> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Gunars Smerlins
> Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 2:28 AM
> To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> Subject: RE: EOS Why no AF assist light on the 3?
>
>
> Cause 3 is for professionals, who use big lenses which will shade AF IR
> assist light.
After all the talk in this thread, which has also impelled me to think more
about it, I have become more convinced that future evolution of professional
grade slrs will include some form of advanced a/f assist, unless of course
the sensitivity of the a/f system itself renders it unnecessary. The above
problem is a real one (as is the fact that since most of those big lenses
are long ones, they are out of range of the a/f assist light anyway), but
the main thing is the total performance of the autofocus system. Canon and
the professionals who use Canon have pretty much committed themselves to
autofocus as an essential part of camera technology. This technology has
improved immensely over the years, and Canon, with its eye controlled focus,
is really at the leading edge in it. Low light and low apterture
autofocusing are part of the technical problem that still needs to be
addressed and will, I am sure, be addressed in the course of time.
The wise birds who cluck that the easy solution in low light is to use
manual focus miss the point. Manual focus in an EOS is like oars on a
sailboat. You use the latter when the wind dies, but you would prefer to use
the sails. Oars work best on a rowboat or canoe, but they will get the job
done for the sailor as well if he needs it. What I see in autofocus as a
whole is a technology that is still developing. Low light autofocus,
including a/f assist lights, is one area that still eludes the engineers, as
is the placement and control, and also the nature of the light source of the
a/f assist lights. I also pointed out that there is a need for more precise
manual control over when and how the a/f assist light is used. But in the
end, it is a total results problem.
At least the autofocus problem is simple in terms of the objective:
determine the proper point of maximum focus and focus on it. It is much
simpler than automatic exposure for example, for there the determination of
what exposure you want is not so easy to make, which is why all cameras from
intermediate on up have manual exposure control with various assists like
spot focus and so on. Canon, with its eye controlled focus, has solved the
one subjective problem with autofocus very nicely. The rest, which is a
matter of developing more sensitive autofocus and possibly more powerful
and, at least optionally, minimally intrusive assit light aparati, has the
very simple goal of making the autofocus system work when you need it most,
in situtations where your eyes can't help you.
I also wonder if the EOS 3, being an old technology, involved some strategic
judgements that may or may not have worked out for Canon. In some ways it
is neither fish nor fowl. Why would a pro want an EOS 3 instead of the 1V
or its predecessor when the 3 came out, the 1N? As an amateur I can
certainly see why I wouldn't want it.
----------------------------------------------
Gerry Palo
Denver, Colorado
*
****
*******
***********************************************************
* For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see:
* http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm
***********************************************************
