I handled one of the very first five Canon D1's, when they first came to Europe (2001?) at a Canon presentation in Cork, Ireland. It had 45 focus points. The viewfinder was totally covered with focus points - they lit up like the neon lights of Las Vegas, when the camera was moved. The focus changed as fast as I could move the camera. And it took 4-8 frames every time I pressed the shutter (8 fps). It sounded like a freaking Uzi! Now, that's fast AF. Pentax never made anything close to that. Comparing this Canon to the *ist D is like comparing a Saab 9-3 to a Lamborghini Gallardo. Saab still make very nice cars, even though they are perhaps not the state of the art. The same goes for the Pentax *ist D, I suppose.
About locking onto something: To me this means focusing on a subject, then stay focused at the same subject, even if it moves. No camera that I know of does this. Not even the Canon D1. Cameras loose focus when things move, but may refocus at the same subject after a while. Or it may focus on something else! That's not locking onto a subject, is it? Tracking perhaps, but certainly not locking. Jens Bladt mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hjem.get2net.dk/bladt -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: Herb Chong [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 16. januar 2005 00:04 Til: [email protected] Emne: Re: *istD AF performance (was Re: Sigma 2.8 Zoom lens comments) the Nikon and Canon cameras can track an object wandering across the FOV once it has acquired focus once, you don't even have to keep it on the same sensor. that's part of the reason the Canon 1Ds Mk2 has so many sensors. Herb... ----- Original Message ----- From: "mike wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 9:49 AM Subject: Re: *istD AF performance (was Re: Sigma 2.8 Zoom lens comments) > But _as Jens said_ it is not the same as locking on in weaponry, which > is an "active" system compared to autofocus. Not the correct > terminology, I know, but is the best descriptor I can use. > > IAC, I suspect we agree that a system where the photographer decides > what is to be focused on is best. If we cannot have a system that will > work to maintain focus (no matter where the focus point goes > afterwards) once the "lock" is enabled, then present systems are the > best we can hope for.
