Lenses with new bodies; easiest question ever!

Hey guys, well I know that alot of lenses that work on the XT-50d do not work on the 5d/1d's.. Well I am wondering what lenses are compatable with both if there are any... The reason I am wondering is because I have the XTi and I don't want to keep buying $1000 lenses if in a few months I upgrade to the 5d and now all those lenses are useless. You know?!? I will probably upgrade to the 40d or 50d before the 5d/1d but I am just talking in general. I want to get the 17-55mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 IS but I don't want to pay all that money for it to just go to "waste." Just let me know what lenses are compatable. Thanks so much!

EF lenses work for both crop & FF, while EF-S only works on 1.6 crop cameras.

Both EF and EF-S lenses work with 1.6x cropped sensor cameras (Rebel/xxD line).
Everything else (5D, 1D, 1Ds line) work with EF only.
For third party, non-Canon lenses, it depends on the particular model.

Like sigma dc's are for crops only.

17-55 will not work on a FF body.

Unfortunately there is nothing else in the Canon line at the moment that gives you both IS and a f2.8 aperture in a wide angle.

I_Shot_You wrote in post #7280130
The reason I am wondering is because I have the XTi and I don't want to keep buying $1000 lenses if in a few months I upgrade to the 5d and now all those lenses are useless. You know?!

Good move. The last lens I purchased before going FF was the 60mm EFs and it's sitting in my bag. I ended up with the 100mm macro to replace it. I wish I would have purchased the 100mm instead, even though the 60mm is a great lens.

I decided early on that I was only going with EF lenses. I may never go FF, but when/if I can afford a 1D MkIII, I don't want to be playing "musical lenses" looking for EF equivalent of a no longer needed EF-S.

Money spent on EF-S lenses is not wasted. Buy the best lens for you now. If you later find you don't want it, you can sell it, and depreciation of decent lenses is quite small.

Of the lenses you mention, the 17-55 will not work on a 5D, but the 70-200/2.8 will fit any Canon DSLR.

I had the same concerns but finally bit the bullet and ordered a refurbished 17-55. When it arrives I will know whether or not it was worth it. If I am able to learn and get great shots with it and my 30D I will probably not want to upgrade for a while. I have seem many photos and galleries on this forum that were "to die for" by people with xxxD's and xxD's and I have seen some not-so-good photos by people with full framers, so it isn't ALL about whether or not you have FF, you know. JMHO

Some EF-S lenses CAN be modified to fit on 1D series bodies. You just have to remove the rear baffle. There are a few threads/posts on such a procedure. One is in the EF-S 10-22 mm Lens sample photo thread.

While they CAN be modified, a) they aren't 100% fully usable, you have to give up some focal range, b) selling a modified lens is going to be pretty darn difficult.

Well if you put the original baffle back on, then you can sell the "modified" EF-S lens as if it were never modified.

Thanks alot guys, the only EF-s lens I have right now is the 55-250mm so I am happy. Thanks alot again guys!

And my next body purchase will be either the 40d or 50d. I don't think I am fully ready for a FF body yet.