Lens upgrades!

[Nathaniel]

I notice now Canon are "upgrading" their lenses and calling them mkii, mkiii etc. Are these upgrades really a worthwhile upgrade or an attempt to make people buy their upgraded lenses at inflated prices? I note that some members are selling their older lenses and buying these "upgraded" lenses. I am quite confused as I am particularly very happy with my present crop of tried and tested lenses. I often think of the older 50mm f1.8 lens as against the present mkii version and there is no comparison between these two copies.

[mikep]

Re: Lens upgrades!

I am quite confused as I am particularly very happy with my present crop of tried and tested lenses.

If you're happy with your current lenses, there's no need to upgrade, surely? Therefore, no need to be confused.

Happy to be of assistance!

Mike

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Lens upgrades!

If you're happy with your current lenses, there's no need to upgrade, surely? Therefore, no need to be confused.

Happy to be of assistance!

There is not a 70-200mm f/4L IS or 300mm f/4L IS upgrade so nothing to get confused about.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Lens upgrades!

thanks folks. I was only wondering why the upgrades- perhaps not my present crop of lenses but generally speaking, what are the improvements? Surely, anyday the 50mm mk1 is far better built and better than the mkii version.

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Lens upgrades!

thanks folks. I was only wondering why the upgrades- perhaps not my present crop of lenses but generally speaking, what are the improvements? Surely, anyday the 50mm mk1 is far better built and better than the mkii version.

The 50mm f/1.8 mkI is better built than the cheap mkII but you won't be disappointed in the optics of the mkII.
Take the Canon 5D camera, then the 5D markII was a vast improvement, and the 5D markIII is an improvement of that.
The upgrades generally address the failings with the predecessor or add improvements.

Also as camera have better sensors and bigger MP sensors some lenses that were quite good on a 10MP camera do not display the same quality on a 22MP camera and these need to be addressed.
This might be CAs, vignetting etc,,
Full-frame cameras have gone from 4MP-8MP-10MP-16MP+
Crop cameras have gone from 6MP-8MP-10MP-15MP-18MP+

Someone will sing the praises of their lenses on their 8MP camera whilst someone else would not on their 18MP camera.
Each new version is basically an improvement on the previous version.

Most Canon lenses are EF lenses and these improvements may not be noticeable when using an EF lenses in conjunction with a APS-C (crop) camera but are noticeable improvements on a Full-frame high MP camera.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Lens upgrades!

Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for a logical explanation. YOu do know the technical side photography.

[Woolley]

Re: Lens upgrades!

On the whole they seem to be a brand new lens design, but to an existing format. The 70-200L f/2.8IS already exists, but you can't produce a new lens of the same technical description and call is something else because it is what it is. So mkII appears to differentiate it.

Sometimes it's not an upgrade as in the previously mention 50mm f/1.8. The mkII still fits the same description but in this case is a cheaper alternative using new materials.