Will EF lenses be as good as RF lenses with Canon's adaptor for the new mirrorless bodies?

This image was taken with R7 adapted EF100-400mm and EF1.4 TC Mk 3. Heavily cropped!
It’s images like this that stops me from upgrading the 100-400 to the much regaled 100-500.

Going forward EF lens on RF body is a superior cost effective measure.

Just be mindful that by 2030s Canon may not service any EF gear.

So like FD gear you'll be forced to go to 3rd party repair shops that either 3D print the broken part or cannibalize it from a donor.

Unfortunately true. I had been shooting Canon for over two decades and now knowing I have to deal with the end of service support for my gear, I have to say I am sorely disappointed with Canon’s support policy. ESP in light of current refusal to license the mount to third party lens makers. I can see myself in the next 5 years moving totally away from Canon for these reasons. Unless things change before I need to replace my R6 and R7.

Canonised wrote in post #19482288
Unfortunately true. I had been shooting Canon for over two decades and now knowing I have to deal with the end of service support for my gear, I have to say I am sorely disappointed with Canon’s support policy. ESP in light of current refusal to license the mount to third party lens makers. I can see myself in the next 5 years moving totally away from Canon for these reasons. Unless things change before I need to replace my R6 and R7.

To be fair to Canon other systems/brands are not in-your-face visible on licensing out their obsolete mounts once they discontinue support.

3rd party lens brands have halted all further R&D of future EF-compatible lenses. I would not be surprised that production lines for these goods have slowed down to the trickle as it is easier to move mirrorless products.

The CIPA worldwide shipping numbers I provided above shows DSLR vs Mirrorless sales. To me the declining DSLR numbers shows that those buying are either taking advantage of the better pricing with their current lens lineup that they'd be using for the next 5-10 years.

With EF mount I started with the 1995 EOS 50 film SLR then moved to my 1st dSLR, the 2003 EOS 10D.

Your R6 & R7 should be good for at least another dozen years before Canon considers it obsolete. By then will you still be lugging around something hot and heavy when a smartphone in 2035 may outdo them?

I like my smartphone because my telco allows me to spread out payment over a period of 24 months. I get encouraged to renew with that year's model because I get a fresh new camera with all the bells and whistles. With my weakened currency this month I'm paying the equivalent of $45/month for a $1099 2021 iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB 5nm with free domestic text/calls/50GB data rather than $45.80/month for 24 months that is the worth of the phone. Hopefully I can leverage the same deal by January.

Back in 2012 I was thinking I'd be upgrading to mirrorless Canon system but nearly a dozen years later I have not touched a my dSLR since 2018. And I only did so for foreign trips.

The need for canon support as a crutch for what to buy or not is GROSSLY overstated.

I suspect that the average shooter here on POTN has maybe used support 1-2 times at most, most have never sent anything in.

This keeps coming up as some sort of stumbling block to either buy or keep EF glass, and in reality isn’t that big a risk.

Canonised wrote in post #19482288
Unfortunately true. I had been shooting Canon for over two decades and now knowing I have to deal with the end of service support for my gear, I have to say I am sorely disappointed with Canon’s support policy. ESP in light of current refusal to license the mount to third party lens makers. I can see myself in the next 5 years moving totally away from Canon for these reasons. Unless things change before I need to replace my R6 and R7.

Well, any given EF lens model was going to fall out of the maintenance window anyway. Canon never serviced any given EF lens model indefinitely. And there is no indication that they will stop servicing any EF lens model currently within its service window any sooner than customary.

So, that is not an "RF-mount factor."

I loved my EF300mm f2.8 IS (mark 1) but it needed repair the Canon centre informed me that they no longer support that lens and when they told me after I needed a spare part for my EF85 f1.2 L the same thing, I sold off the 300mm and contemplated migrating wholly over to Sony. If I had to start all over again with new gear I found their lack of support for the lenses I owned enough of a push.

But I still own the EF400mm f4DO2 which is relatively new and the 100-400 mk2. The other EF lenses I have works fine with ab adaptor as they aren’t needing the fast AF for the subjects I shoot.

As I said earlier. I will make final decision to get more RF lenses or move away from Canon for get the next 5 years. All depends what I see from Canon on how they manage their wares and brand.

So Sony supports their lenses beyond two decades? That is pretty nice of them, but seems unusual in the industry.

The only way to combat this is to sell gear every 5 years or so and pick up deals on newer used gear.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19482305
The need for canon support as a crutch for what to buy or not is GROSSLY overstated.

I suspect that the average shooter here on POTN has maybe used support 1-2 times at most, most have never sent anything in.

This keeps coming up as some sort of stumbling block to either buy or keep EF glass, and in reality isn’t that big a risk.

It depends on your circumstances.

Typical EF system owner has 1-2 lens that never gets detached from the body.

They do not buy every new Series or Mark. So they keep it for say 1-2 decades before deciding to buy new because parts are not available anymore or cost of repair is nearly the same as buying something newer.

People who suffered from self inflicted GAS are different.

Canonised wrote in post #19482695
I loved my EF300mm f2.8 IS (mark 1) but it needed repair the Canon centre informed me that they no longer support that lens and when they told me after I needed a spare part for my EF85 f1.2 L the same thing, I sold off the 300mm and contemplated migrating wholly over to Sony. If I had to start all over again with new gear I found their lack of support for the lenses I owned enough of a push.

