Old lenses Canon will phase out

[dolina]

Back 4 years ago I made a list of old lenses Canon will phase out and since then a lot of things have changed making an update needed.

End of Life
1987 EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
1987 EF 28mm f/2.8
1987 EF 135mm f/2.8 with Softfocus
1988 EF 24mm f/2.8
1990 EF 35mm f/2
1990 EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
1998 EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
1999 EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM
1999 EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III
2001 EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM

Series II, L upgrades & IS version
2010 EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
2011 EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM
2012 EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM
2012 EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM
2012 EF 35mm f/2 IS USM
2014 EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM
2014 EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Nearing end of life. Expect any of these lenses to be superseded in 2015

Zoom
1998 EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
2004 EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

Prime
1987 EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro
1990 EF 50mm f/1.8 II
1991 EF 100mm f/2 USM
1991 TS-E 45mm f/2.8
1991 TS-E 90mm f/2.8
1992 EF 20mm f/2.8 USM
1992 EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
1993 EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
1995 EF 28mm f/1.8 USM
1999 MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo

L lenses. Year cut off is 2002.
1993 EF 400mm f/5.6L USM
1995 EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
1996 EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
1996 EF 135mm f/2L USM
1997 EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
1998 EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
1999 EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

Personally I'd like to see a EF 135mm f/2L USM replacement come out with IS and a faster f-number like say 1.8 or 1.4.

As to pricing hopefully Sigma, Tamron and Tokina continuous to help in reining in Canon's MSRP.

[briansquibb]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

I would not let the start age be a major factor when buying. Some of the lens you quote are still top rate! New versions are almost inevitably an excuse to up the price significantly.

I have the 50/1.4, 135/f2, 180 macro and 70-300L and the 8-15 - all still good lens

[Freefaller]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

Agree.

Surely the ultimate arbiter should be the quality of the lens and whether it meets your personal requirements, not the years that have passed since introduction.

Plus it's a good point that the lenses which have been around since pre-digital days have normally long since paid off their development costs and are not packed full of the latest IS technology. So they have a useful price advantage, eg the 200 f/2.8L. Also decent Canon lenses tend to hold their value quite well even when they've been superseded.

As long as they produce the pictures for you, why worry about the age of the design?

[rajjayaraj]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

I recently acquired a 300m f2.8 which is about 25 years old but sharp like new, and would not go for IS version at least for now.

[dolina]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

The list was created for photogs who do not want to experience buyer's remorse. Who wants to experience buying a lens then within the calendar year it becomes end of life? Wouldnt you prefer instead to have the option to either buy the end of life product or the new model?

If you have no plans of needing spare parts for your gear then you shouldnt look at this list. Canon is known to stop producing parts soon after end of life.

If you have no plans of upgrading to a future body then you shouldnt look at this list. Newer bodies are more critical thus show the flaws of older optical designs.

70-300L & 8-15L are really new lenses so I do not expect any updates for them

The 50, 135 & 180 Macro I can see as having IS added and a new optical formula/design applied to complement future higher pixel digital bodies.

[kelly200269]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

The list was created for photogs who do not want to experience buyer's remorse. Who wants to experience buying a lens then within the calendar year it becomes end of life? Wouldnt you prefer instead to have the option to either buy the end of life product or the new model?

Personally, I just use my kit and enjoy producing images that please me? 'Buyer's remorse' (whatever that is?) sounds like some sort of thing that fanboys get? lol

[planetc]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

Buyers remorse is something that you don't suffer once you stop chasing the latest trends in technology and begin to understand that you don't necessarily need it.

[Freefaller]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

Buyers remorse is something that you don't suffer once you stop chasing the latest trends in technology and begin to understand that you don't necessarily need it.

Spot on!!

[paul linton]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

The most important thing is the spare parts as when the older lenses go wrong there just isn't the stock of bits to repair them,not to bad on a cheap lens but on old non IS L lenses it then becomes a big problem as they can no longer be repaired.
But as for sharpness they can still hold there own so worth the risk if you can find a decent one.

Paul

[kelly200269]

Re: Old lenses Canon will phase out

The most important thing is the spare parts as when the older lenses go wrong there just isn't the stock of bits to repair them,not to bad on a cheap lens but on old non IS L lenses it then becomes a big problem as they can no longer be repaired.
But as for sharpness they can still hold there own so worth the risk if you can find a decent one.

Paul

I agree Paul. My 300L f/4 non-IS is aged, but produces staggering images and I just love it.
If the AF does fail it will become a MF, simple as that. And if I do drop it and it breaks one day, then time to recycle it as a large coffee cup, ala Digitalrev :)

► 10:18► 10:18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDHQ5lXZGTo

22 Jan 2011 - Uploaded by DigitalRev TV
Canon 300mm f/4 L lens http://www.digitalrev.com/product/can. ... Canon EF 100- 400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens Review by DigitalRev TV ...