lens compatibility

[jamesandpip]

I hope this hasn't been covered before but I couldn't find it in the threads. Does anybody know how you can find out which Canon lenses from the pre-digital era would be compatible with an EOS 400d? I have an EF 75-300 USM III 1:4/5.6 and an EF 28-80 USM V 1:3.5/5.6. I spoke to somebody at a camera shop who said that they would all work but some may lose some functionality eg. autofocus which would be a shame. Also, do you know if the focal length magnification of 1.6 on the 400d leads to problems with light, especially at the 300mm end of the telephoto lens (which I presume is closer to a 450mm)? Many thanks!

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by jamesandpip

I hope this hasn't been covered before but I couldn't find it in the threads. Does anybody know how you can find out which Canon lenses from the pre-digital era would be compatible with an EOS 400d? I have an EF 75-300 USM III 1:4/5.6 and an EF 28-80 USM V 1:3.5/5.6. I spoke to somebody at a camera shop who said that they would all work but some may lose some functionality eg. autofocus which would be a shame. Also, do you know if the focal length magnification of 1.6 on the 400d leads to problems with light, especially at the 300mm end of the telephoto lens (which I presume is closer to a 450mm)? Many thanks!

both those lenses should work fine - as far as i know every eos fit (ie EF) lens works on all canons digital slrs - however to be absolutely sure your best bet is to take the lens to a shop and try it.

on your second issue there is no light loss from the 1.6 magnification effect as it is produced by having a cropped sensor (ie one smaller than a 35mm frame). You only see light loss with tubes or teleconverters ( where a 1.4 tc gives you a one stop loss , and a 2x a 2 stop loss )

[Interpreter]

They are EF lenses and not AF?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Interpreter

They are EF lenses and not AF?

huh ? - my understanding is that all canon fit lenses in the eos system are branded EF (except for a few digital only which are branded EFS) to differentiate from the older non eos system lenses (FD I think not that i remember that far back)

All EF lenses are also AF but AF is used as a generic term for autofocus and doesnt apply soley to any specific lens system.

(btw : I'm not trying to argue with or contradict you here but I'm puzzled as to what your point was)

[Interpreter]

The AF lenses which I have seen for sale as AF lenses are not fully functional with cameras which are designed for the EF system. I think that they are pre-digital lenses. In our fave auction house they are much cheaper than EF lenses and I think that I saw adaptors offered to make them work with later bodies. I could be wrong on this, but that was the impression I got.

[kshotton45]

This may help . Keith.

What is an EF-S lens?

From essentially the introduction of the EOS camera system in 1987 through to 2003 Canon standardized on a single lens mount system for all of their SLR cameras - the EF (electrofocus) lens mount. So throughout this time there was no possible source of confusion, since all EF lenses made by Canon and other lensmakers will physically fit all Canon EOS cameras.

However, in 2003 Canon introduced a new digital camera, the consumer-oriented EOS 300D/Digital Rebel/Kiss Digital camera, which sported a new lens mount design dubbed EF-S. All consumer to midrange digital EOS cameras released since have been both EF and EF-S compatible. For reasons explained in a moment, no film camera has ever been EF-S compatible.

So it’s important to remember that digital camera bodies with EF-S lens mounts are totally compatible with all regular EF lenses. However an EF-S lens can fit only EF-S compatible cameras and no others. (unless the lens is altered - see the section on hacking below).

EF-S bodies have small mirror boxes - roughly 2/3 the size of a regular EOS camera (also known as a 1.6x cropping factor) - because they use image sensors which are smaller in area than 35mm film. They, and APS cameras which similarly used small imaging areas, are thus often called subframe cameras. Cameras which use 35mm film or which use large sensors that are the same size as a frame of 35mm film are commonly called full frame cameras these days.

EF-S cameras thus support lenses with a shorter back focus distance than EF lenses, because the mirror swings further back. This is where the “S” comes from - EF-S lenses have shorter back focus distances. (ie: the back part of the lens can get physically closer to the image sensor since the mirror is smaller) Having a shorter back focus distance allows Canon to produce cheaper wide-angle lenses that work with the smaller image format of a subframe digital SLR, since it’s optically very challenging to create a wide angle lens with a long back focus distance.

Canon have a small but growing series of EF-S lenses available, ranging from inexpensive kit lenses to very good high-quality lenses with image stabilization. There’s even a very interesting 60mm macro lens with an EF-S mount. The super wide angle EF-S 10-22mm 3.5-4.5 USM (roughly 16-35mm coverage if it were full frame) is particularly well regarded, as is the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM, which is an L lens in all but build quality and name.

The main issue to be concerned about with EF-S is the future value of the lenses. Right now full-frame image sensors are extremely expensive to make, which is why nearly all digital SLRs out there have image sensors smaller than that of a frame of 35mm film. But in the future it’s likely that prices on such sensors will drop, at which time full-frame digital SLRs will become more affordable and thus EF-S lenses will no longer be of use except on pre-existing cameras. The two questions are - how long will this take and will you be able to get good use of your investment in EF-S lenses before this occurs? The first nobody knows the answer to, and the second can only be answered by you. For the time being it seems likely that it’ll be some years before affordable full-frame sensors are ubiquitous, so EF-S lenses aren’t necessarily a bad idea, assuming you aren’t planning on upgrading to full-frame as soon as you can.

Can my camera take EF-S lenses?

Any Canon EOS camera with a red dot on the lens mount can take EF lenses. Any Canon EOS camera with both a red dot and a white square on the lens mount can take both EF lenses and EF-S lenses.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Interpreter

The AF lenses which I have seen for sale as AF lenses are not fully functional with cameras which are designed for the EF system. I think that they are pre-digital lenses. In our fave auction house they are much cheaper than EF lenses and I think that I saw adaptors offered to make them work with later bodies. I could be wrong on this, but that was the impression I got.

oh ok -I'd not heard that - I know you can get an adaptor to fit FD lenses to Eos camera but i have no idea whether that system featured aF as I was still a kid when they launched the eos system and although I have seen T90s etc in magazines i have never used one.

certainly canon EF lenses sold for the eos system film cameras ought to work flawlessly with Eos DSLRs

there are however major issues with sigma lenses which were sold in EF fit for EOS film cameras in predigital days - many of these need to be rechipped before they will function with DSLRs (they tend to generate Err99 otherwise). If you have had the lens from new and can prove it then sigma will rechip it for a smallish charge (£35 I think - it used to be free at one time) however if you've bought it second hand then you are on your own and although they will rechip it the cost of doing so often outweighs the value of the lens.

[RichBrew]

I had my 24-70 f/2.8 re-chipped by Sigma last year so it would work on my Nikon D200. As I had proof that I'd bought it from new, the charge was £5. The £35 cost was for the re-chip of a second hand lens. Contact Sigma for details of their services. They respond quickly, in my experience.

RichBrew

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by RichBrew

I had my 24-70 f/2.8 re-chipped by Sigma last year so it would work on my Nikon D200. As I had proof that I'd bought it from new, the charge was £5. The £35 cost was for the re-chip of a second hand lens. Contact Sigma for details of their services. They respond quickly, in my experience.

RichBrew

cool - it must vary from lens to lens though (maybe dependent on age) cos i asked them about rechipping a 400mm prime i'd bought second hand and the price was £127 - which was more than i'd paid for it so i didnt bother.

[RichBrew]

eeyore,

Maybe it is a case of age. The zoom I had re-chipped was only two years old. It caused massive exposure problems on a DSLR (usually underexposure, and not predictable), but since Sigma serviced it, it works fine.

RichBrew