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Moving to RF Lenses?

StarNut
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Moving to RF Lenses?

Hi,

The time is approaching when I'll be moving from DSLRs to mirrorless.

I have a lot of very nice lenses for the EF mount (see on my profile if you care). So my strong preference is to stick with Canon.

I'm hoping that the EF/RF converter will allow me to continue to use my EF lenses on an R5II when I take the plunge, without significant diminution in performance (AF and image quality).

OTOH, if it is the case that I will be disappointed in the performance of my lenses on a new RF body, then I have to re-evaluate the whole idea of a Canon mirrorless body.

How have people found the new bodies to work with the old lenses?

Thanks.

Mark

Jul 21, 2024 at 02:05 PM

dj63401
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I used the EF 100-400 II, the EF24-105L, the 100mm macro L with excellent results on my R5 with adapter.

Jul 21, 2024 at 02:07 PM

Krss Tea23
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Moving to RF Lenses?

dj63401 wrote:
I used the EF 100-400 II, the EF24-105L, the 100mm macro L with excellent results on my R5 with adapter.

I also use the EF 100-400 II, And it works flawlessly(probably even better) than my 80D when switching to the R system(R6ii). Even at 40 fps it was preforming flawlessly for outdoor sports.

Jul 21, 2024 at 02:15 PM

Gochugogi
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I wasn't disappointed the performance with any of my EF lenses on my R, R7 and R6 MK II. Optically they performed the same but usually performed better on R series cameras in terms focus accuracy and tracking. Well, R cameras can't focus on horizontal lines and struggle a bit more with clouds, but everything else is faster and more consistently accurate. I wasn't happy with the adapter on smaller lenses (made a small lens big).

I eventually replaced most of my EF lenses with RF versions and generally they have been slightly better optically, slightly faster focusing, a stop or two better at stabilization and a little smaller and lighter—but a little less durable than their EF forerunners. I kept two favorite EF lenses: EF 70-300 4.0-5.6L IS USM and EF 100-400 4.5-5.6L IS USM and they work wonderfully with the EF/RF adapter. IS integration with IBIS isn't as good as with a native RF design but still better than just IS alone.

Jul 21, 2024 at 02:23 PM

StarNut
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Moving to RF Lenses?

Thanks, all!

I certainly am not expecting that my older lenses will perform as well as the newer versions (especially those made for the RF mount).

I'm just hoping that that my lenses will perform at least as well on an R5II as they have on my older DSLRs.

Jul 21, 2024 at 02:36 PM

justashooter
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Moving to RF Lenses?

You will find an improvement with auto focus, your lenses will be just as sharp and you will enjoy using the mirrorless cameras. The caveats to this is your non-version II lenses will shoot slower than version II and newer lenses. This chart is tests I made with my R6 Mark II, I would believe the R5 Mark II would be similar. With the stacked sensor (faster readout times) in the R5m2 and less rolling shutter effect, I don't think the mechanical shutter is needed. I find 15fps quite sufficient for my shooting. I use mechanical shutter with my R6m2 when shooting baseball because of the distorted curved bats, but all other sports i shoot i use the electronic shutter. Image quality from my R6m2 and the EF 500 f/4 IS (with and without extenders) is wonderful.

EF 500 4 L IS - shot at ISO 10000, 1/1000 @ f4
• Electronic H+ 15fps
• ElectronicH 15fps
• Mechanical H+ 7.5fps
• Mechanical H 5fps
EF 300 2.8 L IS II - shot at ISO 5000, 1/1000 @ f2.8
• ElectronicH+ 41fps
• ElectronicH 21fps
• Mechanical H+ 13fps
• MechanicalH 7fps

Jul 21, 2024 at 03:01 PM

MintMar
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I'm running nowhere fast. I expect to use EF lenses for at least decade. Especially so as now those Lenses became much more affordable than in 2006 when I started with EOS.

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:12 PM

kakomu
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I tried only one lens on an EF to RF adapter and got Err 01 errors regularly. I cannot tell if that's the lens's fault or the adapter's fault. Ultimately, I gave up and I've been hesitant to try since.

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:24 PM

drobertfranz
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Moving to RF Lenses?

StarNut wrote:
Thanks, all!

I certainly am not expecting that my older lenses will perform as well as the newer versions (especially those made for the RF mount).

I'm just hoping that that my lenses will perform at least as well on an R5II as they have on my older DSLRs.

Your current lenses will do just fine except for your 500mm F4. It will loose frame rate in some modes, about 7FPS as I recall. The 500mm F4mkII works perfectly. I wouldn't go out of my way to get the 100-500mm RF over your 100-400mm. I don't see much of an upgrade especially for the price. I still have the 70-200mm F2.8 MK2 the 16-35mmF4, 90TSE, 180mm macro a couple of IRIX lenses and a Samyang 35mm F1.4 and they all work well on the RF system. The one lens I really regret selling was my EF400mmF4DOmkII. I was certain Canon would get back into the DO game but that hasn't happened. The RF24-105mmF4 seems like a big improvement vs the older EF version. A suprise lens is my RF800mmF11. Amazing bang for the buck performance.....

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:24 PM

drobertfranz
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Moving to RF Lenses?

kakomu wrote:
I tried only one lens on an EF to RF adapter and got Err 01 errors regularly. I cannot tell if that's the lens's fault or the adapter's fault. Ultimately, I gave up and I've been hesitant to try since.

Never had that happen once using multiple EF lenses and RF bodies

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:33 PM

dj63401
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Moving to RF Lenses?

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:33 PM

drobertfranz
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Moving to RF Lenses?

dj63401 wrote:
Canon lens or 3rd party?

Mostly Canon but 3 different 3rd party lenses., 2 Irix and 1 samyang

Jul 21, 2024 at 04:51 PM

kakomu
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Moving to RF Lenses?

dj63401 wrote:
Canon lens or 3rd party?

Canon EF 15mm Fisheye

Jul 21, 2024 at 05:01 PM

Scott Stoness
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Moving to RF Lenses?

For landscape - better. The drop in filter means only 1 filter. I am not tempted to switch from my excellent efs

For big whites - better but rf would be slightly faster. Eye tracking , fps , a/f. My 100-500 v1 and 85/1.2 are clunkier - but still work well.

And for backpacking - way better with r8 and 16 and stm 24-105.

For family - my old 24-70 2.8 v1 excellent.

Jul 21, 2024 at 05:14 PM

melcat
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Moving to RF Lenses?

Some older lenses can’t keep up with the speed. Here’s a link at Canon with details; other restrictions are listed by selecting from the options on that page.

My EF 100–400 Mk II needed a firmware update to track well with the R3. It can be applied using a recent camera from a file on a card; my old DSLRs couldn’t do lens firmware updates.

Your 580 EX II flash “needs” a hard-to-obtain adapter for weather sealing, and according to the manual, any use on the modern cameras with the multifunction shoe. It will actually fit and work, but it’s a tight fit and I’d recommend doing it by the book and getting that adapter. It isn’t expensive, just often out of stock.

Otherwise, all of my EF stuff works well on the R3, including the Zeiss ZE lenses. Note that the camera won’t correct barrel/pincusion distortion with EF lenses when shooting video. If you plan to do that with your 16–35mm f/2.8 Mk II, you might consider replacing that with an RF lens. (Actually, you might anyway, it’s not one of Canon’s finest. I had it, and it remains one of only two Canon EF lenses I ever replaced due to poor performance.) But my original 35mm f/1.4 L gives great results with video, showing better bokeh than the newly released RF 35mm f/1.4 and only slight barrel distortion.

Jul 21, 2024 at 10:44 PM

stanj
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Moving to RF Lenses?

