The Canon that we know is OVER!! No more Canon EF lenses?

Okay, okay, I know it's not that dramatic!! As I'm sure a lot of you have heard, Canon has announced they will no longer develop EF mount lenses. That is, unless the market demands it. They are going to be focusing all of their lens development efforts on the new RF lenses. This is HUGE news because Canon first rolled out the EF mount in 1987. That means the EF mount is older than me!!

No more Canon EF lenses - now what?

The new RF Mount brings a lot of advantages to the cameras it will be on. The largest, and probably the most noticeable, would be the distance from the flange, or mounting point of the lens, to the sensor. The EF mount had a flange focal distance of 44mm, and the new RF mount is 20mm!! This is pretty obvious to see as the new RF cameras do not have the mirror that has to flip out of the way. Hence a mirrorless camera. But why is this important? Having your lens closer to the sensor means that the image is going to be sharper. There is more light hitting the sensor, therefore more detail can be captured. Also, with the mirror removed, there is one less piece of glass that can alter your image quality.

Other benefits of the RF lenses

Another added benefit of the RF line is the weight reduction. Take, for instance, the 70-200mm f/2.8 L lenses Canon has. The Canon EF lenses weigh in at 52.6 ounces, where as the RF version weighs in at 42.3 ounces. That is more than 3/4 of a pound weight difference!! Now, when you compare the weight of the EOS R and the 5DMkIV, the R weighs in at  23.30 oz and the 5D weighs in at 31.39oz. So, when you combine the lenses with the camera bodies, we have a total weight of 83.99 oz for the 5D setup and 65.6 oz for the EOS R setup. That is quite a lot of weight, especially if you are carrying a camera set up all day. The third and final benefit of the RF lenses and mount is that it allows for both the Canon EF lenses and RF lenses to be used, assuming you have the adapter. Canon did an absolutely fantastic job developing the RF to EF adapter, which retails for only $100. This allows camera users to have access the new RF glass, as well as use their older EF glass.

RF mounts and lenses today

Third-party camera manufacturers have noticed this and have started to implement the RF mount into their cameras, most notably RED with their new KOMODO camera set to release in 2020. The RF mount is not all rainbows and unicorns though. Problem #1 is the price. This glass is expensive!!!!!!! Using the 70-200 example from before, the RF version carries a $2,700 price tag. That's a hard pill to swallow. Especially when you take a look at the older Canon EF lenses that can be purchased brand new for under $2,000 (generally around the $1,700-1,800 range).  I'm sure over time the lenses will decrease in price, but $1,000 difference isn't something to ignore, especially when the $100 adapter makes EF glass work flawlessly. Another issue is that the EOS R bodies are still new and still a work in progress. We still don't have a true "professional level" R body yet. However, there have been rumors about the EOS R MkII coming in 2020 and the specs on that camera solve a lot of the issues consumers currently have with the EOS R. The rumors show that we could get an EOS R camera with no 4K crop and Internal Body Image Stabilization with the EOS R MkII. If this is the case, I will most definitely be pre-ordering the camera the day it is announced.

What are your thoughts on Canon EF lenses and new RF mount?

I am really curious to see what everyone's opinions of the new RF mount are, especially those who have had the opportunity to use it. And if you aren't a Canon user, what are you using? What would make you consider switching over to Canon? Or looking to sell your canon EF lenses to upgrade to the Canon RF Lenses? Sell them on Gear Focus to earn top dollar.  At the end of the cameras and lenses are simply tools we use to complete a job. This is exactly why Gear Focus was created! We are here to help you save time and money on your gear so that you can spend more time FEEDING YOUR PASSION!