Lenses Vs Camera with Internal Focus Motor

S

SJD

Senior Member
Hi Experts,

I was having a chat with one of my friends, who has a D90, and have been interested in photography for a long time. There was something he said that made me wonder.

We were discussing camera's with internal focus motor. Then he said that now lens actually does the job of the 'internal focus motor' and not necessary to have camera with focus motor.

Well, I'm pretty sure what he said is not 100% true. Rather, my question is, 'to what extent' is this statement accurate?

If Yes, what kind of lenses is he referring to?

(I did ask him, he did not know the models, but he was saying more as a concept)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
SJD said:
Hi Experts,

I was having a chat with one of my friends who is having a D90 and have been interested in photography for a long time. There was something he said that made this wonder.

We were discussing about camera's with internal focus meter. Then he said that now lens actually does the job of the 'internal focus meter' and not necessary to have camera with focus meter.

Well, i'm pretty sure what he said is not 100% true. Rather my question is 'to what extent' is this statement accurate ?

if Yes, what kind of lenses he is referring to.

(i did ask him, he did not know the models, but he was telling more as a concept)
Click to expand...
Are you sure you're not referring to the focus MOTOR?

Some camera's have a focus motor built in to them, some do not. Some camera lenses have a focus motor and others do not.

If you intend to use Auto Focus you need a Focus Motor in either the camera body or the lens. If the camera body does *not* have a focus motor, it needs a lens that *does*. If neither the camera body nor the lens have a focus motor then you will have focus manually.


...
 
S

SJD

Senior Member
He meant to say expensive camera's with FOCUS MOTOR is getting replaced by very good lenses which have the same features and power. Essentially saying what FOCUS MOTOR does is now being done by lens (some).

I do understand that this is not 100% true. But i'm after knowing if this is true atleast to some extent, what lenses are those ?
 
B

Bill16

Senior Member
AF-S lenses have the focus motor in them. From what your profile is showing your Nikon needs lenses with the focus motor in them.
 
G

gqtuazon

Gear Head
SJD said:
Hi Experts,
Well, I'm pretty sure what he said is not 100% true. Rather, my question is, 'to what extent' is this statement accurate?

If Yes, what kind of lenses is he referring to?

(I did ask him, he did not know the models, but he was saying more as a concept)
Click to expand...

Entry level DSLR models such as the D40, D60, D3000, and D5000 series do not have a motor AF drive. This means that the Nikon D lenses such as the 50mm f1.8D will not AF with those cameras. D lenses can work with D80, D90, D200, D300, D7000 and other mid entry level cameras that has this feature. The bad thing about this is that you cannot override the AF mechanism unless you switch it to manual. The good thing is that most of the D lenses are much cheaper than the newer lenses.

Most newly released Nikon lenses have Silent Wave Motor (SWM) which can AF with any of the DSLR cameras. I prefer the AF-S lenses since they are much quieter to operate compared to the "jerky" drive of the D lenses. The newer lenses since they have been re-designed, are sharper and has better lens flare resistance compared to the D lenses.
 
Top