are EF-S lenses worth investing?

[emanresu]

Are EF-S lenses worth investing?  I have seen a few good and affordable EF-S lenses with excellent reviews, especially for the wide angles, but am still hesitant to buy them.  That's because in the back of my head, a voice tells me that EF-S is an "odd" mount only for 1.6x cropped sensors and all "L" series are EF mount.  I guess I am afraid that if I buy EF-S lenses, who know how many years down the road, they will become obsolete.  But on the other hand, among all Canon bodies, only 1D and 5D cannot use EF-S (and I current don't own neither), so that seems to be indicating the opposite, i.e. EF-S should be  on the rise.  So what's your opinion about lens investment into EF-S?

[Bob Atkins]

For the average amateur I think EF-S lenses are just fine. Lenses are tools, not investments, though.

I suspect that the Rebel line of cameras will continue with the crop sensor format and be able to use EF-S lenses for many years, possibly forever. I also suspect that the 50D/7D series will be continued with the crop sensor format.

Full frame cameras will probably get a little cheaper, maybe down to the $1800-$2000 level over the next few years but I don't see them dominating the market.

So unless you are considering a full frame DSLR in the next year of so, I'd say going with EF-S lenses is fine (I have a number of them myself). Even if you do move to full frame at some point you may have a crop sensor body for backup. Even if you move to only full frame cameras, there will still be a market for used EF-S lenses and Canon lenses tend to hold their value quite well.

If you are shooting with a crop sensor camera, you really have to go EF-S for any wideangle choices or for any wide-to-telephoto zooms.

[whizkid]

I feel as long as there are sports and wildlife shooters there will be a demand for apsc sensor cameras and as long as there are apsc sensor cameras being made so will  EFs lenses thrive.

[emanresu]

Thanks for the feedbacks.  When I said "investment" I wasn't counting on it to increase the value; I was just wondering if one day the EF-S will be stopped because the full-frame sensors become really cheap to produce or something like that (the FD story still haunts some Canon users).  But Bob answered all these questions, and I feel much more comfortable buying EF-S lenses now.  But till this day, there still hasn't been any EF-S lenses with a red ring on it, has there?  And if I am to buy another camera, I will definitely go for a FF body.

[Bob Atkins]

There are no "L" series EF-S lenses and I suspect that Canon won't make any. That's not to say that EF-S lenses are of inferior quality, more that Canon won't call them "professional" lenses because to date (and I suspect this won't change) there are no "professional" crop sensor bodies.

"Professional" in this context refers to cameras that are fully ruggedized and weatherproofed to stand up to hard professional use, i.e. the EOS 1 series bodies (EOS 1v, EOS 1D, EOS 1Ds).

I don't think APS-C will be dropped since it's become an established standard used by Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Canon and Sigma. I don't think we'll see a time when all DLSRs are full frame, though I'd assume that full frame cameras will become more common and their (relative) cost will drop. However at the entry and mid level APS-C is really all that the average photographer will ever need.

[emanresu]

If I recall correctly, only 5D has the FF sensor.  The professional 1D is an odd ball which has a 1.3x cropped sensor.

Just had some hot-pixel problems with my camera, and then it dawned on me how bad this digital camera idea is! Sure they make photography much more accessible to anyone, but the camera is only good as long as the sensor is okay.  Whereas with films cameras, we can swap different films to see if any type/brand works the best.  Digital backs are like films, but at what cost! I am hoping one day the production cost of sensor will be dirty cheap, and all digital cameras (at least DSLRs) will have swappable sensors instead of fixed ones.

[whizkid]

Canon's priciest IDs series has a full frame (FF) sensor. It would have been nicer if Canon gave their sports oriented 1.3x sensor models the "IDs"  label instead of it going to the top end FF models. The "s" seems a natural fit for the  sports oriented ID line like the ID Mk4.
 

[KeithB]

If you do migrate from APS-C to FF, you can always sell the EF-S lenses with the body you are getting rid of.  Unlike the short lived APS film camera SLRs, there are millions of APS-C framed cameras out there, so there should always be a pretty good used market.

[Angel]

To all that have EFS Lenses.

Yes, those lenses will fit onto all EOS bodies.
If they are modified.

They fit perfectly on my Canon EOS-1VHS/1D Mark IV (IR modiifed) and 1Ds Mark IV.
I even got the Leica 50mm/f0.95 (modified) to fit perfectly on all EOS bodies.

The EFS L lenses is the EFS 10-22/3.5-4.5.  The widest lenses that Canon has.

Many are buying then to get that wide angle shots & live-view & video on the 5D Mark II.  Just don't let Canon know about it.

[MotownJG]

When I bought my 30D I also bought the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens.  I understand its not technically an "L" series lens, although I've treated it as such since it shoots at f/2.8.

It's been a great lens.  Was it worth it?  I think I paid $1,300.00 for it. Recently I was thinking of getting rid of it and maybe buying a Canon 5D MkII, so I advertised the lens on CraigsList for $900.00.  I had so many instant takers I decided to keep the lense and not buy the 5d. 

I guess that's my way of saying it seemed to me to be a worthwhile investment if after a few years of use I could still get almost $1K for it. Ok, $900.00 bucks.

Just my .02c.