We’ve received the pricing for the new RF lenses

YuengLinger

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I've been thinking about that, Canon extending the barrel (with filter slot!), updating electronics and motors and adding their newest coatings.
My suspicion is that Canon hasn't show these in public is because it would look lazy and from a spec sheet PoV nothing would have changed compared to the EF versions. Why would I stop using my EF85mm f/1.8 + filter adapter and switch to the RF version?

The only downside I've learned about so far using EF lenses is the R's EVF only allows High-speed Display when using an RF lens. (Page 149, EOS R user manual) Frankly, even with high-speed display, I can't see the R as an action camera. Hopefully things will improve in a future body, but I wonder if Canon will change this particular EVF restriction.
 
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SteveC

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The only downside I've learned about so far using EF lenses is the R's EVF only allows High-speed Display when using an RF lens. (Page 149, EOS R user manual) Frankly, even with high-speed display, I can't see the R as an action camera. Hopefully things will improve in a future body, but I wonder if Canon will change this particular EVF restriction.

It depends on why the restriction is in place.

The cynic will claim that Canon did this to deliberately cripple the EF lenses.

But it may be that the RF lens supplies something that the EFs can't. After all, there are additional contacts in the mount.
 
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YuengLinger

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It depends on why the restriction is in place.

The cynic will claim that Canon did this to deliberately cripple the EF lenses.

But it may be that the RF lens supplies something that the EFs can't. After all, there are additional contacts in the mount.
Could it possibly be something with readiness to shoot, or how the AF and/or exposure is being checked between shutter activations? It does seem like it would be a pretty mean ploy, and a subtle one, to get photographers to buy Rf instead of Ef lenses! I'm not jumping to the conclusion Canon did this on purpose.
 
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Michael Clark

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Perhaps I'm the only person in the world who shoots soccer, baseball, track, softball, golf and other outdoor sports with a 1Dx II and a 100-400. But, I kind of doubt it.

How much of that soccer, baseball, track, softball, golf, and other outdoor sports is under the lights, rather than during daylight hours?
 
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Michael Clark

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Those lenses make a profit for Canon, or it would have discontinued them, same as it did with the 50mm f/2.5 compact macro and 135mm f/2.8 soft focus. I doubt Canon is going to drop profitable lenses, esp as those are the cheap alternatives, and my unprofessional impression is those would be easy to redesign for RF (make the barrel a little longer, upgrade the electronics).

Not necessarily. Those old lenses still in the current catalog may only be there because Canon has existing stock on hand from the last production run 15-20 years ago. The only difference between those lenses and the 50/2.5 compact macro or 135/2.8 soft focus may be that they sold all that they could of the latter lenses while still maintaining enough spare parts on hand to support them for about seven years at the time they "discontinued" them.
 
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SteveC

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Not necessarily. Those old lenses still in the current catalog may only be there because Canon has existing stock on hand from the last production run 15-20 years ago. The only difference between those lenses and the 50/2.5 compact macro or 135/2.8 soft focus may be that they sold all that they could of the latter lenses while still maintaining enough spare parts on hand to support them for about seven years at the time they "discontinued" them.

It should be possible to narrow this down (at least) by finding someone who has recently purchased one and having him read some of the stampings on them. If I Recall Correctly [IIRC] the year of production is coded in the stampings.
 
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Not necessarily. Those old lenses still in the current catalog may only be there because Canon has existing stock on hand from the last production run 15-20 years ago. The only difference between those lenses and the 50/2.5 compact macro or 135/2.8 soft focus may be that they sold all that they could of the latter lenses while still maintaining enough spare parts on hand to support them for about seven years at the time they "discontinued" them.

I doubt Canon has stopped manufacturing the 20mm f/2.8 ('92), 50mm f/1.4 ('93), 85mm f/1.8 ('92), 135mm f/2 ('96), 200mm f/2.8L mkII ('96), 300mm f/4L ("91), 400mm f/5.6L ('93), 75-300mm mkIII USM ('99), and just sells huge stocks of all those lenses. Especially so as some of them have great IQ and/or have no reasonable alternative, e.g. the 85mm & 135mm.

Canon might drop a couple of them along the way, e.g. the 75-300mm, but no more.
 
