alundeb wrote:
Sp12 wrote
alundeb wrote
ausemmao wrote
wickerprints wrote
Are any Nikon bodies capable of AF @ f/8? Nope.
Well, not supported officially. They will still attempt to focus though the reliability of it is questionable at best. The choice of attempting to focus or not with f/8 aperture is a decision implemented in firmware. Canon have the possibility to change this before the 1D X hits the shelves. They have probably tested focus with f/8 and found it problematic. Instead of receiving critical tests and bad reputation when the camera comes out, they have gone the safe route.
Maybe Canon could distribute an unlock patch if you sign a written agreement that you will use it at your own risk and never complain about the performance of it, publicly or directly.... What evidence do you have of this? There are hardware changes in the setup of the actual AF sensor that determine ability to AF with different apertures. The evidence is very simple, you can trick an f/5.6 AF system on any Canon camera to attempt focus with f/8 optics just by fooling the camera with the reported aperture. The taping pins on a TC trick is an example of that.
That's not really evidence. AF at F/8 is inconsistent and very slow on any non-1D bodies. The sensors themselves are designed to detect phase differences at a given degree of convergence on the sensor. F/2.8 sensors are not sensitive to F/1.4 levels of OoP.
Anyhow, the only downsize to increased megapixel count, *ever* is increased filesize and reduced framerate that comes from the computational limits that come with that. You get less noise with increased MP assuming you're actually comparing them correctly.