So, I went into Target yesterday and...

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by natek313

Perhaps. Or, he purchased insurance privately and working at Target enables him to afford it.

Just a thought. Like Tyler said, it wouldn't seem to make much sense if he lied to him about something so insignificant and irrelevant.

That's a good way to look at it - either way it sounds like there's no real basis for his suggestions...professional photographer or not. Assuming he his a pro, in my eyes, that doesn't make him an expert on all the gear.

Originally Posted by vandergus

Wow. This will tell you absolutely nothing about lens performance. Do you have a local camera store you could go to. They might be a little more helpful. Or at least have a wider selection of models that you can get a feel for.

I do have a Wolf Camera near the house but we frequent Target much more often...If I want to go to Wolf I have to make a special trip by myself and even then the guys there don't seem to know a ton about cameras. I went in a couple of weeks ago (looking at the D700) and the guy put on a DX lens for me to check out...I didn't say anything and thanked him for his time.

No place in town has a real wide selection of anything - there are 2 H.H. Greggs opening up in town (they are new to Memphis) and from what I can tell they'll have a good selection of cameras - knowledgeable employees, on the other hand, is another question.

[Mr Guy]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

1: No. Canon has electronic motors driving the autofocus on ALL their lenses: some Nikon's still rely on screwdrive, which is slower. The other downside is that there are many bodies that dont have the screwdrive motor, so they don't AF on those lenses. At the top end, in fact, Canon have had some missteps with their AF systems (the 1D series have had chronic problems with this) and the 7D is finally taking colour into account with metering (which Nikons have done for a while). The D3/D700 AF system is steps ahead of the 1D/5D system.

I guess I'm in a niggling mood today, because I just had to pick a bone with this one. You may be right, in many cases, but the way you phrased this bugs me. There's multiple things phrased badly at best, even though I may not go so far as to say they are wrong. It strikes me as being perhaps accurate, but misleading.

The first and biggest point is that the in lens motors versus screw drive speed issue is not as simple as stated. There's multiple stages that affect how quickly an AF system can work, and the motor type only affects one of them. The camera must first determine the direction of error, the amount of error, adjust the focus, and verify the focus. How long each of those steps take are affected by multiple things within the camera and lens. The fidelity of the AF system greatly affects the first two, but the second is not exclusively determined by the type of drive. The lens design has a great influence on how long it takes to focus, as the distance the lens needs to move is a factor of the focal throw of the lens. Lenses that are primarily designed to also be smoothly manually focused are going to be slower. Additionally, the time an internal motor lens is going to take is more or less absolute, while the screw drive lens is heavily dependent on the motor strength in the body. Finally, the algorithm for deciding how close "close enough" is in AF varies by manufacturer. Pentax has a double checking algorithm that takes slightly longer but is intended (and is fairly well agreed on) to be the most accurate. Canon's algorithm is known for being more tolerant of deciding when something is focus, giving a more room for error, but last I read, were still considered to be slightly ahead in predictive algorithms. Nikons have a reputation for being the best balance of speed and accurate.

The real important thing to note is that the gap in performance is extremely small and mostly only going to be noticed on high demand cases, like fast action sports, performance with unusual lighting conditions, extremely low depth of field performance, etc.

*Edit*

In the interest of full disclosure for the casual reader, I should point out the screw drive versus in lens drive is more notable for me as a Pentax user because Pentax actively supports both screw drive lenses as well as external to the body driven lenses. This is an important distinction because newer bodies have made improvements to the screw drive motors, and have put Pentax in the somewhat awkward position of having people very unsatisfied with the quality control and performance of their SDM (supersonic drive motor) lenses while becoming happier and happier with their screw drive lenses. Now Pentax is competitive in AF performance, but the reputation for slowness persists.

[OsmosisStudios]

Mr Guy: I'll in no way claim that motor type is the sole deciding factor, but in light of the severe, documented and admitted (by Canon) errors with the 1D series as well as some of the lower models, I, and others, say that Canon still has some work to do. That being said, both systems are excellent.

I understand the processing and algorithms do the most of the work, but the overall drive mechanism is likely one of the greatest bottlenecks in the system.

[private]

Look on professional football and basball fields, you will see the white lens, Buy canon

Although, who knows is canon has an exclusive contrcat and they HAVE to use Canon, but....Canon .

Seriosly, the lens is really important, and you want your lens colecction to stay with you as your change bodies (and you will). So not only should you think about what you want and can afford today, think about what you want tomorrow and then pick the one that has the lenses that you need. I did not go Nikon b/c the 50mm does not autofocus and with my eyes, I HAVE to rely on the machine...

When I got my nifty fifty, I thought it was the cats meow. Now, I cannot stand how slow it focuses...BUT it was awesome for what I needed. NOw I need to UPGRADE. Its a slippery slope so be careful.

[vandergus]

Originally Posted by Tyler

I went in a couple of weeks ago (looking at the D700) and the guy put on a DX lens for me to check out...I didn't say anything and thanked him for his time.

Again...wow. Where's my facepalm emoticon.

[lputman]

Hi Tyler...you are in the Memphis area? There's Memphis Photo Supply. I think he's mainly a Nikon carrier. He's got great photographic knowledge.

[Chip]

Originally Posted by private

I did not go Nikon b/c the 50mm does not autofocus . . . .

Not quite accurate, Pat. The 50mm 1.4D and 1.8D auto focus on anything that's a D80 and higher. And the 50mm 1.4G auto focuses on all Nikon digital bodies.

In the end, and to stereotype, the people who first do their research and then buy Canon love their system, the people who first do their research and then buy Nikon love theirs, etc.

Some other important thing to consider are how the different cameras feel and fit in your hands, and which menu/control button set up seems the most intuitive to you. That's a very subjective part that only the one spending the $ should decide.

Oh . . . and a salesman putting a DX lens on a FX body?? That's just funny right there. Good thing you knew enough to walk away.

[gturner]

Originally Posted by private

Look on professional football and basball fields, you will see the white lens, Buy canon

Although, who knows is canon has an exclusive contrcat and they HAVE to use Canon, but....Canon .

canon is the choice of most of a number of sports photographers because of AF speeds available in the top end compared to Nikon.

the tracking ability on my L glass is mind blowing!So smooth you hardly notice it is even happening


That said, this is at the expensive end of the scale and my guess is that the difference would be tough in the bottom and middle. I do however think that the USM and compatibility give Canon more of an edge as any difference in optical quality would be to fine to measure for most

[Tyler]

Thanks for all the information everyone. I didn't expect there to be some much information for what I thought was a pretty simple question. You all have helped me out and I truly appreciate that. Thank you

Originally Posted by vandergus

Again...wow. Where's my facepalm emoticon.

Yea - tell me about it

Originally Posted by lputman

Hi Tyler...you are in the Memphis area? There's Memphis Photo Supply. I think he's mainly a Nikon carrier. He's got great photographic knowledge.

Yes - I am in Memphis and I almost forgot about MPS. I'll have to go back in there since I haven't done business with them since I was in college. I never felt like I got the best of service there but that was years ago. Oh - I added you as a contact on Flickr - I really like some of your recent shots of downtown Memphis.

[lputman]

I reciprocated the flickr add .

You should join the Flickr: Flickring in Memphis group. It's one of a few local groups but one of the guys, Elijah, is very enthusiastic about getting out and shooting. We are also part of a local forum, Memphis Photo Forums - Index, that you might be interested in.