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Michael Clark

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It should be possible to narrow this down (at least) by finding someone who has recently purchased one and having him read some of the stampings on them. If I Recall Correctly [IIRC] the year of production is coded in the stampings.

On some lenses it is. On others it is not. The EF 50mm f/1.4, for instance, does not have a date code stamped on it. It has an eight digit serial number only.

Only the ten digit serial numbers introduced with some lenses introduced beginning in 2008 include date of manufacture information in the first two digits. Even then, the two digit prefix of the ten digit codes repeat every 97 months (there are no "98", "99", and "00" date codes in the ten digit system). So a lens made in January 2008 will have the same date code as a lens made in February 2016. For lenses that have been offered longer than eight years, it's not possible to tell the difference between an eight year old or newly manufactured lens based on the date code in the ten digit SN.

Lenses with separate letter/numerical based six digit codes also repeat in a 26 year cycle, so it is impossible to tell if a lens was made in 1992 or 2018 based upon the single "year" digit. The first letter of the six digit codes tells which factory made the lens. The second letter is a "year" code. The third and fourth digits are a numerical "month" code. Sometimes the "0" for months 1-9 is omitted. The last two digits (numbers) are internal revision number codes and may be omitted or only a single digit.
 
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Michael Clark

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I doubt Canon has stopped manufacturing the 20mm f/2.8 ('92), 50mm f/1.4 ('93), 85mm f/1.8 ('92), 135mm f/2 ('96), 200mm f/2.8L mkII ('96), 300mm f/4L ("91), 400mm f/5.6L ('93), 75-300mm mkIII USM ('99), and just sells huge stocks of all those lenses. Especially so as some of them have great IQ and/or have no reasonable alternative, e.g. the 85mm & 135mm.

Canon might drop a couple of them along the way, e.g. the 75-300mm, but no more.

I also doubt Canon has stopped manufacturing all of the above listed lenses. But I would not be surprised at all that they have not had a production run of some other "current" lenses, such as the EF 28mm f/1.8, for as long as 5-10 years and might discontinue them when their stock drops below a certain point.

The EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (non-USM), included in a lot of Rebel two lens kits, probably sells as many copies per year as the all of the others on your list combined. Therefore it probably has production runs more frequently than the others.

By the way, the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM (which uses a micro-USM, not a Ring USM AF motor) appears to be on its way to being discontinued in the near future. Most authorized dealers no longer have it in stock. Canon USA's direct store is currently selling it at a $60 discount that puts it below the price of the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III. Adorama, Beach/BuyDig, and the Canon refurb store (they always have the non-USM version in stock) have none, B&H is selling it with a $55 discount, and most of the listings for third party sellers on amazon have pictures of the non-USM version.
 
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I also doubt Canon has stopped manufacturing all of the above listed lenses. But I would not be surprised at all that they have not had a production run of some other "current" lenses, such as the EF 28mm f/1.8, for as long as 5-10 years and might discontinue them when their stock drops below a certain point.

I can't argue for most of those lenses, so I'll have to leave it at "time will tell".

The EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (non-USM), included in a lot of Rebel two lens kits, probably sells as many copies per year as the all of the others on your list combined. Therefore it probably has production runs more frequently than the others.

Both Canon EF 75-300mm are cheaper than the EF-S 55-250mm IS non-STM (at least at the moment @ B&H). This seems to me like dump prices (= Canon trying to get rid of existing stock), rather than the lenses being manufactured & sold at a profit. Canon not having IBIS, and the low end market shrinking, I don't see IS-less teles selling that well.
 
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Michael Clark

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I can't argue for most of those lenses, so I'll have to leave it at "time will tell".



Both Canon EF 75-300mm are cheaper than the EF-S 55-250mm IS non-STM (at least at the moment @ B&H). This seems to me like dump prices (= Canon trying to get rid of existing stock), rather than the lenses being manufactured & sold at a profit. Canon not having IBIS, and the low end market shrinking, I don't see IS-less teles selling that well.

Maybe, but it seems to me that they're still moving more units of the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (non-USM), when the units sold in kits are included in the totals, than the rest of your list combined. They've been practically giving them away for at least a decade.

I think that most folks who buy an entry level Rebel with a two lens kit have no idea what IBIS is. YMMV.
 
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