EF v's EF-S

BlueSpud

I have seen dozens of discussions onthis but none of them answer this simple question. Say I have a canon 450D and I have 2 lenses, a 75-300 EF and a 75-300 EF-S. I know there is a multiplyer of 1.6, but which one will give me more zoom. I want to take photos of my kids playing football and they are ofter far away. I need to get a fair bit of zoom, so which one gets me closer.

Ricky91t

Both identical! The ef-s lens are made only for crop 1.6 crop sensors and won't work on 1.3 and full frame sensor seen on canons 1 series and 5 series cameras.

Paulw

Neither. They're the same.

EF and EF-S are just the lens fits. The focal length is identical.

EF will work on all Canon dslr bodies.
EF-S will only work on the APS-C bodies.

MaggyM

As above, if using either lens on an APC-C camera such as the 450D, there is no difference in which will get you closer.

The EF-S lenses are not compatible with a full frame camera. The EF lens will work on both, albeit slightly differently.

If you put your EF lens on a full frame camera (5D or 1D) it would be wider throughout, and so shorter on the long end.

If you are planning on buying a full frame camera in the future, you might consider investing only in to EF lenses.

Seen as the OP has been answered, I was wondering if I could perhaps get an answer to a similar question?


I have a Canon 20D and an Olympus E-420. The Oly E series have a crop factor of 2.0 and the 20D is 1.6.

Does that mean that If I buy a 100mm lens for my Olympus, that it'll give me 200mm when I put it on, whereas if I buy a 100mm lens for my 20D that i'll actually get 160mm?

Or are the lenses made specific to each camera brand/body they're for? so they work out the difference and label them as such? (ie; 100mm lens on both would give the same reach)?





Also.. what is 100mm? or 50mm? I have a 40-150mm lens.. but obviously it zooms me in further than 140mm (which would be about half a footstep forward). How does the mm convert to feet for actual zoom/reach?

(I assume the mm is something to do with how far away the lens moves from the sensor for taking the photo to achieve a greater zoom? ie; at 18mm the element of the rear of the lens is 18mm away from the sensor, and at 140mm, its 140mm away from the camera?)


Cheers

BlueSpud

Ricky91t wrote: »

Both identical! The ef-s lens are made only for crop 1.6 crop sensors and won't work on 1.3 and full frame sensor seen on canons 1 series and 5 series cameras.

If this is the case, then why did the EF mount cameras come with a stock lens of 28-80 and the EF-S cameras come with 18-55 lens. I understooc that there was an ewuivalence of sorts (equates to the 1.6 crop factor).

hmboards

BlueSpud wrote: »

If this is the case, then why did the EF mount cameras come with a stock lens of 28-80 and the EF-S cameras come with 18-55 lens. I understooc that there was an ewuivalence of sorts (equates to the 1.6 crop factor).

Because if you use the 28-80 on a camera with a 1.6 crop factor (and it does fit) it is equivalent to 45-128mm, which isn't very wide for a general kit lens. The 18-55 EF-S lens was designed specifically to address this issue.

EF-S lenses are cheaper to produce as they only need to project the light onto a smaller area. You could use a 17-55 EF lens and have exactly the same results, but it would be more expensive to produce and buy that lens.

Ricky91t

Deleted User wrote: »

Seen as the OP has been answered, I was wondering if I could perhaps get an answer to a similar question?


I have a Canon 20D and an Olympus E-420. The Oly E series have a crop factor of 2.0 and the 20D is 1.6.

Does that mean that If I buy a 100mm lens for my Olympus, that it'll give me 200mm when I put it on, whereas if I buy a 100mm lens for my 20D that i'll actually get 160mm?

Or are the lenses made specific to each camera brand/body they're for? so they work out the difference and label them as such? (ie; 100mm lens on both would give the same reach)?





Also.. what is 100mm? or 50mm? I have a 40-150mm lens.. but obviously it zooms me in further than 140mm (which would be about half a footstep forward). How does the mm convert to feet for actual zoom/reach?

(I assume the mm is something to do with how far away the lens moves from the sensor for taking the photo to achieve a greater zoom? ie; at 18mm the element of the rear of the lens is 18mm away from the sensor, and at 140mm, its 140mm away from the camera?)


Cheers

To answer thebold bit, Yes a 100mm on a 2.0(four thirds/micro four thirds) will be equivalent to 200mm where as the same lens on a 20D will be equivalent to 160mm

As for the non bold, This has never bothered me so I can't answer and I'd rather not google it and link you to a crappy resource, So I'll let some one else answer it

5uspect

Focal length numbers are based on a 35mm film frame.
It's a measure of where light coming from infinity crosses the lens to the focusing plane.


In the above image the focal length is shown by F.
In a simple lens it is simply a measure from the centre of the lens to the focal plane.
In a compound lens where there are many elements it is difficult to locate.
I guess this of it as being like the centre of gravity.

1.6 crop factors are a factor of this 35mm.

A 50mm lens on a 35mm camera (D3, 5D etc) is roughly equivalent to what the human eye sees. Longer is telephoto and shorter is wide-angle.

Loads more info here:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
and here on cropped sensors:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm