Canon USM AF Motor Speed?

feRRari4756

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Hey guys I am getting the canon 70-200 mm USM L f2.8 lens soon and I am just wonderin it focus speed, since I do a lot of fast paced sports. I know it it one of the fastest focusers out there but I am just wondering the actual time.

I have a 70-200 EF lens now and it prolly focus about 1sec. Which is way to long.

I'm hopinng that the USM could get focus within .5 of a second.
 
It's never going to be a perfectly estimable time, because there are so many different variables. In low light it's going to be different than in bright day light, and you'll see much faster times in actual use where it's only shifting fractional amounts as people run, etc, than you would if you wanted to go from maximum to minimum focus or vice versa. The 70-200 2.8 is probably one of the fastest focusing Canon zoom lenses, you'll be fine.
 
Focusing speed as said will depend on several variables. One of them is the body you shoot with. The xD series has the best and fastest focusing followed by the xxD then the XXXD. The method of focusing will also effect speed. 1 focus point is going to be faster than several. There is no way to get an accurate focus speed for the lens.

I shoot sports and the 70-200 f2.8 lives on one of my bodies most of the time. You should be just fine.
 
I have a 450D so as stated above its not the fastest focusing. But if you want a little faster focus you can switch the focus from 1.4m-
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or 2.5-
d245777abca64ece2d5d7ca0d19fddb6.png
which wouldn't make it focus on 1.4 so that's better if you are sitting further away.
 
It's never going to be a perfectly estimable time, because there are so many different variables. In low light it's going to be different than in bright day light, and you'll see much faster times in actual use where it's only shifting fractional amounts as people run, etc, than you would if you wanted to go from maximum to minimum focus or vice versa. The 70-200 2.8 is probably one of the fastest focusing Canon zoom lenses, you'll be fine.

Ahhh thanks guys. after i thought about my post when I was outside, i was like "that didnt make sense" sometimes it focuses in .2 sec and other times 1 sec.

So yeah, now i realize that focus speed depends on a lot of variables.

BTW, I have a Canon 30D. So my body will focus moderatley fast i guess than.

maybe you guys could answer it this way:

"Do you think that USM motor takes about half the time to focus that the EF's motor does?

So like in a certain situation if my lens takes 1 sec to focus, the USM will take .5 sec to focus?

Thanks
 
What is the exact model name of the lens that you are currently using?
 
Im not sure sure of the exact model name (i dont have my lens right now), but its a EF 70-210mm f4.0 AF lens. It is from 1988.
 
"Do you think that USM motor takes about half the time to focus that the EF's motor does?


Thanks
EF is the mount. The motor is USM and I guess the other one is just a normal motor which makes the whole focus ring turn and is loud :p.
 
Ahhh thanks guys. after i thought about my post when I was outside, i was like "that didnt make sense" sometimes it focuses in .2 sec and other times 1 sec.

So yeah, now i realize that focus speed depends on a lot of variables.

BTW, I have a Canon 30D. So my body will focus moderatley fast i guess than.

maybe you guys could answer it this way:

"Do you think that USM motor takes about half the time to focus that the EF's motor does?

So like in a certain situation if my lens takes 1 sec to focus, the USM will take .5 sec to focus?

Thanks

I have a 30D and the 70-200. Don't worry, you'll be fine. I was shooting motorcycles at a local road course. The question you should be asking is "Am I good enough to keep up with this lens?"
 
Keep in mind that there are two types of Canon USM. The good (faster) one is called 'ring' USM and is found on higher end lenses. With this type, you can manually adjust the focus with the focus ring, even when the lens is in auto mode...I believe this is called full time manual (FTM).

If you can't override the focus manually, then you probably have the lesser version of USM...which is still better than non-USM but not as good as ring USM.

Another factor that affects AF speed & performance is the max aperture of the lens...bigger is almost always better because it gives the camera more light to work with. I know with the 20D (and probably the 30D) that the centre AF point becomes a more sensitive 'cross type' sensor when using lenses with a max aperture of F2.8 or larger.
 
Keep in mind that there are two types of Canon USM. The good (faster) one is called 'ring' USM and is found on higher end lenses. With this type, you can manually adjust the focus with the focus ring, even when the lens is in auto mode...I believe this is called full time manual (FTM).

If you can't override the focus manually, then you probably have the lesser version of USM...which is still better than non-USM but not as good as ring USM.

Another factor that affects AF speed & performance is the max aperture of the lens...bigger is almost always better because it gives the camera more light to work with. I know with the 20D (and probably the 30D) that the centre AF point becomes a more sensitive 'cross type' sensor when using lenses with a max aperture of F2.8 or larger.


Thanks everyone!!

Im pretty sure that the Canon f.28 70-200mm L USM has the "better" USM motor. Can someone clarify? Here is an excerpt from the discription of the f/4.0 version (it didnt mention anything of the focus override in the f/2.8 version's descripton.

"
With all the optical brilliance of the larger f/2.8 aperture version, the 70-200mm f/4.0L is a zoom lens with great possibilities for portraiture and travel. All of the features of the bigger lens are present here as well, including ultra-low dispersion glass, internal focus & of course fulltime manual focusing override."
 
I can't confirm, but I would think that all 'L' lenses have the good ring type USM motor...all the modern L lenses anyway.
The 70-200 F4 L on THIS PAGE shows the symbol for FT-M (full time manual) and I think that it also has the symbol for ring USM (A U turning into an S with a ring around it).

The 70-200 F2.8 L has the same symbols.
 

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