Is investing in a lot of EF-S glass wise?

For me, it would not be a problem. I don't see myself going to FF anytime soon or if I would even make that change so for me EF-s lenses are fine for me.

I have to agree with cacaw.

There are only a couple of EFs lenses that repeatedly get good reviews here and other places: 10-22, 15-85 and 17-55. Depending on what we shoot with our APS-C cameras, a lot of us end up with one or more of the above mentioned. All three seem to hold their prices fairly well and are often available used since others do make the jump to FF. So to lessen the risk, buying one of the great EFs lenses used is a great way to ensure it is a safe investment. In the mean time, you'll have a lens specifically designed for a crop camera and will have the joy of the photographs you'll take.

Phoenixkh wrote in post #15014890
There are only a couple of EFs lenses that repeatedly get good reviews here and other places: 10-22, 15-85 and 17-55.

And the 60!

tkbslc wrote in post #15014459
The new 6D is $2100 and has very entry level specs. That proves that FF is still really expensive to make. We will likely have crop cameras for the foreseeable future. If anything, I see the mirror box dying, not the APS-C sensor. But even that is not happening soon.

I agree and my prediction was based on the DSLR APS-C rather than mirrorless.

I see the "mirrorless" market as a slow progress from small sensor-ed P&S upwards. How much larger will their sensors get over time? Possibly to the APS size, possibly further. For the time being though I expect a viewfinder will be a big requirement for many (particularly PJ's and such) but that viewfinder may not be optical in 10 or 15 years time.

I don't know but as I'm unlikely to be buying new anytime soon, I still have a few generations of bodies after my 40D to still be able to use any EF-S lenses.

I buy a lot of ef-s and ef lenses used at a good price and sell them back out at a profit or break even when I'm done with them. If you plan on always owning a crop then the answer is yes. If not then think about used.

I'm starting to think about this a little differently myself now. I didn't see myself going FF and bought the lenses that worked best for the camera I am using now. I currently have 3 EF-S lenses: 17-50, 30/1.4 and 60/2.8 ( if you don't count the kit lenses my wife uses on the XT) and I would like to add an UWA lens.

So its like $850 for a 10-22, but now with the 5D2 being so much cheaper and the 6D intro, I would only be looking into $800-$1200 more for a FF body to compliment the 7D. I would then trade in the Sigma 17-50 for a 17-40 to get the UWA. Then change the 30/1.4 for the 28/1.8 and change the 60/2.8 for a 100/2.8 or 100L.

For now I think I am going to hold off on getting any new lenses and maybe get some more lighting stuff until the reviews are out on how good the 6D's AF system works in practice.

Interesting question. Some might say (Caliwalkabout for instance, and with some validity) that you should never 'invest' in lenses because then you're always setting yourself up to being disappointed when you come to sell them. On the other hand, one of the great justifiers in buying lenses is that you shouldn't loose too much on them should you need to sell. I would say that buying a 10-22 or 17-55 would be a pretty safe bet still, based on a 4 year horizon or such. but who really knows, if mirrorless growth really does continue to outstrip crop DSLR growth then maybe we will eventually get to a mirrorless and FF frame world, but then maybe the crop lenses will work on mirrorless as well (even if not naturally on the EOS M).

I don't think anyone's in a great position to answer that, but I would hazard a guess that cheap crop lenses will loose value much quicker than the quality crop lenses.

Let's analyze this...you can buy a used EF-S lens for 80% of its new value, use it for years and resell it for 80% of its new value. Is there something inherently unwise about such a move?!

Let me rephrase for you: "you have been able to buy a used EF-S lens for 80% of its new value, use it for years and then have been able to resell it for 80% of its new value." I think it would be inherently unwise to assume this can continue forever, the question is, for how long...

Wilt wrote in post #15017033
Let's analyze this...you can buy a used EF-S lens for 80% of its new value, use it for years and resell it for 80% of its new value. Is there something inherently unwise about such a move?!

Wissigle wrote in post #15017143
Let me rephrase for you: "you have been able to buy a used EF-S lens for 80% of its new value, use it for years and then have been able to resell it for 80% of its new value." I think it would be inherently unwise to assume this can continue forever, the question is, for how long...

Consider the fact that millions of users have purchased APS-C cameras over the past decade. There are millions of APS-C camera bodies in use today which will remain in use for quite some time, even if Canon were to discontinue building bodies of that sensor size, so APS-C lenses will continue to have value for a good amount of time.

Wilt wrote in post #15017187
Consider the fact that millions of users have purchased APS-C cameras over the past decade. There are millions of APS-C camera bodies in use today which will remain in use for quite some time, even if Canon were to discontinue building bodies of that sensor size, so APS-C lenses will continue to have value for a good amount of time.

But would that value still be 80% or would it be 70% or less?

I wouldn't invest in EF-S even if you have the SLIGHTEST idea you're going to upgrade AND sell your camera to get the next upgrade. If you've got a lot of money and will just buy a new camera without selling, then sure, keep the EF-S lenses and gear. I liked some of the EF-S lenses a lot, but I knew I wanted to upgrade at some point and to do that I knew I was going to sell my stuff, and I made a big mistake...

So, the time came and I eagerly jumped at the opportunity of getting a 5D used pretty cheap.

I had a hell of a time selling my 10-22. I had to throw it at someone.. I bought it for $725 and it sold for $620. To me that's a big depreciation :/

Buy once, cry once; you can't do that with EF-S lenses if you plan to jump to full frame. Those that look toward the better EF-S lenses, tend to be, and logically so in my mind, the same people looking to go full frame down the road for better IQ from a sensor and/or low light performance. Unfortunately, with the EF-S Canon has been slowly removing it's non-L affordable zooms making it harder and harder to stay off of the EF-S platform, unless you go prime, go L or go to another brand.

My own strategy is to build out a collection of excellent non EF-S, (and mostly L when I'm all done) glass; then maximize that glass and move to full frame down the road. Quality glass before hand helps me extract the most out of the APS-C sensor, and it carries over body to body, and even film to digital; the investment to me isn't in selling it, it's in not having to repeat buy for the change and not having to deal with any lesser build quality having durability or weather sealing issues. Yes I may pay more for a lens to cover the same focal range now than if I bought the cheaper EF-S version, but in my eyes I'd be doing that down the road anyways so I'm skipping the hassle of buying and selling and hoping there is still somewhat close to value after it's replaced.

^ this.

I'm willing to bet that a huge percentage of crop users who have invested in the better EF-S lenses don't view FF as an inevitable goal. FF bodies are much more expensive (and before the 6D, they were also much bigger and bulkier), not to mention the increased emphasis on L glass that comes with it. I enjoy my photography hobby (and am a gear head), but I don't see myself justifying the big jump anytime soon. Meantime I plan to use my good EF-S lenses as much as possible, so by the time the value declines by 10% I'll have easily taken 1000% of the value out of them in enjoyment.