Forward compatibility with Canon

[Ozone]

This may be a silly question, I currently have a Canon 30d and will be upgrading to a 40d within a year (my wife doesn't know that, yet!). I dropped into the local camera shop tonight to look for little gadgets, and while talking to the owner, he said that some of the features of my L series glass (24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 IS, and 100 to 400) will not be compatible with the 40d. He said that instead, the 40d will be more fully featured using EF-S glass.

I think that I have kept up with the trends of DSLR's (Canon especially) and I didn't want to tell this guy he was full of it, but on the off chance that I missed something I was wondering if anybody here might know whether this was a load of manure or if Canon is pulling a fast one here.

Thanks

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Ozone

This may be a silly question, I currently have a Canon 30d and will be upgrading to a 40d within a year (my wife doesn't know that, yet!). I dropped into the local camera shop tonight to look for little gadgets, and while talking to the owner, he said that some of the features of my L series glass (24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 IS, and 100 to 400) will not be compatible with the 40d. He said that instead, the 40d will be more fully featured using EF-S glass.

I think that I have kept up with the trends of DSLR's (Canon especially) and I didn't want to tell this guy he was full of it, but on the off chance that I missed something I was wondering if anybody here might know whether this was a load of manure or if Canon is pulling a fast one here.

Thanks

[BikePilot]

I'm pretty sure he was full of it, though I'm no expert. Now of course an EF-S on a full frame won't work out so well, but a L lens on a crop frame works just dandy.

[Ozone]

Originally Posted by rsinmadrid

Thanks, RS. The owner is a long time film user, but I think he just hasn't kept up with the trends in digital, i.e. lenses, crop sensors, etc.

Thanks for setting my mind to ease. Have a happy new year!

[Ozone]

Originally Posted by BikePilot

I'm pretty sure he was full of it, though I'm no expert. Now of course an EF-S on a full frame won't work out so well, but a L lens on a crop frame works just dandy.

I know that the EF-S glass won't work in full frames because the back of the lens protrudes too far for the mirror to swing up, but I couldn't figure out why a newer camera like the 40d would be engineered to work on the less expensive lenses but not the high dollar "L" series glass.

Thanks for your reply.

[colourbox]

Could have been an innocent mistake. There are so many product details for a dealer to remember. I'll bet he either got the Canon lens compatibility backwards (confusing EF-S lens incompatibility with full-frame bodies instead of the other way around) or confused Canon with Nikon issues (where some traditional Nikon lenses cannot use autofocus on some new Nikon digital bodies).

All I can say is that the 24-105L works on my Canon crop body with all functions working. Only issue is the narrower field of view of the crop sensor.

[bauerman]

It's always amazing to me how LITTLE local camera store staffers actually know about the products that they sell. There are some pretty bad decisions being made on a daily basis by less educated buyers based on this type of hogwash.

Another good example of why I use my local shop to browse new equipment and then buy online.

[Ozone]

Yeah, this guy doesn't have much in the way of digital stuff, but he does have a lot of older stuff including an old Canon 55mm f/1.2 that I was looking at. While I was in his store, some people came in and looked at the single digital he had, an XTi. Oh well.

[z_28]

You can sleep like a baby and upgrade to 40D anytime you want

BTW - 50/1.4 is nice too and got AF build-in already

[Frog Lady]

I have two of the lenses that you mentioned (the 70-200 and 100-400) and they both work great on my 40D (recently upgraded from a 20D). So, no worries about that - just worry about how you're going to tell the wife about the camera upgrade

C.

[pathfinder]

Canon EF lenses have worked on my 10D, and my 20D , and, currently, on my 40D.

I cannot think of a single EF "L" lens that will not work on the current 40D. Not always the best choice, due to size, weight, expense. Some of the EF-S lenses are very nice optically, and smaller, lighter, and less expensive.

EF-S lenses, however, ONLY fit on crop sensor Canon bodies ( 20D, 30D, 40D, xTi, Digital Rebel etc.)