Canon EF-S lenses - bad medium-long term buying descision

[StuartR]

I currently have 2 Canon EF-S (APS-C sensor only) lenses (60mm macro and 17-85mm IS) and I'm close to buying a third, the EF-S 10-22mm.

I'm starting to worry that these lenses are a poor medium to long-term investment though. I'd love to go "full-frame" at some point and, on the assumption that full-frame camera prices will come down (relatively) over time, that move might be sooner than I think. I'd even consider buying a second-hand 5D when its replacement comes out and prices inevitably(?) drop. Images I've seen taken by this camera have a certain "quality" that I can't quite define but I like. However, that would leave me with just my 50mm f/1.8 and 100-400mm lenses so wide-angle shooting would be out!

So, is the 10-22mm a short-term / short-sighted buy or do we think "cropped sensors" are here to stay? Will technology allow APS-C to go much further, from the image quality POV, than where it's at now?

[yoshi]

Re: Canon EF-S lenses - bad medium-long term buying descision

I currently have 2 Canon EF-S (APS-C sensor only) lenses (60mm macro and 17-85mm IS) and I'm close to buying a third, the EF-S 10-22mm.

I'm starting to worry that these lenses are a poor medium to long-term investment though. I'd love to go "full-frame" at some point and, on the assumption that full-frame camera prices will come down (relatively) over time, that move might be sooner than I think. I'd even consider buying a second-hand 5D when its replacement comes out and prices inevitably(?) drop. Images I've seen taken by this camera have a certain "quality" that I can't quite define but I like. However, that would leave me with just my 50mm f/1.8 and 100-400mm lenses so wide-angle shooting would be out!

So, is the 10-22mm a short-term / short-sighted buy or do we think "cropped sensors" are here to stay? Will technology allow APS-C to go much further, from the image quality POV, than where it's at now?

Hi Stuart,
Nice to know that you are also interested in the 10-22mm lens. It is my most-
frequently-used lens in the past two years or so. Virtually it is a lens cap of my body.
I think I understand your concern - for FF sensors, EF 17-40mm/4 (or similar ones from a third party supplier) seems to be one of the right choices, I guess. Actually I used it (= 17-40mm) relatively often while I used a film EOS.
IMHO whether to get EF-S 10-22mm fully depends on if or not you are going to keep your only one-year old 40D (for a while at least).
In case you plan to pass the 40D to one of your brothers/sisters/whomever again, this lens looks like a good combination with any APS-C body so the value of the present also goes up more than proportionately! Good to have a big brother, indeed.
When you think about it from the view point of your whole family basis, it looks to me same.
yoshi

P.s. I happened to post some pics taken by this lens at general discussion forum.

[StuartR]

Re: Canon EF-S lenses - bad medium-long term buying descision

Hi Stuart,
Nice to know that you are also interested in the 10-22mm lens. It is my most-
frequently-used lens in the past two years or so. Virtually it is a lens cap of my body.
I think I understand your concern - for FF sensors, EF 17-40mm/4 (or similar ones from a third party supplier) seems to be one of the right choices, I guess. Actually I used it (= 17-40mm) relatively often while I used a film EOS.
IMHO whether to get EF-S 10-22mm fully depends on if or not you are going to keep your only one-year old 40D (for a while at least).
In case you plan to pass the 40D to one of your brothers/sisters/whomever again, this lens looks like a good combination with any APS-C body so the value of the present also goes up more than proportionately! Good to have a big brother, indeed.
When you think about it from the view point of your whole family basis, it looks to me same.
yoshi

P.s. I happened to post some pics taken by this lens at general discussion forum.

Hi Yoshi

I'll probably go ahead with buying the 10-22, it gets so many excellent reviews and, even if I do go full-frame in the near future, there's always the chance I'll hold on to my 40D kit for a while.

Otherwise my younger brothers or sisters (3 now shooting Canon DSLR - 2 still to convert from compacts!) will be the lucky recipients of an "upgrade". I gave my 70-300 IS to one brother recently but I think from now on I will have to ask for a small sum to help finance the purchase of non EF-S lenses