Of the lenses that you list, many are old and will not allow your camera to live to its full potential. I mean, the EF 28-70/2.8L is over 20 years old; the 24-105L wasn't that great even when it came out; the 16-35L/II was a lens that I had first hand ownership experience some 20 years ago and was glad to settle for the 16-35/4L once it came out, which was far better in just about every aspect. Those are all lenses that I have personally owned and I think they're sufficiently challenged by your 5DSR (that I also used to own).

All these lenses have modern day counterparts that are smaller, lighter, and most importantly, optically much better. So yes, these lenses will work "fine" on the R5m2, they'll likely focus much faster & more accurately than on your 5DSR and 1DX2, but their modern day counterparts would fare a lot better.

Jul 22, 2024 at 12:42 AM

IlyaSnopchenko
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I would have to be the one to throw some spore upon the fan and suggest you evaluate other systems as well because Canon EF lenses can be seamlessly adapted to just about anything, so you don't strictly have to stick to Canon to be able to use them. And despite the announcements of Tamron and Sigma APS-C lenses for RF mount, I still have no regrets about deciding to avoid RF system because of poor adaptability.

Just my $0.02.

Jul 22, 2024 at 05:06 AM

StarNut
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Moving to RF Lenses?

stanj wrote:
Of the lenses that you list, many are old and will not allow your camera to live to its full potential. I mean, the EF 28-70/2.8L is over 20 years old; the 24-105L wasn't that great even when it came out; the 16-35L/II was a lens that I had first hand ownership experience some 20 years ago and was glad to settle for the 16-35/4L once it came out, which was far better in just about every aspect. Those are all lenses that I have personally owned and I think they're sufficiently challenged by your 5DSR (that I also used...Show more →

I can't help wondering why you would make such a post.

Do you somehow believe, despite no supporting evidence, that I don't know that most of my lenses are old?

Or do you somehow believe, despite no supporting evidence, that I don't know that newer lenses are "better"?

Or do you somehow believe, despite no supporting evidence, that I have unlimited money to casually replace good equipment with "better" equipment, just because there is "better" equipment?

I'm pleased for you that you're wealthy enough always to have "the newest and the best." Most of us aren't. Sticking to answering the questions asked (as everyone else did) would be far more helpful than telling me that my equipment sucks.

Jul 22, 2024 at 03:21 PM

rmhh
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Moving to RF Lenses?

I can confirm that the EF 100-400 L ii with EF-RF adapter works flawlessly on the R8, with and without the 2x iii extender. (None of my DSLRs did this - with AF - with the 2x extender.) I also like very much the performance of the EF 70-300 L on this camera. With the EF 2.8/100 (non-L), I was able to use in-camera focus stacking without problems.

Jul 22, 2024 at 03:50 PM

rscheffler
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Moving to RF Lenses?

IlyaSnopchenko wrote:
I would have to be the one to throw some spore upon the fan and suggest you evaluate other systems as well because Canon EF lenses can be seamlessly adapted to just about anything, so you don't strictly have to stick to Canon to be able to use them. And despite the announcements of Tamron and Sigma APS-C lenses for RF mount, I still have no regrets about deciding to avoid RF system because of poor adaptability.

Just my $0.02.

How seamless is seamless? Doesn't Sony limit third party fps rates (not sure about Nikon)? And you're dealing with reverse engineered third party adapters that may or may not have some firmware bugs or limitations that make reliability potentially less than mission-critical? It really depends on what the OP expects for performance. If they only had a 5DSR, then I'd ignore the potential fps limitations as it would probably be irrelevant. But given they also list a 1DXII, they might have need for high speed and good focusing, which is pretty much guaranteed sticking with Canon (granted, there are mechanical shutter fps rate limitations with older EF lenses).

But you are generally correct, EF will adapt to any mirrorless system. It would be up to the OP to tweeze out any potentially relevant incompatibilities or performance compromises.

Jul 22, 2024 at 06:11 PM

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