No matter how well engineered a lens is, it’s never perfect. This is because of the physical constraints imposed by physics. Lenses have a focal length and an aperture that limit their performance in certain ways—and there are no exceptions to this rule. But as technology progresses, camera designers continue to push the limits of what we can do with lenses and imaging sensors so that we can create cameras that are smaller, lighter and more capable than ever before.
This is what lies at the heart of a new generation of mirrorless full-frame interchangeable lenses. With new and exciting technologies, such as electronic auto focus and image stabilization, these mirrorless cameras are allowing us to unleash the artistry of photography within smaller, lighter and more powerful bodies than ever before. In this article we explore the evolution of these cameras, which also means we’ll take a look at some of the lenses that are being released alongside them as well.
The original full frame mirrorless camera was the EOS M, which was launched in late 2011, and this was followed by another full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS 5D Mark IV. The latter was developed in tandem with the EOS 6D (the first in a series of interchangeable full-frame cameras to follow). Both cameras were released as part of a new breed of digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras—the first full-frame DSLRs to use an APS-C sensor.
Despite the fact that these full-frame mirrorless cameras are smaller and lighter than their DSLR counterparts, they still have a number of similarities when it comes to their autofocus (AF) system. And this is not surprising because the AF system on both EOS DSLRs and EOS M cameras equate to AF systems found in EOS 5D Mark III camera. But there are also important differences that affect how these cameras lock focus on a subject.