30D vs 5D II autofocus
/forum/topic/836833/0

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mtnski
Registered: Apr 26, 2008
Total Posts: 160
Country: New Zealand

How does the autofocus of these two cameras compare?
I shoot 80% landscape, 10% each wildlife (no BIF) and sports.
I've been happy with the AF on my 30D but would not want to go backwards as that 20% when AF matters is important to me.



mtnski
Registered: Apr 26, 2008
Total Posts: 160
Country: New Zealand

I should add that I tend only to use centre AF point when shooting moving subjects. Does the concern people express relating to the 5DII AF only relate to the fact that the other points are not cross type or is the centre also not as good as the 50D, 7D, etc?



garyvot
Registered: Apr 02, 2003
Total Posts: 2637
Country: United States

mtnski wrote:
Does the concern people express relating to the 5DII AF only relate to the fact that the other points are not cross type


In my experience, yes.

Center point AF on the 5D Mark II is very competent for both One Shot AF and AI Servo AF when using AF point expansion. In my experience, the AF point expansion makes the 5-series cameras a bit better than the xxD models for focus tracking, as long as you can live with the slower framerate and the longer mirror blackout. Do a search here for recent threads on using the 5D Mark II for sports shooting, and you'll find some discussion on this.

The outer AF points either work or they don't. If they grab focus they are fine, but they will often hunt in low light.



Dawei Ye
Registered: Sep 15, 2007
Total Posts: 3470
Country: Australia

5D II autofocus sucks, but is better than the 30D. The 30D hunts even more on the centre point in low light



mtnski
Registered: Apr 26, 2008
Total Posts: 160
Country: New Zealand

I guess I must suck as the 30D AF seems to meet my needs.



yauyi
Registered: Jul 30, 2007
Total Posts: 784
Country: United States

The Center AF point of my 5D2 is better than both 30D and 40D that I had.



rhorta
Registered: Dec 11, 2005
Total Posts: 2284
Country: Netherlands

The center AF on the 5D(2) is fine, don't worry.

Ruy



Me_XMan
Registered: Nov 18, 2004
Total Posts: 2509
Country: United States

5DI or II is a must for 80% landscape IMO



Gavin Sim
Registered: Dec 02, 2006
Total Posts: 402
Country: United Kingdom

Hi
I have just been trying the 5D(2) in doors with low light, since I purchased it, it has been raining and I have been more than happy with the AF. My opinion is that the AF is relative for me coming from a 400D it is a LOT better and I am very happy. I guess if I was coming from a 1D series then I might say it sucks but that is not my experience.



tchan748
Registered: Jul 28, 2009
Total Posts: 324
Country: Canada

i had the 30D for about 3 years before i switched to the 5Dmk2 last Dec. I have no problem with the center AF which i use extensively. As a matter of fact the 5Dmk2 center AF is much better than the 30D in low light.



One_DaveT
Registered: Jul 20, 2008
Total Posts: 69
Country: United States

I haven't noticed a difference between AF on my 30D and 5D2. Both seem fine. I do shoot center point all of the time.



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