Thread: How reliable are autofocus lenses?

Back on track for a sec:

Nikon GM sales and marketing responded within 40 minutes of receiving my last email. Apologised and "will be back to me within 18 hours".

I am ever hopeful!

Bleedin'

I am rather prejudiced when it comes to cameras. Despite the current glitch, I am delighted with the quality of the Nikon product, and the "feel" of the thing.

I have previously owned Pro quality Olympus SLR's (OM 1's and 2's) which were legendary in their time, and Canon film SLR's, and still also have a digital Canon Pro1.

My daughter has a Canon 400D (and my Canon lense collection! ) which is another top flight amateur camera and great value IMHO.

I personally prefer the Nikon line, and reckon the D40 is about the best value going at the moment. In reality, it'll all get down to personal preference, and the dollars you want to spend.

Why else would I lust after a Leica when my D80 is all that I would ever need and more?

Check www.dpreview.com for comprehensive reviews of whatever you are considering buying, and try to be objective!

cheers,

P

For the serious amateur the Nikon, Canon and Pentax SLR cameras are all excellent choices.

I suggest you go in a pick up each of the cameras and see how they feel in your hand.

When I was looking for a camera my choice was between the Nikon D50 and the Canon 350D. Both cameras were and still are excellent. I chose the D50 because it felt better in my hands. The Canon was a little small and felt very 'Plastic'.

Nikon and Canon have a greater range of lenses then Pentax.

Chris

Thanks I have checked out that site BM. It seems that once you get up to the top end of the amateur camera's its the newer the better as they are coming out with new features all the time IE antidust lenses etc.( a bit of a broad generalisation, I know )

With the digital SLR's are they like bodies of old where lenses are interchangable between (most) brands? and can I use my old lenses on the digital body?(after a serious clean )

With the digital SLR's are they like bodies of old where lenses are interchangable between (most) brands? and can I use my old lenses on the digital body?(after a serious clean )

I'm not sure it's ever been easy to interchange lenses between brands. They all have different mounting systems. Canon, Nikon and Pentax all use the same mounts as they did 30 & 40 years ago. Most of the older lenses will work but not all. The old lenses will probably not have auto focus capability.

Chris

Thanks Grunt, My nikon & pentax lenses are interchangable. As far as AF lenses go ...tell you the truth I dont like them much..well I don't like the only one I have, it seems to make everything flat - no depth of field. Is that what BM means by soft?

Actually its a bit unfair to make a judgment on AF as the one I'm using is on a video camera which must be a totally different kettle of fish.

In the recent past, you could get a Tamron or Soligor or some such brand with a universal mount that could be switched to fit any of the 'supported' camera bodies. I think autofocus generally killed it off, and now the third party lens manufacturers make a version of their lens for each camera brand they support.

As far as fitting your old lenses to a new DSLR, you can do this with Pentax, Canon, Nikon, within reasonable bounds. There are various limitations that you will need to explore if you are going to make this a reason for buying one camera over the other. Take your lenses into the camera shop and make sure they work.

The canon EF mount embodies the shortest mount-to-film distance of any popular DSLR brand. As a result, there are adapters available to fit just about any other brand lens to a canon. (yes, you can mount a nikon lens on your canondslr) The adapter is machined to correct the mount-to-film difference, and adapt the bayonet to the foreign lens. Of course, using lenses in this fashion eliminates all of the open aperture metering, and focus capabilities of the lens although focus confirmation adapters have started appearing on ebay.

woodbe

Thanks Woodbe, I wasn't aware of that potential problem.

An update, because I don't bag a company without reporting the outcome!

I had a phone call from Nikon's Marketing GM today, he's undertaken to get a replacement lens to me overnight, in time for my daughter's wedding on Saturday!

If it all comes off, I'll write a happy post!


P

All credit to Nikon in the end!

The replacement lens arrived and was used about 500 times on Saturday. It seems there is some genuine concern over the service (or lack of it) so here's hoping it'll improve in the future.

In the meantime, I'm a happy camper once more!

cheers,

P

Good on you Midge

I was concrend last night when using my Canon but as I was using manual mode as the auot focus was shunting in and out from one object to another

That's EXCELLENT news Midge!!

Now for the acid test:

• were the pictures sharp?
• did the AF work properly?
• are you happy with your new lens?

Originally Posted by MajorPanic

TNow for the acid test:

• were the pictures sharp?
• did the AF work properly?
• are you happy with your new lens?

Without doing any testing (I like to look at photos not test sheets) the pics were as sharp as the lens is supposed to produce, the AF works consistently now, the VR also seems to work (previously I thought I was hopeless!), and lens creep which was a major issue with the old one is thus far non existent.

All in all, it's what it should have been, or appears to be so anyway.

Once I get mobile again I'll have a proper play and report!

cheers,

P

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Thanks Grunt, My nikon & pentax lenses are interchangable. As far as AF lenses go ...tell you the truth I dont like them much..well I don't like the only one I have, it seems to make everything flat - no depth of field. Is that what BM means by soft?

Actually its a bit unfair to make a judgment on AF as the one I'm using is on a video camera which must be a totally different kettle of fish.

G'day BT.
I use pentax *ist D and K10D DSLRs.
I also use my old K mount pentax glass and screw mount pentax glass on these bodies with no problems.
manual focus was very difficult with the original mat screen. I since fitted a split focus screen bought from Epay. hardly ever use AF since. manual focus is a lot faster than AF. No waiting for focus confimation prior to shutter button press.

Thanks Trevor, That looks like the way I am headed.

One problem I am having these days is not being able to focus on the viewfinder as my eyes are not what they used to be.

Is there a solution to this...besides putting on glasses? It may seem a bit of a joke but it does make manual focusing a bit harder than it was a couple of years back.