non Canon lens help, newbie question

[extraball]

I have a Canon 1100D, and know that it will take Canon EF, EF-S lenses. But when I look at other brands like sigma, tamron etc, I notice that they dont use EF/EF-S specification. So how can I tell what non Canon lenses will fit my camera?
Thanks

[Wayne63]

I know that my Sigma has Canon AF written on the back cap, I have always thought it may of been that canon had the copyright on "EF Mount" but thats only my thoughts. The one in the Canon range to avoid is the FD mount

[danny]

As the 1100D doesn't have an internal focus motor you will need to look for lenses that have a motor so they can auto focus. It is usually mentioned in the description of the lens. Of course any lens (as long as it is a canon mount) will "work" it is just that the ones without a motor will not auto focus.

Your camera uses an APS-C sensor, there are also lenses that are specifically designed for these "cropped frame" sensors. But once again a "full frame" lens will work.

It truly starts to hurt your head sometimes with all the information and the things out there, it can be very overwhelming. My advice is just to do lots of research. I found TEDS website really useful because it gives some great descriptions of lenses and what they are used for. When it comes to purchasing them AP has some great sponsors. I can personally recommend DWI as I have used their services repeatedly and have been extremely impressed.

Cheers
Danny

[SteveInNZ]

Third party lens manufacturers (Tamron, Sigma, etc) will either say that are EF mount or that they are for EOS cameras. Only Canon make EF-S lenses. Your camera can take either EF and EF-S. If you are buying older lenses (say > 5 years old) there can be some compatibility issues with non-Canon lenses and newer bodies. In those cases, you'd really want to try them on your camera. They won't do any harm, just give an error if you try to stop them down or during auto-focus. If it works, great. If not, just say no thanks.

[extraball]

thanks guys, I guess that answers my question, plus a little more. I was hoping for an equivalent set of codes, eg EF in tamron could be DG (I know it doesnt). Been looking at stuff on ebay, and maybe it would be a bit risky to buy, as they may not be totally compatable.

[Wobbles]

Hi extraball,
it can be confusing with all the letters/abreviations that lens manufacturers use..

For the three main manufacturers:

Sigma - DC = APS-C Only; DG = APS-C & Full Frame
Tamron - DiII = APS-C Only; Di = APS-C & Full Frame
Tokina (same as Nikon) - DX = APS-C Only; FX = APS-C & Full Frame


Cheers
John

[extraball]

Hi extraball,
it can be confusing with all the letters/abreviations that lens manufacturers use..

For the three main manufacturers:

Sigma - DC = APS-C Only; DG = APS-C & Full Frame
Tamron - DiII = APS-C Only; Di = APS-C & Full Frame
Tokina (same as Nikon) - DX = APS-C Only; FX = APS-C & Full Frame


Cheers
John

thanks John

[dulvariprestige]

Because you are using a crop body, any third party AF lens with canon mount will work normally, AF and stabilisation, it's only when you're using a FF body that some of the lenses aren't compatible, some will work on FF, but you will usually get undesirable results.

[Roosta]

Extraball - I can highly recommend Bryan's site (http://www.thedigitalpicture.com/Reviews/), he is a Canon nut and the amount of information on here is second to none.

The link will take you to the reviews section, and you can see it covers Canon and the other big Third Party Lens manufacturers.

You can also compare lens quality here (http://www.thedigitalpicture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=101&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=805&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0) - on Bryan's site. I have set it to show the Canon and the Sigma 24 - 70 MM lenses. Just run you cursor over the three areas and the result will change to which ever lens is selected, there's an arrow above the top frame to indicate which lens is in the example. This can be a very handy tool indeed.

This would be one of the most helpful Canon sites around. Bryan will explain what lens will fit what size sensor body, and has a list and the meaning of the abbreviations he uses. Same when he reviews say Sigma or Tamron.

Enjoy.