Pretty straight forward question. If I am looking to buy my first mirrorless Canon camera, should I spring for the extra money involved in buying the RF lenses? Specifically the 24-70mm ($600 more for RF), and the 70-200mm ($800 more).
If you have existing EF lenses, I would run with those for now. I have three EF lenses and they all work perfectly fine on my RP using the basic adapter. If you feel as if you need to have RF mount lenses, go for your life. The selection of RF lenses is smaller at this moment in time, but the range is slowly growing. Gary
The RF lenses are optimized for that camera system. Are they worth the additional cost?, you could debate that. The EF L lenses are great so you can save money if you like, the EF line will mount easier to everything being the most adaptable lens format due to technical specifications, unlike RF lenses.
Hi, In a slightly similar question to the OP, I am looking to get my first camera overall. I want to do wedding and outdoor photography so I'm looking to get an R6. However, I would also like to get a 5D Mark IV as a backup/second camera. However, I'm not sure if I should get the EF series and attach with the mount to the R6 this way I can use both cameras interchangeably. Also, EF lenses are cheaper than RFs. Or go straight for the RFs.
for this scenario if it were me i would get the ef lenses in zoom at first, if you have none at the moment then you can test out the focal lengths you want with cheaper zooms on the ef mounts, then you can have an idea of which more expensive primes to get and weither you want to use those on the R6, the ef stuff you get you can use on the D5, if you get stuff for the R6 you cant use it on the D5 if you don't like it. also, with wedding stuff there will be the need for close up stuff, if the lenses you are getting during your learning curve don't have a close focusing distance it might be worth getting some extension tubes so you can get close up shots of wedding rings and other tight in shots. a little side note, when i got my first camera for the modern era (M50) i got the kit which came with two kit zooms, 15-45 and 55-200, i haven't looked if the R6 or the other camera you want comes in a kit with two lenses but i think it is a solid shout to try and get two lenses if its in your budget, though i mostly shoot wild life so the 55-200 would be my main out of the two the smaller zoom range let me try out wider shots later on when i started taking interest in that end of the range.
Hi Caladina, Thank you so much for your detailed answer. I really appreciate it. You clarified a lot for me here. What lenses should I aim to start the kit with? The R6 I'm planning on getting already comes with the kit RF 24-105mm. After your answer, I'm very much leaning towards the EF lenses at the moment. I was thinking of getting a 16-35mm for general purpose, 70-200mm (with extender possibly) for candid shots and maybe a 100mm for ring shots etc. Does this set-up sound right to you? Thanks.
one of the things i don't do is weddings or people photography so the specific lens choices will be better answered by one of the other members with those experiences also my camera is a crop sensor where as your intended ones are full frame so my perspective is slightly different as i have a 1.6 x magnification on my mm sizes ( ideal for wild life, not ideal for indoor) where as i found 55mm on my crop sensor a bit to tight for closer up wide shots i am shooting at 88mm in full frame terms. with wedding stuff you are going to need some fast aperture lenses for low light indoor stuff for sure, i'm not sure how much you know about you know about photography as you have mentioned these are your first cameras. the other wedding/people shooters will be able to help you with best lenses for portraits and group stuff.
I think if your planning to have both cameras it would make sense to invest primarily in EF lenses as they will adapt to the RF mount, the RF mount is great but you wont be able to use it on the DSLR. If you get higher end glass then you should be in great shape. One thing, I do not recommend putting a couple hundred dollar zoom on a several thousand dollar camera. Limitations of cheap lenses will show up faster on higher resolution and full frame sensors. The wedding "go to kit" of zooms for decades has been the 24-70 and the 70-200. You can get both of these L lenses in 2.8 which you will want to be able to open it all the way for a variety of shots and situations. The 24-70 has a reasonably close focus distance for a non macro, so between the two they should cover you pretty well if you want to hold out for a macro. If you get both of these in EF mount you can pick one and mount it to each body and be set and have a second photographer as I also recommend that at weddings (you can't be everywhere). Full disclosure, I don't shoot weddings myself, but know those who do. (Not a fan of dealing with everything that comes along with it.)