But I still own the EF400mm f4DO2 which is relatively new and the 100-400 mk2. The other EF lenses I have works fine with ab adaptor as they aren’t needing the fast AF for the subjects I shoot.

As I said earlier. I will make final decision to get more RF lenses or move away from Canon for get the next 5 years. All depends what I see from Canon on how they manage their wares and brand.

Something to consider about sticking with Canon.

Canon ranks #1 worldwide in terms of ILCs. I do not expect that to change in a decade's time.

Being #1 has the perks of economies of scale like after sales service centers.

Where I live the key complaint of photogs using Sony, Nikon and Fuji is that service center turn around is not CPS-quality. So they miss out on jobs and are forced to rent/borrow to fulfill contracts.

I credit that to their size.

Now, this may not be a case in the past 1-2 decades where you live but the digital camera market has now shrunk down to a little above 8 million units last year.

All time high was in 2010 with nearly 121.5 million units. This was the year when the EOS 1D Mark IV was released and 3 years after the 2007 iPhone 2G.

dolina wrote in post #19482814
It depends on your circumstances.

Typical EF system owner has 1-2 lens that never gets detached from the body.

They do not buy every new Series or Mark. So they keep it for say 1-2 decades before deciding to buy new because parts are not available anymore or cost of repair is nearly the same as buying something newer.

People who suffered from self inflicted GAS are different.

If you keep your gear for 1-2 decades, then you have decided to buy into the support windows for that gear canon has in place. You can’t get upset with it later, this has been in place forever. Also this isn’t unique to canon.

If you want canon and not have to deal with this support window, then you have change gear more frequently.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19482820
If you keep your gear for 1-2 decades, then you have decided to buy into the support windows for that gear canon has in place. You can’t get upset with it later, this has been in place forever. Also this isn’t unique to canon.

If you want canon and not have to deal with this support window, then you have change gear more frequently.

Or never do GAS.

My comments have nothing to do with desire for new gear, it addresses the desire for continued factory support. I am not sure what GAS has to do with this? My comments are to the OP latest complaints.

How about this for clarity?
“If you desire for continued canon support of your gear, you have to change that gear out periodically to newer versions. “

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19482830
My comments have nothing to do with desire for new gear, it addresses the desire for continued factory support. I am not sure what GAS has to do with this? My comments are to the OP latest complaints.

How about this for clarity?
“If you desire for continued canon support of your gear, you have to change that gear out periodically to newer versions. “

When buying anything most people do not look at after sales support as a factor in purchase.

So if you found yourself into GAS and read about the abandonment of the 1988 EF 200mm f/1.8L USM nearing 2008 then you start to worry.

Users bring up saying that parts are not available for the now broken AF by wire system.

People who go into GAS tend to have 1-2 dozen L lenses without replicating focal lengths. So their whole system losing possible spare parts within the decade is a serious concern.

As I said it depends on the circumstances of the users.

If you keep to 1 body with 1-2 lenses that never gets detached for 1-2 decades then spare parts should not even enter your mind. Just replace.

3 issues with your assessment:

A) GAS has nothing to do with the amount of gear you have either. There simply isn’t 1-2 lenses than can do everything a photographer wants to do. There isn’t just 1 body either.

If you are just taking pictures of kids for memories or taking shots of things around you just for your own sake and can do with 1-2 lenses, then why even have any gear? A phone can do that. A good photographer knows what they need to get the job done, and I guess that means they might be labeled GAS by those that aren’t an avid photographer.

I have three camera bodies, and about nine or ten lenses. I can tell you exactly what each does for me and what purposes they serve. I am sure there are those that wouldn’t know why I would need this or even know when to use what I have, and would think it’s too much. I am fine with that, that differentiates the photographer from the polaroid shooter.

What Canon gear do you have? I see alot of bird shots in flickr (beautiful birds in the Phillipines brw), but then just a random set of what I assume are people you know, various street views, etc. Just shooting birds could be done with 1 lens, but to do it well, that lens is likely very expensive, and then street views can be taken with something like a 24-105.

b) On the flip side, what if all you could afford was 1 body and 2 lenses, and that cost you $10000 to do so? Then in that case, that person doesn't have to worry about lack of support ever, they can just go out and buy new again? I suggest every X years to sell off that gear while there is a market, and replace it with a newer version. In the end that will save money, and has nothing to do with GAS.

c) Who cares if someone likes to collect gear? It isn't anyone's business how one decides to spend their money, especially if they are meeting all their financial obligations while doing so. Any time I find someone complaining about what someone else has, there always seems to be jealousy or envy at play. Be happy with what you have, and learn how to get the most of what you own.

Anyways we aren’t here to cast the GAS dispersions onto others (pun intended), let’s talk about EF and RF lenses. I feel that eventually 3rd party AF RF lenses will exist, Canon wants time to mature and firm up their RF lineup, if they allowed others to start in and manufacture items at lower costs, they will get beat to the punch on some very creative offerings. However, in my case, I have zero issues using adapters, they are so cheap, even the control ring adapter can be found for less than $100, so I will continue to use Canon and 3rd party EF lenses. They work outstandingly on the RF bodies.