howgus Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Apr 01, 2005 Total Posts: 210 Country: United States
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Re: Canon autofocus information | |
Wonotch wrote:
RDKirk wrote:
Just to put a point on this - its worth spending the extra money for f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4, and even f/1.2 max aperture lenses for use with the 20D - not just for low light situations, but even when I shoot at, say, f/8.
Is that right?
Logically it would seem so.
However, perusing the complaints at DPReview, a possible problem has occured to me. A number of people are complaining that their 20D cameras focus perfectly well with lenses that have a maximum aperture of 2.8, but poorly with faster lenses.
Now, it could be possible that the 20D computer simply isn't good enough to keep within the tolerances, but some of these people have said that their 300D cameras do better.
I'm wondering if a possible firmware bug might involve a camera not "getting the message right" when it first interrogates the lens for maximum aperture. If the lens says "My maximum aperture is f1.4," but the camera erroneously fails to poke that info into the right memory location (thus, not overwriting the maximum aperture recorded from the previously mounted lens), then it's doing its calculations with the wrong number. But put an f2.8 lens on it, and it's fine...it would also work fine with a slower lens.
If the Canon techs are using an f2.8 tool lens (I don't know what kind of lens they use), then they won't see that problem.
You make a good point, but i highly doubt this is the case, because if the camera wasnt communicating the lenses maximum aperture correctly, then you could assume the camera also wouldnt let you dial the aperture down past 2.8, to say, 1.4, or whatever it would be.
Wonotch,
RDKirk was referring to a firmware bug in the AF code section, and not necessarily to a camera to lens communication problem. His example [not overwriting the previous lens data, as it ought], is just one possible bug scenario for the AF code section not getting the message.
RDKirk,
My take on the perception of service techs to focus accuracy issues is that mechanical shot-to-shot variance in the USM system is well outside of 1/3 DOF. Since system is open loop, techs would not interpret small excursions past 1/3 DOF as camera calculation error, but lens shot-to-shot mechanical variance.
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