I have used the 40D with a 70-200f2.8IS, 400f5.6 and 600f4 with and without 1.4x.
I have also used it for BIF. The AF is very good with this setup, it's not of Mark2 calibre, but pretty good and tracks well. I will agree if you move that point off your subject it will refocus pretty quick, but overall I have nothing but high marks for this camera. It is what the 30D should have been
* Shouldn't MkIIN AF be expected to perform better than 40D AF ?
* IMO Auto AF point selection is a treacherous focusing mode on any Canon camera......for the simple reason that the AF systems can not read our focusing intent .
* If the 40D has gained speed and accuracy of AF acquisition over 30D, that's a step in the right direction. The "penalty" may well be in fidgetty focus maintenance as there is no AF point expansion. I.e., you slip off the target and you've lost it. That also happens on MkIIN easy enough on smallish targets with single AF point focusing.
What lens were you using? a 50mm f1.4 or a 70-200 f2.8?
My 40D wouldn't even focus on a bunch of leaves outside my window, in the shade,
at 9am. My MkIIn had no problem whatsoever acquiring focus on the same subject.
I was using my 24-70 f/2.8L for the indoor playing around. I tried it on all three cameras and the 40D actually shocked me how quickly it locked focus. Honestly, I was expecting it to just hunt back and forth just like the 20D in such low light but it didn't. For the gulls in flight I was using my 300 and 500 with and without the 1.4x. I was on the Outer Banks on the Sunday that tropical storm Gabrielle blew in so it was windy and cloudy.
Yes, the 40D's AF is CLOSER to the 1 series AF than it's predecessors, but still not on par with it. I think a lot of us hoped for 1 series AF at xxD series prices, but that wasn't going to happen. Well, until Nikon did it. Hopefully next year canon will have to follow suit.
You're not being "rude;" but you must understand that with each generation
of Canon cameras, they have improved the AF considerably, and since the
AF on the MkIIn is "old" by digital standards, I guess I expected the 40D's
touted "much improved AF" to be on par with the MkIIn, or to perform even better.
I may have to call Canon and ask if I can send the camera in for a look.
Like some MkIII bodies that have AF problems and others don't, maybe
my 40D has the MkIII bug!
The focus of the MKIIN is still preferred by most Professional Canon shooters, especially those that have used it compared to other 1 series bodies.
Having said that, The X0D seies and the 1 series bodies are VERY different. I believe that Canon will continue to improve the X0D series AF, but it will never be on par with a 1 series focus. Canon wouldn't be able to sell a $4000+ body if they made it that good on the X0D series!
Lucio, I agree with you that the 40D AF should have been better than previous bodies such as the 30D and 20D, but in my experience it was not. I put mine in for a service / checkup and have not got it back yet.
I also agree with others that it would be silly to expect 1D AF performance from a budget camera at least until after Canon has to deal with the D300, but too many people seem to have a mental block that says "40D AF cannot reasonably equal 1D AF therefore 40D AF cannot improve upon 20D AF". That logic is flawed at best. There is no justification for jumping on people who expect the 40D to perform better than a 30D or 20D, regardless of whether or not they have used a 1-series (the first response to the OP was "welcome" but the second was that he sounds like a troll).
The fact that some people are getting worse performance from their 40D than from their earlier cameras while others see a marked improvement implies to me that there may be some deficient or defective cameras out there. It's not as if Canon hasn't already established a precedant for this with their 1D3 or early 1D2 cameras. With this sort of history it is surely more appropriate in the first instance to sympathise with owners of substandard cameras rather than blame them for reporting a problem.
If my 40D comes back from Canon and performs better than it did before then I'll know I'm right. Otherwise I'll just know that the 40D is not for me. You'll hear either way but unfortunately I expect it will be at least another month before I get my 40D back.
redman wrote:
The focus of the MKIIN is still preferred by most Professional Canon shooters, especially those that have used it compared to other 1 series bodies.
... especially by those who have a defective 1D3 and those who can somehow use any camera correctly except the 1D3.
Having said that, The X0D seies and the 1 series bodies are VERY different. I believe that Canon will continue to improve the X0D series AF, but it will never be on par with a 1 series focus. Canon wouldn't be able to sell a $4000+ body if they made it that good on the X0D series!
In light of the new Nikon cameras Canon will have to follow suit. Even if the x0D AF is never on a par with the current 1Dx AF, it can still be fitted with the old 1D AF. Or maybe they could do it with the 6D instead. Either way, Canon will have to consider a drastic improvement in their pro-sumer camera AF system once the Nikon D300 is competing with them for new customers. That competition is significant because it seems that large numbers of photographers are making the jump from P&S to DSLR these days and Canon can't afford to let too many of them get hooked into the Nikon system forever - very few people change system once they have bought a collection of lenses.
Alan321 wrote:
... especially by those who have a defective 1D3 and those who can somehow use any camera correctly except the 1D3.
