Quick Canon EF-S question

TopBanana

TopBanana

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Tim
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Am I right in thinking that EF-S lenses are only useable on crop sensor bodies? But that the stated focal length for each lens doesn't take the crop factor into account?

So if I had an EF-S 18-55mm and an EF(no 'S') 55-200mm then they would compliment each other and give the full range from 18-200mm even though one is designed for APS-C and the other isn't. :thinking:

Sorry that it's a bit of a dumb noobie question!
 
You are correct about the EF-S/crop mix, but 18 x 1.6 = 28.8, so that would be your effective wide end on a Canon crop body.
 
You got the right idea.
Crop bodies can take EF-S and EF (I think the only exception is the 1d series, which only takes EF as well)
Full frame bodies can only take EF
Actual range of both lenses combined would be 28.8-320mm
 
Ooops, forgot to put in the long end!:bonk: Also didn't realise that 1D bodies only take EF, ta for that.:thumbs:


Blasteh said:
You got the right idea.
Crop bodies can take EF-S and EF (I think the only exception is the 1d series, which only takes EF as well)
Full frame bodies can only take EF
Actual range of both lenses combined would be 28.8-320mm
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IIRC 10D and earlier crop bodies can't take EF-S either. It was launched with the 300D.

EF-S 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 20D, 20Da, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 7D (plus those sold under different names - Digital Rebel and Kiss)

EF - all the above, plus D30, D60, 10D, 5D, 5D Mk2, 1D range, 1Ds range, plus EOS film bodies.
 
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andrewc said:
IIRC 10D and earlier crop bodies can't take EF-S either. It was launched with the 300D.

EF-S 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 550D, 20D, 20Da, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 7D

EF - all the above, plus D30, D60, 10D, 5D, 5D Mk2, 1D range, 1Ds range, plus EOS film bodies.
Click to expand...

Surely D30 and D60 are Nikon bodies?

.
 
Thanks for the clarification about my OP, and then for the interesting factoids, and then for the comedy!
 
dont forget the 500D as being EFS and EF lens capable.
 
Just out of interest what does the focal length actually mean? I'm guessing that a 20mm focal length means that the lens is 20mm from the sensor to produce a sharp image? Does it have any numerical link to the closest distance that can be focussed on, i.e. can a 20mm length focus on things 20mm from the lens etc?
 
TopBanana said:
Just out of interest what does the focal length actually mean? I'm guessing that a 20mm focal length means that the lens is 20mm from the sensor to produce a sharp image? Does it have any numerical link to the closest distance that can be focussed on, i.e. can a 20mm length focus on things 20mm from the lens etc?
Click to expand...

Focal length is the distance between the infocus image on the film/sensor plane or at the viewers eye with telescopes and the objective lens.

It has no correspondence with closest focus distance but as a rule short focal length lenses will have a closer min focus distance than longer telephoto lenses.
 
TopBanana said:
Just out of interest what does the focal length actually mean? I'm guessing that a 20mm focal length means that the lens is 20mm from the sensor to produce a sharp image? Does it have any numerical link to the closest distance that can be focussed on, i.e. can a 20mm length focus on things 20mm from the lens etc?
Click to expand...

yes and no, yes its the focal length and no its not the shortest focal distance. You can get the same focal length lenses with different minimum focus distance e.g. a 100 mm and a 100mm macro are very different beasts when it comes to minimum focus distance but both are 100mm focal length lenses.

As a note, using a crop body does not change the focal length or the angle of view of the lens, all that happens is it 'appears' to give the same field of view as a lens of the length x body crop factor (XX,XXXD,XXXXD series = 1.6, XD = 1.3, XDs/5D = 1.0 - I think, and I have 10D/20D/50D/400D/1D & 5D, so Lord only knows what the logic is :: )

Matt
 
iancandler said:
Focal length is the distance between the infocus image on the film/sensor plane or at the viewers eye with telescopes and the objective lens.
Click to expand...
Point of order Mr Chairman. :D

The focal length is the length to the focal point, not the image plane.

My, I'm being pedantic today... :thinking:
 
Hence my problem - having a 40D and 1DMark2

Obviously the EF lenses are fine for both but my EFS lens is limited to one body.
 
...doh ignore me!!!
 
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I had a D30... They were horrifically expensive new (I bought it second hand for what now seems a ludicrous amount of money), and their shooting performance (in terms of buffering and card write speed, boot up time, etc) is laughable now. However, you only need to see the reviews from the time to understand how earth-shattering this body was - a compact (compared to the likes of the DCS520 and even the Nikon D1s) DSLR that produced amazing quality images, and not only that but from a CMOS sensor (all DSLRs up to that point had been CCD). The low-ISO noise performance of the D30 was a revelation, and I had some wonderful shots from mine (many sadly now lost). Even the D30 was enough to convince me that film was going the way of the dodo, and I ended up trading the D30, my EOS 3, 20 F2.8 and 24-85 lenses all for a 20D and 17-40.
 
TopBanana said:
:eek: Cor blimey guvnor that's a lot of camerage
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Spread amongst 3 of us and to be honest the 10D doesnt get any use, it sits in a bag and comes with me when I ride my bike into work (pretty rarely).
The 400 was the wife's till she swiped my 50 (so I bought a 2nd hand 5 :) ), so that's in the wardrobe gathering dust and the 1D only gets an airing if its grim weather or I want to go all nostalgic. Must get round to flogging some of them.

Matt
 
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