Future Nikons

[MarcPPhotography]

With the introduction of the 3000 and 5000 and some of those other beginner cameras, d40, 40x; they dont have inboard autofocus motors.

Will the 4000, 8000, all future nikons, will they stop having motors inside the camera???
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[rpm]

all the low entry ones wont have them. only the high end of the consumer range and above will continue to have the motor. i feel there's still going to be a few generations to go before they faze it out completely...

 

[Formatted]

all future nikons, will they stop having motors inside the camera???

This was discussed before KmH has some strong and rather interesting arguments as to why.

But yes, as AF-S lens become the norm the low level and eventually pro bodies will feature No Focus motor.

 

[Mbnmac]

Is there an advantage to this?
I know that previously the AF-S lenses have been more expensive, but buying a new camera now, there's nearly no Nikkor lens that's not AF-S.

Besides price for Nikon, is there a plus to having the motor inside the lens?

 

[KmH]

In general AF-S focuses faster, and more accurately, than AF actuated by a screw drive powered by a motor in the camera body.

The last really fast focusing camera body Nikon made was the D1X, and I had one until just about 2 months ago for that very reason.

It also free's up space in the camera body for other use.

Canon went no-motor-in-the-body, across the board, 23 years ago when they also switched to the EF mount.

 

[rpm]

atm there are only a number of D lenses still available amongst prime lenses. zoom lenses not so much.

if im not mistaken Nikon continues to support their lenses up to 10 years after their release. so we might still be looking at one-two generations before the motor is completely fazed out and maybe not even then due to the possibility of Nikon owners still having these lens with them. the AF-S system is fairly recent so I don't see a complete fazing out for some time...

 

[KmH]

Yep. Nikon is much more mindful of their loyal customers than Canon was 23 years ago.

Actually, Canon has always been that way, which is why I don't use their gear. They were introducing new mounts on about a 12 year average there for a while. They're way overdue for a new mount.

 

[Derrel]

I don't think the D1x was the last fast-focusing camera body...the D2 series is even faster on focus. The weird thing about AF-S focusing versus screwdriver focusing is that the newest AF-S lenses like the 50mm 1.4 AF-S G and 35/1.8 AF-S G are really quite slow in terms of autofocusing, compared to their screwdriver predecessors. The 50/1.4 AF-S G is actually a pretty slow-focusing lens for a 50mm...the 1.8 AF-D is faster on focusing...I was not impressed with the 50/1.4 AF-S and its focusing speed. It's quite slow.

I wonder how long it'll be before the screw-driver focusing system is phased out in the upper-level Nikon bodies...I think it will be a good decade or more before the transition to no in-body AF motor is made. Some Nikon mount features have hung around for a long, long time, well after they were needed, like AI buckhorns, the AI coupling ridge on lenses, the AF-S speed notch, and the second ADR aperture scale--that stuff was kept around for well over 10 years beyond its needed lifespan.

 

[MarcPPhotography]

I feel like they should keep it in the body, just so you can use older lenses

 

[cfusionpm]

Yep. Nikon is much more mindful of their loyal customers than Canon was 23 years ago.

Actually, Canon has always been that way, which is why I don't use their gear. They were introducing new mounts on about a 12 year average there for a while. They're way overdue for a new mount.

Yeah, but for those last 23 years, it's been great having every lens meter and autofocus on every body. :thumbup: But I guess its a different perspective from someone only shooting for 6 years or so. Either way, I always found it odd that Nikon cripples their entry level cameras by not just putting focus motors in all their lenses like Canon. I'd be surprised if they didn't make some big switch in the future. It just seems redundant and unecessary to have motors in both the lens and the camera, not to mention driving up costs. I don't know the inner workings of Nikon's AF motor systems, but there's got to be a better way.

 

[manaheim]

I highly doubt we'll see NO focus motor on the higher bodies ... at least not for a very long time. There would be quite an uproar from all the Nikon guys who have been shooting for eons with heavy investment in glass without on-board focus motors.