Lens longevity

[timmyquest]

How often does canon come up with a new lens mount?

If i drop $1500 on a lens sould it last me a while?

I can adjust to new bodies, but i'd rather not have to buy a new lens ever 5 years.

[PeterS45]

I bought my first EOS (a 620) in 1990 and it had the same EF-mount as Canon uses today, so I shouldn't worry if I were you.

[timmyquest]

I bought my first EOS (a 620) in 1990 and it had the same EF-mount as Canon uses today, so I shouldn't worry if I were you.

Actually i was aware they've been around that long and it is THAT that worries me...ya know what i mean.

[Bubber Jones]

and it is THAT that worries me...ya know what i mean.

I don't... What are you implying?

[timmyquest]

and it is THAT that worries me...ya know what i mean.

I don't... What are you implying?

The current technology is over 10 years old...

[chris.bailey]

and it is THAT that worries me...ya know what i mean.

I don't... What are you implying?

The current technology is over 10 years old...

No the format of the mount is 10 years old which is not at all the same thing.

[PeterS45]

One of the major advantages of the Canon EF-mount is the fact that it uses electronic contacts between body and lens and the technology can be changed inside the camera as well as inside the lens without having to change anything in the way the lens is attached to the camera. So I'm not planning to worry about that for years to come.

[EoSD30fReAk]

That's why so many old canon users buy a Canon DSLR. because you can mount your old lenses onto your digital. Canon is famous for that, so i don't think you'll have to worry about canon changing lensmounts for a long time!

[Jesper]

That's why so many old canon users buy a Canon DSLR. because you can mount your old lenses onto your digital. Canon is famous for that, so i don't think you'll have to worry about canon changing lensmounts for a long time!

Have a look in the Canon Camera Museum: http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/index.html - click on "Lenses" on the left side. In the past, Canon had several lens mounts: S (from Leica), R, FL, FD, New FD and EF (and it looks like R, FL, FD and New FD all have the same physical specs).

It's very important for companies like Canon and Nikon to not change their physical lens mounts, because ofcourse people buying their stuff don't like their lenses becoming unusable... Nikon changed their mount even fewer times than Canon; you can still use old manual lenses on the newest Nikon (D)SLRs without any adapters etc.

[PaulB]

Bit of history:
Canon originally had a breechlock mount which was first used in the late '50s early '60s. They then moved to a more normal bayonet which was reasonably compatable with the earlier one.
When Canon went autofocus they decided to make a clean break with the earlier manual focus mounts and designed the EF mount which is still in use today.
This clean break incensed many of the users of the manual cameras - as you would expect - but because to their foresight (electrical connections only between camera and body, bigger mount diameter etc.) Canon have really reaped the rewards, it is easier to design large aperture lenses if you have the bigger mount diameter, it is easier to incorporate IS for examle if you have electronic connections built in and so on.
Nikon made the decision to keep faith with users of theie earlier manual focus models but have had to add-on electronic connections and so on to keep up to date and try to compete with Canon. The small diameter Nikon mount makes it so much harder to fit all this new technology in as well as making lens design more of a compromise. It is perhaps one major reason that FF sensors are not making an appearance with any success on Nikon mount bodies!
Do not worry that Canon will drastically change the EF mount in the near - or foreseeable - future. If they do then it will be in ways which we will proberbly never notice as all existing lenses will still fit. In the longer term - who knows? Technology dictates that a change will be needed eventually, but for now the Canon EF mount is simply the most advanced available.

[timmyquest]

I feel much better now :-)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Even when (note I say when not if) when Canon moves to denser smaller than 35mm CMOS sensors and thus can reduce size, weight and cost for all new lenses,. by doing so they would not need to reduce the size of the actual mount... they might,. but they would not need to.

But I do not see such a move regardless in less than 10 years...

And I suspect 99% of the people that read my prediction will say I'm full of carp anyways :mrgreen:

[Guillermo Freige]

Also Canon was clever enough to make an expandable EF lens/body protocol. Physical mount (at least in fully electronic ones) in only half of the equation (or ever less). If the protocol used between lens and body changes, despite using the same mount, older lenses using older protocols can be incompatible in newer bodies. Fortunately Canon designed the protocol in a way they can add functions without losing compatibility. For example, older lenses (as my 4years old 75-300IS) doesn't transmit focus distance, but still works in new bodies. That's why older non-Canon lenses, using a reverse engineered protocol fail to work in new bodies, because they seem to lack the "falback" capabilities of Canon lenses.
Regretfully, flash protocol isn´t so cleverly designed, and we have incompatibilities between the new E-TTL (and now E-TTL II) bodies and old A-TTL flashes. This is a typical case of same physical flash mount but a different protocol used.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Based on my own experimentation ,. I do not beleive even the newest lense use all of the electrical contacts between camera and body.

I could be mistaken,. but the "tape trick" as often posted on forums like this usually tells you to tape over the last three (or first three depending on where you start :) ) contacts to cut off the aperture communication to the lens.

I have since found that you don't need to tape over three,. in fact only one. So what do the other two contacts do? No other effect is seen by taping over them?

[RichardtheSane]

Based on my own experimentation ,. I do not beleive even the newest lense use all of the electrical contacts between camera and body.

I could be mistaken,. but the "tape trick" as often posted on forums like this usually tells you to tape over the last three (or first three depending on where you start :) ) contacts to cut off the aperture communication to the lens.

I have since found that you don't need to tape over three,. in fact only one. So what do the other two contacts do? No other effect is seen by taping over them?

Image stabiliser functions maybe, and there is the illusive 'lens stop af' function too. Could be sommut to do with those...

[CyberDyneSystems]

Ahhh,. IS ,. I had not considered,.. of course I did all these tests before I even owned my first IS lens...


On the other hand,. I know many people use the three contact tape trick with there 100-400 IS and don't loose IS function.. so.... :?:

But that just shows to go ya how Canon had thought in advance.. they had those contacts in place loooong before there first IS lens :)

[ShootTechPan]

This is perhaps the most interesting thread I've ever read here. (I've been lurking for a while :))

Any more interesting tidbits?

[CyberDyneSystems]

This is perhaps the most interesting thread I've ever read here. (I've been lurking for a while :))

Any more interesting tidbits?

Anthony Perkins is his own Mother!!!! :mrgreen: :lol: 8) :? :wink: