Camera body- motor or no motor

fishstix · Jan 29, 2011

What are the pro & cons with the motor in the camera and the motor in the lens? My current camera(nikon d40X) found some water and no longer works. I am in the market for a new camera.

dxqcanada · Jan 29, 2011

Motor in camera
- reduced cost of lens
- faster motor requires camera upgrade

Motor in lens.
- if motor fails it does not affect other lenses
- motor is tailored to the specific lenses
- camera may be designed only for "motor in lens" lenses
- lens may not be usable on other cameras

Canon switched to motor in the lens long time ago when they released their EOS series in 1987 ... Nikon started to do this.

As I am not a Nikon DSLR user ... I cannot say much more.

KmH · Jan 29, 2011

Stated another way, none of Canon's cameras have had a focus motor in the camera body since 1987.

You only need a focus motor in a Nikon body if you will be using one of their older lens designs that does not have focus motor in the lens.
Those lenses are designated AF. Most of them cost more than entry-level camera buyers are wiling to spend for a lens. However, there are a couple of exceptions, the most notable being the AF 50 mm f/1.8D $130 nifty-fifty.

Nikon lenses that have a focus motor in them are designated AF-I and AF-S.

fishstix · Jan 29, 2011

Thank you for the responses.

Patrice · Jan 29, 2011

dxqcanada said:
Motor in lens.

- lens may not be usable on other cameras

AF-I and AF-S lenses will function just fine on Nikon bodies with focus motors.

Garbz · Jan 29, 2011

Lens body- motor or no motor

I don't think any current or newly designed lenses rely on the body motor. It's a legacy issue. Do you have older AF lenses? Do you want older AF lenses?

fishstix · Jan 30, 2011

Most of my lenses have motors in the lens. I do have a couple that are older and no motor. My niece has a nikon with the motor in the camera and used the older lenses. She said the lenses worked good with her camera. I have been looking at my options for the cameras. I really like the D5000 because of the multi directional view finder. One concern I have is how much difference is the MP. How much difference will there be with 12 MP to 14 to 16MP? I'm sure if I was a professional and was planning on making my living as such I would opt for the higher MP. I just want to take great pictures. I know that depends on my subject and lens.

KmH · Jan 30, 2011

Garbz said:
Lens body- motor or no motor

I don't think any current or newly designed lenses rely on the body motor. It's a legacy issue. Do you have older AF lenses? Do you want older AF lenses?

Nikon USA currently has 21 lenses offered that are AF, and 37 lenses that are AF-S.

Garbz · Jan 31, 2011

How many of the 21 AF lenses were designed in the last 15 years, and how many don't have AF-S counterparts?

I'm surprised Nikon doesn't stop selling some of their old gear. Aside from some obscure ultrawide angles pretty much everything has an AF-S offering.

KmH · Jan 31, 2011

I have no idea when they were designed, just that are current offerings.

Many of the AF lenses fit the middle price range between the entry-level AF-S and full on pro AF-S lenses.

Patrice · Jan 31, 2011

In camera focus motor has its place, especially for the cost conscious purchaser. Look at the price of a new 80-200 AF-D and that of a new 70-200 AF-S. Also, the second hand market has more lower priced offerings of quality AF-D lenses than equivalent quality AF-S lenses.

fishstix · Jan 31, 2011

So let me get this straight. All canon's are no motor in body and all motors in the lens? I have not looked at the canons because I bought my camera from my niece. She was selling it and I wanted one. She gave me a good deal. Does canon offer movable display like the nikon D5000?

Garbz · Feb 1, 2011

Yes but don't confuse that with all lens motors are ultrasonic / silent wave / whatever they want to call it. They have slow focusing crap motor lenses, and fancy new USM lenses too. In comparison Nikon's has 63 lenses with the AF motor in the lens and 59 of these are silent wave drive motors. Only 4 have old slow motors and these are the AF-I series 300mm to 600mm

Canon's AF lens collection for the EF mount on the other hand has about half ultrasonic motors, mostly restricted to the zooming lenses.

So in reality you kinda break even with features and usability. Both manufacturers offer fast and slow focusing lenses. Nikon only offer AF on most slow focusing lenses on more expensive bodies, but offer far greater backwards compatibility to older lenses, whereas all Canon's lenses will focus on all bodies (as far as I am aware) but you're limited to EF / EF-S lenses only (as far as I am aware, adapter???).

Whichever way you go there's always a lens to fit your need.

I haven't seen a movable display like the D5000, but I haven't looked for it either, so it may feature somewhere in their lineup.