In light of the new Nikon cameras Canon will have to follow suit. Even if the x0D AF is never on a par with the current 1Dx AF, it can still be fitted with the old 1D AF. Or maybe they could do it with the 6D instead. Either way, Canon will have to consider a drastic improvement in their pro-sumer camera AF system once the Nikon D300 is competing with them for new customers. That competition is significant because it seems that large numbers of photographers are making the jump from P&S to DSLR these days and Canon can't afford to let too many of them get hooked into the Nikon system forever - very few people change system once they have bought a collection of lenses.
40D AFonly slightly better than 20D/30D. Maybe Canon was being honest when they said only 30% more sensitive. 1 D series still better and understandably ... they must never allow a 'prosumer' grade camera to be better than their 'pro' models.. that's why they are so cheeky even to change the battery door to a plastic one - they could have stuck to their 20D/30D battery closing lids.. How calculating and disgusting! Who mades these decisions? What were their motives? Let's see what Nikon has done to their D300.
Venus wrote:
40D AFonly slightly better than 20D/30D. Maybe Canon was being honest when they said only 30% more sensitive. 1 D series still better and understandably ... they must never allow a 'prosumer' grade camera to be better than their 'pro' models.. that's why they are so cheeky even to change the battery door to a plastic one - they could have stuck to their 20D/30D battery closing lids.. How calculating and disgusting! Who mades these decisions? What were their motives? Let's see what Nikon has done to their D300.
Hmmm, I shoot a lot of night soccer games with my 40D and have a really good hit percentage for fast action in low light. It has been a wonderful camera to me so far. I've had it a little over two weeks and have over 9k exposures on it already and couldn't be more happy with the AF.
So sorry you had a problem. I'm quite surprised because the AI Servo tracking on the 40D gave better (more accurate) results to me than an early 1DmkIII with a 400/f2.8 and 300/f2.8. The 40D AF is quite sensitive in Servo mode, but if there are no distracting background/foreground targets, it works extremely well for me. The best results are when I target using all 9 points but only after I first get my subject within the CENTER AF point, then initiate AF and let the 40D track it.
I have been quite impressed so far with this camera. I normally use a 1D2N. Just got it two days ago and have been using it with the 300 2.8IS and the 2x convertor on birds. It's not the 1D2N in the servo focus dept, but is very good. I like how you can set the option to show the focus point on the image when chimping on the lcd in the field. Very helpful and useful feature.
Currently, IMO the MKIIn is the top of the Canon Hill, the peak of its prowess. Your AF problems sound familiar to the new MK3 too.
I hope you didn't sell your MKIIn?
Lucio Gomes wrote:
Hi everyone, Just joined FM and wanted to start by whining about the AF on my 40D. AF is very "nervous" and gets thrown off really quickly compared to my
1D MkIIn.
rockitman wrote:
I like how you can set the option to show the focus point on the image when chimping on the lcd in the field. Very helpful and useful feature.
That can be done on the 1D2 in the info mode, but the image is then pretty small on the LCD.
Also, I think you might find that the 40D, like the 1D2 and others, does not show the actual AF sensor that achieved focus when using AI Servo mode, but instead shows which AF sensor(s) were selected by you. There may be a difference. In One Shot mode they show the sensors that actually achieved focus.
Alan321 wrote:
That can be done on the 1D2 in the info mode, but the image is then pretty small on the LCD.
Also, I think you might find that the 40D, like the 1D2 and others, does not show the actual AF sensor that achieved focus when using AI Servo mode, but instead shows which AF sensor(s) were selected by you. There may be a difference. In One Shot mode they show the sensors that actually achieved focus.
- Alan
Thanks for the info. I generally use only the center point, so it's interesting to see if it's on the spot I wanted during action shoots with birds, ect. Had no idea I could do that on the 1D2N. I kinda stumbled upon it with the 40D playing with settings.
sonton2003 wrote:
Sounds like Canon is having all sorts of focus issues, I hope you guys get your camera's fixed soon.
Yes this is the second issue I have heard about with the 40D on FM out of possibly hundreds sold. I wouldn't exactly call it an epidemic yet. Actually, I am thrilled to death with mine, it does everything I have expected it to particularly for a $1300 camera and I have run lots of focusing tests. For the price paid it is exceptional in my book.
If the D300 has a failure rate like what I am seeing here it will be an exceptional camera too. Everytime I get the urge to switch I take a look at the lens lineup and happily come back to Canon. Besides the fact that Canon are the poster boys when it comes to service.
I would expect there would be some differences ! Although I've had the 40D for a month, no problems whatsoever.
A few years ago I bought a new car. Later that week, the "check engine" light came on, intermittently. Also, the trunk didn't close without really slamming it. Although I was slightly annoyed, instead of going on the internet and complaining about it, I brought it back to the dealer and complained to them instead. They acknowledged and fixed the problem. It never happened again. I have now bought 4 cars from this same manufacturer. I understand that although they have the highest standards of quality, there may be problems, and that is why there are WARRANTIES.
I keep reading these forum posts where people are complaining about issues they should take up with the dealer or Canon directly. Lucio, if your lcd has a purple cast, send the darn thing back ! I mean, I know it's annoying and so on, but come on, theses things happen.
