to become the big brother in the mirrorless arena and so does not want the compatibility matter in the EF-RF transition hinders her ambition. I hypothesize this because similar thing happened in Canon once during her FD-EF transition some thirty year ago!
What do you think? ^^

 

[SnowMiku]

IMHO, I think this signifies that very soon, existing EF lenses will be totally incompatible with forthcoming RF cameras as Canon eagerly wants to become the big brother in the mirrorless arena and so does not want the compatibility matter in the EF-RF transition hinders her ambition. I hypothesize this because similar thing happened in Canon once during her FD-EF transition some thirty year ago!
What do you think? ^^

I think that would be a very bad move. Right now EF/EF-S users can easily switch to RF with the adapter and stay with Canon. If they got rid of the compatilbilty in the future it would just make people continue to use the old EF bodies for longer, and when they want to upgrade in the future there would be no incentive to stay with Canon.

 

[dilbert]

As soon as I read of Canon discontinuing lenses I threw my EF 135mm f/2L in the garbage. Everyone knows that discontinued lenses don't work anymore... so the landfills be damned. I'd imagine people all over the world have been dumping their glass into the landfills for the past week.

Sarcasm noted.

But in 6 years time, it will no longer be possible to repair that EF 135 f/2L, so if it develops a fault, it may as well go in the garbage.

Canon have decided to make all of the existing EF product line obsolete. While it may still continue to be of use to you and others, it is no different to people still using 5 or 6 year old mobile phones. However there are recycling plans in place in various parts of the world to take care of the e-waste that the mobile phone upgrade cycle generates. There are similar programs for laptops.

If Canon (and I suppose Nikon too) are going to grauitously decide that their old products are no longer compatible with their new products then Canon should man up and setup a recycling network.

While your EF 135 f/2L may work to some degree with a new camera with an adapter, the looming obsolete DSLR won't work with Canon's new, current, line of lenses.

 

[Ozarker]

Just a fun poll if you've read this far: what is the most recent purchase you've done of EF glass? Personally, it was getting the 50/1.2 and 8-15 fish in 2011. Anyone buy new EF glass more recently than that? Anyone buy new EF glass since RF came out?

Well, I have bought a Tamron EF 45mm and a Canon EF 135mm f/2L since getting my R, but I don't care a bit which lenses Canon discontinues. Would I buy another EF lens? Wish I could buy, again, the EF 35mm f/1.4L II. No money, no honey.

EF Lenses I have bought new since 2013:
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
EF 135mm f/2L (x2)
EF 35mm f/1.4L II
EF 40mm f/2.8
Tamron EF 45mm f/1.8
Tamron EF 15-30 f/2.8

RF 28-70mm f/2L
RF 50mm f/1.2L
RF 85mm f/1.2L

 

[Fischer]

As for the cost of transition to the RF system, I see many are unhappy with the RF sticker price.

You can make various calculations on this. This is mine:
Looking at a lens such as the RF 85mm 1.2 I calculate that the cost of ownership for 5 years to 800 USD. For that I get a slightly better lens, some convenience and a little improved functionality. The cost of keeping a 5 year old EF 85mm 1.2 lens instead will depend a lot on whether or not it will need a repair, but giving it a 70% survival rate without repairs past the 10 year mark the average cost of keeping the lens an additional 5 years will be around 450 USD which translates into around 70 USD per year extra for switching to the RF model. If you think the RF model is just 10% better than the EF model - you should switch to the RF model seen from a pure financial point of view. I understand that not everyone will have the money, that you may want to choose other discount rates than mine etc. and also that you may invest the difference in outlay and actually earn some money towards better lenses in the future. But basically it is maybe less expensive over time to switch to the RF mount than it may seem at first glance (if you can finance the outlay with cash). YMMV.

 

[Sporgon]

Sarcasm noted.

But in 6 years time, it will no longer be possible to repair that EF 135 f/2L, so if it develops a fault, it may as well go in the garbage.

Actually that's not true. After the seven year period Canon won't repair or service it, but all available parts are sold on to approved third party outfits, and they may well be able to repair Canonfanboy's 135L twenty years from now.

I had an old EF 20-35/2.8 that was 1989 vintage and was discontinued in the early '90s, and a few years ago Colchester Camera, an approved Canon repair centre (that has recently closed unfortunately), was able to replace the centre barrel that has the AF/Manual switch in it. So messages of "after six years your EF lenses can't be repaired" are not necessarily correct.

 

[Fischer]

Actually that's not true. After the seven year period Canon won't repair or service it, but all available parts are sold on to approved third party outfits, and they may well be able to repair Canonfanboy's 135L twenty years from now.

I had an old EF 20-35/2.8 that was 1989 vintage and was discontinued in the early '90s, and a few years ago Colchester Camera, an approved Canon repair centre (that has recently closed unfortunately), was able to replace the centre barrel that has the AF/Manual switch in it. So messages of "after six years your EF lenses can't be repaired" are not necessarily correct.

Worth taking into account. But anyone in the repair business - from cameras to cars - can attest that repairs and repair shops are a dying thing or alternatively very expensive. Just see some of the repair costs people quote here at CR. I fear this trend will accelerate in the coming years. In many countries in Europe a non-Canon repair is practically impossible or very expensive already.

 

[StoicalEtcher]

Just a fun poll if you've read this far: what is the most recent purchase you've done of EF glass? Personally, it was getting the 50/1.2 and 8-15 fish in 2011. Anyone buy new EF glass more recently than that? Anyone buy new EF glass since RF came out?

I agree with much of the direction of your comments, but, in the spirit of your query, I've purchased the TS-E 50mm and 180macro in the last 12 months.

Both were lenses I wanted/had use for. In the case of the 180macro, I'd been looking for almost 1 year any couldn't find any authorised UK Canon dealer with one in stock - so much so I reckoned they had already stopped production some time ago and sold out of the last run, and I was getting close to resigning myself to the second-hand market.

Then, out of the blue, Canon (UK) themselves had it in stock, so I jumped - I reckon they were clearing out stocks and come across some last items!

I'm not a big fan of zooms generally, but a young family with a penchant for beach holidays (Scotland's islands are still mostly open), persuaded me to purchase the ef70-200 f/4 as personal/beach purchase too last summer (aug 2020) - also backed by a personal view that if you want 'em new, there's likely only a certain window left, even before Craig's stories here.

Cheers.

 

[SteveC]

Just a fun poll if you've read this far: what is the most recent purchase you've done of EF glass? Personally, it was getting the 50/1.2 and 8-15 fish in 2011. Anyone buy new EF glass more recently than that? Anyone buy new EF glass since RF came out?

I'm not one of the bemoaners.

But I did buy a 100-400 II L either in late 2019 or early 2020 (but it was before the RF 100-500 came out). Not all that long before that I bought some of the low-rent primes. I'm new enough to this that every single lens I own (other than maybe a rebel kit lens) is after your cutoff date.

No I did NOT throw a fit when an RF replacement came out shortly afterwards, because I have, and will again in the future, use the lens on my M series cameras, and I can't do that with the RF model. I would probably buy the EF today, in fact, had I not done so in the past. (And as far as I know this one hasn't been discontinued, yet.)