The Bottom 10: The Ten Oldest Lenses in Current Canon Lineup
PhotoPlus Expo 2015 is right around the corner and I am of course wondering if any new Canon products might be seen at this show. With Canon recently deleting a couple of older lenses from their lineup, the timing seemed right to re-compute the 10 oldest Canon lens list.
| # | Model | Year Introduced |
| 1 | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro Lens  | 1987 |
| 2 | Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM Lens | 1991 |
| 3 | Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens | 1991 |
| 4 | Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens | 1991 |
| 5 | Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens | 1992 |
| 6 | Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM Lens | 1992 |
| 7 | Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens | 1993 |
| 8 | Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens | 1993 |
| 9 | Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Lens | 1995 |
| 10 | Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Lens | 1995 |
The bottom 10 list is always ripe with good speculation material. I'll fabricate some rumors to get us started.
Knocking #1 off of the list right away: holding the third-least-popular position does not bode well for a 50mm f/2.5 macro lens replacement. Perhaps a new 50mm f/1.4 with 1:1/1x macro capabilities (similar to the 24-70mm f/4L IS or at least with a dedicated extension tube) will arrive and eliminate this lens from the list?
The referenced 50mm f/1.4 is number 7 on this list. This lens is a perennial favorite, but it is showing strong signs of aging. Its replacement should be more than just the same optical design in a modernized body. To be positioned adequately above the 50mm f/1.8 STM, this lens should have improved wide-aperture image quality and fast Ring USM AF. Adding image stabilization would vault this lens' popularity.
The 85 f/1.8 and 100 f/2 (#5 and #2 respectively) are good value lenses now. Modernize their build, modestly improve the optics and add image stabilization to get a pair of must-have primes.
When Canon introduced the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift Lens, most of us expected to see the TS-E 45mm and TS-E 90mm lenses (#3 and #4 on the list) to be next-replaced. We've been waiting for that announcement for about 6 years now. That these two lenses hold the last two positions on the site's popularity list may explain why we haven't seen these updates. That a product refresh would launch them off of the bottom positions could easily be argued.
The 20mm f/2.8? This is not a popular lens and ... I don't remember ever hearing anyone wanting a replacement for it. Improve the image quality, modernize the design and add IS for, minimally, a better seller. Make the focal length wider for more-increased popularity.
The 28 f/1.8 is only very slightly more popular than the 20 f/2.8 and ... I don't hear demand for its replacement either.
Do nothing other than add image stabilization to the 400 f/5.6L and huge quantities of this lens would be flowing from the warehouses.
Bonus speculation: The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens is due for replacement. This lens hit my radar because the year introduced spec is blank in our database, causing it to sort above numbers in my query (placing it in first place on this list). I know that you love that silver ring, but ... the low cost full frame telephoto zoom lens position is ripe to be filled by an image stabilized EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 STM Lens with modernized build design. Add it to the 6D via a kit or a bundle rebate.
What do you think?!
What do you think will happen to the lenses on this list? Let us know in the comments!
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