Canon's Lens Future
The source admits this is a wild concept and comes from a third party. The third party is in a position that this type of knowledge is possible.
I received the following information. Even the source says take it with a large grain of salt.
Over the next decade, Canon will go all “L” EF lenses and EF-S lenses. There will be no NON-L EF lenses produced.
The source claims the following. This is a direct quote.
50mm f/1.4 will be replaced by a new upgraded Pro-grade 50mm f/1.4L at $600-700, even at $700 its still about half the cost of the 50mm f/1.2L and in the reach of most people shooting for say, the 50mm f/1.4 Sigma…
It will offer faster AF than its bigger brother due to lighter focusing groups, and possibly better optical performance due to improvements in glass and coatings…
The old 50mm f/1.4 will be discontinued, as will the 24, 28 and 35 non-L primes, all of which replaced with a 35mm f/1.4 EF-S lens that will be less than $400 and feature a build quality close to the 15-85 (Ie very solid)
CR's Take
I have never heard anything like this previously. It may be worth discussing and drawing out other folks that may have some knowledge on the subject. This is a rumors site, this felt worthwhile posting, even if it's complete poppycock.
I will say the price points are likely way off. I can't see a 35 1.4 coming in under $400. The 50 1.4L with better optics than the 1.2L? I'm not sure about the likelihood of that either.
cr
180 Comments
1.4 to 1.2 is half a stop of light.
I regard connections between lens’ segmentations as more important than the body material itself.
The move for 100mm to engineering plastic is good as it lowers the weight; a selling point to some even for any other L series lenses. In my opinion Canon is trialling the plastic casing in the macro for a buffer to see consumer reaction with regard to a plastic L. If that went well (to Canon); we might see more light weight plastic L? Hey… dont sweat… (it is a rumor site after all right?)
After all, 24-70 is famed for its amazing IQ and its weight/ brick inherent attribute XD
Anyways, whatever their body materials are, its connections must be properly build and designed to match its existing metal “L series” counterparts famed for being able to withstand professional abuse. Whether or not Canon has done this with the L macro, I have no idea.
But, I do agree that with plastics, we might have a slight problem with it being brittle which ultimately might snap suddenly with sudden excessive tensile force during dropping (though other L are heavier and have a greater potential force during dropping, metal is ductile).
Or… canon can reinforce the plastic with metal fibres as they do in high strength concrete XD
I just got myself 17-55 :(
But…
I dont care my lens is good and my needs are addressed with this lens (in denial mode=on)
I have to comment that 15mm will be good to have if they really going to release the new lens. 17 mm is not wide enough for “just nice” 24mm view in FF.
(I prefer 24 over 28 mm :P)
on the long end I think 17-55 is enough to cover general photog needs… if it is going to be 15-70 fl, it is very unlikely that the lens will still maintain 2.8 constant aperture and 77 mm lens diameter in my opinion; the weight will be too much.
15-55 f2 or 2.8 is plausible though… if that lens comes out I will be sweating myself.
And yet people like you keep coming back for more?
It’s a friggin rumors site.
Or, if you want to be more precise (I’m bored):
(ln(1.4) – ln(1.2)) / ln(sqrt(2)) = 0.445
So, f/1.4 is 0.445 stops slower than f/1.2, or half a stop, if you want to round it off.