How Important Is The Internal Autofocus Body Motor In A Dslr

How Important Is The Internal Autofocus Body Motor In A Dslr?

im looking to buy my first dslr, im down to the d5000 and the 500d
how important is the internal autofocus body motor?

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Posted in DSLR Cameras Questions

Tags: Autofocus, Dslr, Dslr Camera

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4 Responses to “How Important Is The Internal Autofocus Body Motor In A Dslr?”

bbshady says:

January 1, 2010 at 08:41

For some Nikon lenses, they will not auto focus. There are charts available online that will tell you which camera will do what with what lenses. If you buy only lenses that have motors in them, which I believe is the greater majority of them, you will not notice a difference at all. The lenses that typically will give you problems are some of the less expensive lenses. I’ve posted the chart site at the bottom.

The lenses that will not work do not have motors built into them and rely on the camera to turn the elements as there is no mechanism built into the lens so that it can turn itself. Hope that helps.
Jt C says:

January 1, 2010 at 09:43

This is an question that has and will continue to cause a great deal of debate. In the end it boils down to how important is autofocusing to you verses how comfortable are you manual focusing. Add to that will you be using only new lenses or using older non AFs lenses If do not have an in body focusing motor for Nikon only lenses with a focus motor in the lens will autofocus. For Nikkor lenses these are calles AFs or AFi lenses.

Third party manufactures also make lenses with focus motors in them for nikon under different designations ( e.g. HSM) Nikon AF and AF d lenses will not autofocus on cameras with no in body focus motor but will autofocus on cameras that do have an in camera focus motor. AI and nAI lenses will not autofocus on any cameras. with the exception of nAI lenses all the others will mount and take photos on any Nikon DSLR body some will not give you full meterting functions. and as noted some you have to focus manually

The move to put motors in the lenses is not “just so the company can sell you a more expensive lens with the motor in it” In lens focus motors have proved quieter and faster in most lens comparisons. That is one of the reasons that most newer lens designs incorporate it.

Personally for me autofocus is a nice to have but not a need to have. I grew up in the days before AF ans still often focus manually and use many of the AI lenses I bought in the late 70s. If I had my choice all manufacturers would put a split center ring focusing screen in all cameras ( I have retrofited some of mine with the ones made by Katz eye) or at least offer it as an OEM option. But thats just me and it would not be for everyone. For other folks they want only to have the camera autofocus and thats OK too. Its really in your style and what you want the camera to do
David M says:

January 1, 2010 at 14:53

Since you will be buying your first DSLR then it wont really matter. All Canon EF (auto focus) lenses will auto focus with all Canon cameras. So there is no problem with Canon.
With Nikon most of the newer lenses are called AFs. These lenses have the built in motor. So as long as you buy AFs lenses you wont have a problem. Where problems could arise is if you had a collection of older Nikon auto focus lenses. In order for these to auto focus you would need a camera with a built in motor.

There are currently about 28 AFs lenses available for Nikon. These include the 18-55mm that will come with your camera as well as the 55-200mm telephoto zoom and the 12-24mm wide angle zoom. So in reality you wont have a problem.

Go to a camera store and play around with both cameras. Choose the one that is most comfortable in your hand and has the controls where they make sense to you. Don’t worry about a built in motor.
Ace Ventura: Pet Photographer™ says:

January 1, 2010 at 16:58

not very important if you use manual focus a lot.
FYI – get the 500D