Lack of AF motor
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I don't understand why the new nikon releases have no AF motor. My first assumption is that they're planning on slapping focus motors in every new lens they produce, but from these forums alone I can see how much it's hurting their sales. I've seen quite a few threads where someone's wanting to buy a new entry level DSLR and they're comparing the D40/D60 to Rebel/XT. In many cases the argument comes in that they're virtually the same, however nikon has no AF motor which will cause problems in the long run. The end result, they choose canon.
I just don't understand this decision by nikon. Most people getting into photography would start with the lower end cameras, but why remove something that many people find beneficial when the competition hasn't? I still value my D50 over the D40/D60 but since it's discontinued it's hard to recommend it to others.
On the other hand, an internal AF motor would increase the cost, size, and weight of an SLR body.
Nikon chose to give up on the built in AF motor for their entry level bodies. For folks like me, who already have older bodies with a built in motor, and some old Nikkor AF primes, this rules out the D40 body. I still believe they made the right decision, even though it was not an easy one.
Using the old prime lenses on a D40 (http://www.dprguru.com/index.php?mfg=Nikon&model=D40&ref=TPF080621) with manual focus? i don't know... i would not recommend anyone planning on using such a setup. In the old days the SLR viewfinder focusing screens had a split prism in the center which made manual focus easier than it would be today with the all-matte screens usually found in autofucus SLRs.
BTW - i bought the F mount Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which has a built it AF motor, and HATE it. I've read several reviews of that lens, appearantly Sigma have quality assurance issues with this specific model, and some (too many IMO) units go out the factory having serious autofocusing issues, most of the lenses are probably OK. I just assume the one I bought was defective, and I have tons of blurred photos I took with that Sigma lens.
On the other hand, an internal AF motor would increase the cost, size, and weight of an SLR body.
Nikon chose to give up on the built in AF motor for their entry level bodies. For folks like me, who already have older bodies with a built in motor, and some old Nikkor AF primes, this rules out the D40 body. I still believe they made the right decision, even though it was not an easy one.
Using the old prime lenses on a D40 (http://www.dprguru.com/index.php?mfg=Nikon&model=D40&ref=TPF080621) with manual focus? i don't know... i would not recommend anyone planning on using such a setup. In the old days the SLR viewfinder focusing screens had a split prism in the center which made manual focus easier than it would be today with the all-matte screens usually found in autofucus SLRs.
BTW - i bought the F mount Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which has a built it AF motor, and HATE it. I've read several reviews of that lens, appearantly Sigma have quality assurance issues with this specific model, and some (too many IMO) units go out the factory having serious autofocusing issues, most of the lenses are probably OK. I just assume the one I bought was defective, and I have tons of blurred photos I took with that Sigma lens.
most (not all) people that move up from p&s never think when buying a DSLR that they will never use anything more than the kit lens plus a telezoom...
so from this perspective Nikon is pretty smart.... if you become more serious you will upgrade your D40/60 body within a year or two and Nikon will have got you twice in a relatively quick time slot. the hobbyist becomes locked in with Nikon because they start purchasing non afs lenses and won't switch teams at that point. as for the person that doesn't become more serious the issue is a moot point and no love is lost.
regarding your sigma 30mm.... it's important to note getting in focus shots at such a wide aperture often comes with failure regardless of lens...
on another forum i asked 50mm users (that have autofocus) how many of their open aperture shots were failures (on non static subjects).... common answers were 1 to 3 failures per 5 shots...
a good way to test your sigma would be to mount it on a tripod and take 10 pictures of a static subject (preferably a 2 dimensional subject).... reposition the tripod after each frame.... moving the tripod will force the sigma to adjust focus each time.... when evaluating.. remember to only observe clarity in your focal point...
IMO it's a good idea to use continuous shutter when shoot wide aperture like 1.8... lots of shots... lots of failures... and a few real dandies in between..
Although, according to those numbers...Nikon DSLR shipments were are 3.09 Million and Canon was at 3.4 Million for 2007. :scratch: :er:
lol.... i think Canons number of 3.4 million includes defective units returned.... for 2007 this was 18% so do the math... actual units sold 2.788 million...
source for defective return percentage by Tony Danza
Not really...I just had to stick up for Canon because the Nikon users are bragging so much since they finally managed to out sell Canon for a year. :greenpbl:
Although, according to those numbers...Nikon DSLR shipments were are 3.09 Million and Canon was at 3.4 Million for 2007. :scratch: :er:
The flip side is they are able to lock in the customers to expensive AF-S lenses. Yes older lenses work on the D40, but how many average schmoes are likely to buy a lens they can't use basic autofocus with. They are hooking customers with a cheap starting price and at the same time preventing them on feeding off the second hand market of which there are many good lenses to be had for a bargain if one knows what to look for.
