Lack of AF motor

[rmh159]

errrr, nope. Nikon DSLR sales have skyrocketed past Canon and they now have more market share, mostly fueled by D40 line sales. The people you see on these forums are more the hobbyist/enthusiast type and in no way shape or form represent a typical DSLR buyer these days. The smaller size, lighter weight, and cheapest price on the market has won them tons of new customers. Canon obviously got caught with their pants down, and it took them a full 18-month development cycle to respond with the new EOS 1000D "mini" Rebel that's coming out soon.

Over in the beginner's forum, most seem to be leaning towards the Nikons these days, and as mentioned above, Nikon's sales figures seem to back that up. Canon has much more of a long-term problem than Nikon does because all these people that have been snapping up D40/40x/60's are now in the Nikon camp and will be buying more Nikon lenses, flashes, etc. Most are pretty pleased with their cameras in spite of the lack of the AF motor, and most don't even care. The majority of typical DSLR buyers will find all they need between the 18-55 and 55-200 kit zoom lenses as well. For the most part, only hobbyists and enthusiasts would be interested in the older AF/AF-D style primes that haven't been updated yet, or the vintage glass.

Because many beginners or just regular people don't value support for older screw driven lenses and would rather pay a lower price for a smaller camera.

Well said.

It's obviously been a very wise decision based upon their sales numbers. I don't think many opinions on this forum really matter (mine included) because if you're on this forum than you're likely more serious about the hobby than the market that the D40's / D60's are geared towards. So they slim down the cameras, lower the price and attract newbs into their brand. The newbs that turn into serious hobbyists will probably upgrade to another non-entry level camera in a few years.

The D40's / D60's are more about getting P&S users into the dSLR market and less about appealling to the serious hobbyists. That's what the D80 / D300 are for.

 

[Big Mike]

I certainly don't want to start a Canon vs Nikon debate. Nikon has surpassed Canon in sales for 2007. Nikon made some great strides lately and it's great for the market place and for us consumers.

I did just find an article where the president of Nikon implied that they will not be focusing on selling more DSLR cameras than Canon. The projected numbers for 2008 favor Canon.

For its current business year, which began in April, Nikon puts its global SLR camera shipments at 3.3 million units, up 210,000 units from the previous year.

The projection is conservative compared with that of Canon, which foresees global shipments of 4.4 million units for calendar 2008, up one million units from 2007.

The article does say that Nikon will be concentrating on the higher end of the DSLR market, where cameras are more profitable.

Nikon appears to be concerned that expanding sales by focusing on low-priced products will accelerate price wars and lead to low profitability as a result.

LINK

 

[dEARlEADER]

I certainly don't want to start a Canon vs Nikon debate. Nikon has surpassed Canon in sales for 2007. Nikon made some great strides lately and it's great for the market place and for us consumers.

I did just find an article where the president of Nikon implied that they will not be focusing on selling more DSLR cameras than Canon. The projected numbers for 2008 favor Canon.


The article does say that Nikon will be concentrating on the higher end of the DSLR market, where cameras are more profitable.


LINK

So Big Mike.... by this you mean Canon is better than Nikon?

 

[Big Mike]

So Big Mike.... by this you mean Canon is better than Nikon?

Not really...I just had to stick up for Canon because the Nikon users are bragging so much since they finally managed to out sell Canon for a year. :greenpbl:

Although, according to those numbers...Nikon DSLR shipments were are 3.09 Million and Canon was at 3.4 Million for 2007. :scratch: :er:

 

[dEARlEADER]

Not really...I just had to stick up for Canon because the Nikon users are bragging so much since they finally managed to out sell Canon for a year. :greenpbl:

Although, according to those numbers...Nikon DSLR shipments were are 3.09 Million and Canon was at 3.4 Million for 2007. :scratch: :er:

lol.... i think Canons number of 3.4 million includes defective units returned.... for 2007 this was 18% so do the math... actual units sold 2.788 million...

source for defective return percentage by Tony Danza

 

[amba]

My guess is Nikon had to make a tough decision. On one hand - most of their prime lenses have no built in focusing motor - Canon clearly has an advantage that Nikon could not wipe our without investing major $$$ in developing a new line of AFS primes.
On the other hand, an internal AF motor would increase the cost, size, and weight of an SLR body.

Nikon chose to give up on the built in AF motor for their entry level bodies. For folks like me, who already have older bodies with a built in motor, and some old Nikkor AF primes, this rules out the D40 body. I still believe they made the right decision, even though it was not an easy one.

Using the old prime lenses on a D40 with manual focus? i don't know... i would not recommend anyone planning on using such a setup. In the old days the SLR viewfinder focusing screens had a split prism in the center which made manual focus easier than it would be today with the all-matte screens usually found in autofucus SLRs.

BTW - i bought the F mount Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which has a built it AF motor, and HATE it. I've read several reviews of that lens, appearantly Sigma have quality assurance issues with this specific model, and some (too many IMO) units go out the factory having serious autofocusing issues, most of the lenses are probably OK. I just assume the one I bought was defective, and I have tons of blurred photos I took with that Sigma lens.

 

[dEARlEADER]

My guess is Nikon had to make a tough decision. On one hand - most of their prime lenses have no built in focusing motor - Canon clearly has an advantage that Nikon could not wipe our without investing major $$$ in developing a new line of AFS primes.
On the other hand, an internal AF motor would increase the cost, size, and weight of an SLR body.

Nikon chose to give up on the built in AF motor for their entry level bodies. For folks like me, who already have older bodies with a built in motor, and some old Nikkor AF primes, this rules out the D40 body. I still believe they made the right decision, even though it was not an easy one.

Using the old prime lenses on a D40 with manual focus? i don't know... i would not recommend anyone planning on using such a setup. In the old days the SLR viewfinder focusing screens had a split prism in the center which made manual focus easier than it would be today with the all-matte screens usually found in autofucus SLRs.

BTW - i bought the F mount Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which has a built it AF motor, and HATE it. I've read several reviews of that lens, appearantly Sigma have quality assurance issues with this specific model, and some (too many IMO) units go out the factory having serious autofocusing issues, most of the lenses are probably OK. I just assume the one I bought was defective, and I have tons of blurred photos I took with that Sigma lens.

most (not all) people that move up from p&s never think when buying a DSLR that they will never use anything more than the kit lens plus a telezoom...

so from this perspective Nikon is pretty smart.... if you become more serious you will upgrade your D40/60 body within a year or two and Nikon will have got you twice in a relatively quick time slot. the hobbyist becomes locked in with Nikon because they start purchasing non afs lenses and won't switch teams at that point. as for the person that doesn't become more serious the issue is a moot point and no love is lost.

regarding your sigma 30mm.... it's important to note getting in focus shots at such a wide aperture often comes with failure regardless of lens...

on another forum i asked 50mm users (that have autofocus) how many of their open aperture shots were failures (on non static subjects).... common answers were 1 to 3 failures per 5 shots...

a good way to test your sigma would be to mount it on a tripod and take 10 pictures of a static subject (preferably a 2 dimensional subject).... reposition the tripod after each frame.... moving the tripod will force the sigma to adjust focus each time.... when evaluating.. remember to only observe clarity in your focal point...

IMO it's a good idea to use continuous shutter when shoot wide aperture like 1.8... lots of shots... lots of failures... and a few real dandies in between..