[webby]

I know some of you guys are really into dslr cameras/ photography, so maybe you guys can help me more. I have an old school canon slr camera with (2) EF 52mm lenses. Everywhere I look I get conflicting answers on these lenses working on a dslr body. Both lenses are canon brand lenses, with af built onto the lens.

note - I've got nothing against nikon... I've used many SLR Nikon cameras in the past. I've got more experience with canon cameras in general though. Most likely I'll end up purchasing another canon body since I'm used to the layout/buttons etc.


I found this bit

The EF Lens will fit the D30, D60, 10D, 300D, 350D, 20D and I am sure I might have left some out. They also fit the certain film SLR cameras also.

The EFS will only fit the 300D, 350D, and 20D. I have a modded EFS 18-55mm that will also fit the 10D.

I don't know how much to believe from some random poster, because I've read a bunch saying the images will come out like crap, and others staying you need a special adapter....

then another person talking about ef-s lenses vs ef

The 10D is a 1.6 crop factor as well as the 20D, However, The 10D will not accept EF-S lenses, I believe it has to do with the mirror.

You Will not see ANY difference between an EF and EF-S lens. The difference is in the mounting to the camera, Thats it.

I was in a similar position when I went digital. I already had a decent lens (Tamron 28-300mm) and wanted to put all of my limited resources into the camera. I bought a 30D. I can tell you that the quality of the pictures I can take is noticeably better than the film camera I had even with the film lens. My experience is that with a good digital and a good film lens you can take very good quality pictures. Maybe if you know another photographer you can borrow a digitally optimized lens and see for yourself before deciding whether to purchase one.

meaning I should be buying a lens specifically for the new dslr?

While the "hype" element is there to be overplayed, the fact that digital sensors reflect far more light than film did, means that internal reflections within lenses are greater than they were before. Newer lens designs take this into account and increase the number of multicoated elements and eliminate any flat surfaces that could reflect back down to the sensor which in turn reduces the flare issues caused by the digital nature of the sensor. "Optimized for digital" has a sound, if overblown, basis in lens design.

Given how far away the rear lens element is from the sensor ( to leave room for the mirror ) even a wide angle lens's rays will not be at such a steep angle as the FL would suggest (they are "retrofocal" designs). The CA problems are more from the design challenges of short focal length design (1.6x shorter for some cameras) than from the sensor properties. Now, if the rear element of a 10mm lens focused at infinity needed to be 10mm from the sensor, at the centre, you'd have problem people imagine with the microlenses, but all EF lenses are (I think) 43mm away so that angle can't be a big problem.

fighting with another member on "digitally optimized" lenses vs standard EF lenses....

[You can have very good results with an old film lens. I mostly takes pictures of Airliners, if you want to take a look. I took that one (and the others in fact) with and old Canon EF 75-300 that I used on my Canon 1000FN film camera. You can find a used one for around 100$.
Heres the link.
http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5835779
It can do the job in my opinion.

now another person stating it works fine

IMO, it is more about cutting costs then an actual change in lens design. All the more expensive Canon dSLR bodies do not accept EF-S lenses. Lens manufacturers have been using multicoated lens elements for quite some time. I've found that all my lenses are pretty good at eleminating flare. Just recently I photographed some sunsets with my somewhat older 70-200mm EF lens. Even if the setting sun was in the shot and at an angle, I didn't get any flare ups from the lens to sensor.

I've read some marketing hype about "optimized for digital" lenses having their elements somehow more resolute then their film counterparts: to help sharpness with resolution. Perhaps this could be true for higher crop cameras with more pixel density. However, film had a pretty high resolution if we think about it that way. An older EF L lens is still going to have much sought after optics for dSLRs. At least last time I checked, XT and 30D owners lust over EF L lenses just like 1D and 5D owners.

more on the debate

When Canon introduced the Digital Rebel (300D), they also introduced a new lens format called EF-S. This new configuration took advantage of the smaller CDD to allow for a shorter lens that sits closer to the image sensor. This is where the “S” comes from as it stands for Short Back Focus. The original 18-55mm 300D kit lens was the first, and for awhile the only, EF-S lens.

Shortly after the 300D was introduced, Canon came out with the 20D. This camera also accepts EF-S lenses, and ships with the same kit lens as the 300D. Both cameras can also use the full range of EF lenses, including Canon’s “L” glass, most of which cost more than the camera bodies on which they are mounted.

The introduction of the 20D cemented Canon’s commitment to the new lens mount format. They further solidified that commitment with the introduction of more EF-S lenses in August

meaning it will work

The EF-S lens mount is a relatively new offering from Canon, so the selection of available lenses is limited compared to the full EF range, but it is backwards compatible with the EF mount, and can therefore still accept all EF lenses.

Is there a good thing going about the EF-S lenes? Am I avoiding upcoming technology by not going this route....? Basically, I just want to hear solid info that my lenses will work on a new dslr body, OR.... solid info telling me to scrap my idea of using the old lenses, and go to the EF-S.

Or where photography is going in general if that is going to be a waste. I've yet to have enough time to research what I need to do.

School me - insert camera suggestions as well if desired.