I've seen quite a few threads where someone's wanting to buy a new entry level DSLR and they're comparing the D40/D60 to Rebel/XT. In many cases the argument comes in that they're virtually the same, however nikon has no AF motor which will cause problems in the long run. The end result, they choose canon.Over in the beginner's forum, most seem to be leaning towards the Nikons these days, and as mentioned above, Nikon's sales figures seem to back that up. Canon has much more of a long-term problem than Nikon does because all these people that have been snapping up D40/40x/60's are now in the Nikon camp and will be buying more Nikon lenses, flashes, etc. Most are pretty pleased with their cameras in spite of the lack of the AF motor, and most don't even care. The majority of typical DSLR buyers will find all they need between the 18-55 and 55-200 kit zoom lenses as well. For the most part, only hobbyists and enthusiasts would be interested in the older AF/AF-D style primes that haven't been updated yet, or the vintage glass.
I just don't understand this decision by nikon. Most people getting into photography would start with the lower end cameras, but why remove something that many people find beneficial when the competition hasn't? I still value my D50 over the D40/D60 but since it's discontinued it's hard to recommend it to others.Because many beginners or just regular people don't value support for older screw driven lenses and would rather pay a lower price for a smaller camera. :)
When auto focus SLR cameras were breaking in, Canon changed the size & type of mount they use for their new lenses, which had AF motors in them.
This pissed off a lot of people and Canon took a hit...especially people who had a lot of money invested in FD lenses. They essentially had to buy all new lenses if they wanted to upgrade to an EOS camera body. There was a Canon made adapter that was sold only to pro photographers, but it wasn't a great solution.
Anyway, Nikon did not change their mount. They simply put the AF motor in the new camera bodies so that any new AF lens could use that motor...while at the same time, older lenses were still compatible. This has been an advantage that Nikon had had over Canon since then.
Fast forward to the present and modern cameras are getting smaller and have a lot more guts to cram into the bodies...and one of the things to go, was the AF motor...because it's easy and common to put the AF motor in the lens (like Canon did from the start).
So, I guess you could say that things are finally starting to balance out between Canon & Nikon and they way they chose to integrate auto focus.
Also, I'm sure Nikon is aware of who they sell the majority of these cameras to. I'd guess that 90% of D40/D60 users will only ever buy one or two lenses and there are plenty of AF-S & G lenses that will do the job and autofocus with those cameras.
yet the lenses are twice the price of the ones without AF motors
I did just find an article where the president of Nikon implied that they will not be focusing on selling more DSLR cameras than Canon. The projected numbers for 2008 favor Canon.
For its current business year, which began in April, Nikon puts its global SLR camera shipments at 3.3 million units, up 210,000 units from the previous year.
The projection is conservative compared with that of Canon, which foresees global shipments of 4.4 million units for calendar 2008, up one million units from 2007.
The article does say that Nikon will be concentrating on the higher end of the DSLR market, where cameras are more profitable.
Nikon appears to be concerned that expanding sales by focusing on low-priced products will accelerate price wars and lead to low profitability as a result.
LINK (http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=18407)
i find it funny how the lack of a.f. is considered a deal breaker..... a lot of people here promote only using manual mode for settings... but run for the hills if the camera can't autofocus.... it's just another thing to learn..
I did just find an article where the president of Nikon implied that they will not be focusing on selling more DSLR cameras than Canon. The projected numbers for 2008 favor Canon.
The article does say that Nikon will be concentrating on the higher end of the DSLR market, where cameras are more profitable.
LINK (http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=18407)
So Big Mike.... by this you mean Canon is better than Nikon?
Have a look at sigma and tamron websites. Sigma use the letter HSM for their motorized lenses and Tamron using number codes to identify theirs. I don't think tokina has any.
Yeah it just doesn't work quite as well as you described. I used this approach for a time on my friends D40 and my own D200 (for AI-S lenses). Both drove me nuts. The craptacular performance is what made me finally buy one of the Katzeye focusing screens for my D200.
Over in the beginner's forum, most seem to be leaning towards the Nikons these days, and as mentioned above, Nikon's sales figures seem to back that up. Canon has much more of a long-term problem than Nikon does because all these people that have been snapping up D40/40x/60's are now in the Nikon camp and will be buying more Nikon lenses, flashes, etc. Most are pretty pleased with their cameras in spite of the lack of the AF motor, and most don't even care. The majority of typical DSLR buyers will find all they need between the 18-55 and 55-200 kit zoom lenses as well. For the most part, only hobbyists and enthusiasts would be interested in the older AF/AF-D style primes that haven't been updated yet, or the vintage glass.
Because many beginners or just regular people don't value support for older screw driven lenses and would rather pay a lower price for a smaller camera. :)
Well said.
It's obviously been a very wise decision based upon their sales numbers. I don't think many opinions on this forum really matter (mine included) because if you're on this forum than you're likely more serious about the hobby than the market that the D40's / D60's are geared towards. So they slim down the cameras, lower the price and attract newbs into their brand. The newbs that turn into serious hobbyists will probably upgrade to another non-entry level camera in a few years.
The D40's / D60's are more about getting P&S users into the dSLR market and less about appealling to the serious hobbyists. That's what the D80 / D300 are for.
Ahh... I didn't realize canon has AF motors in all their lenses rather than the bodies. So if I understand you correctly, canon made a new mount in order to communicate with the in-lens focus motor, where nikon decided to throw it in the camera instead of changing their mount? And now nikon's changing their mind...
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