I would also like to say that AF results are highly dependent on situation and settings and you can find online various comparisons that put the different brands in different orders depending on how they are used and what the subject and situation is. Personally I've photographed weddings with Nikon Z with > 99% of the shots in focus and this is typical in my photography of people (including subjects such as figure skating, concerts, academic events and portraits). But I don't shoot with my cameras in auto-area mode; instead, I apply AF settings as needed to get the results (the AF is highly customizable in the newer Nikon Z cameras). It's not even that difficult to get near-100% focus keeper rate; one just has to know what one is doing with the camera and understand the subject, and not purposefully try to fool the camera (which can be done but makes no sense to do if you just want to get the photos).
One important and very useful feature in the Z9/Z8/Zf/Z6 III is the custom wide-area AF area mode which allows one to customize the width and height of the AF box. Together with subject detection this allows one to select which part of the frame the subject's eyes are likely to be and this very useful as it gives just the needed amount of compositional freedom while the camera finds the intended subject's eyes and focuses on them. It's especially useful for sports where there can be multiple athletes in the frame but generally to use it requires the photographer to have the ability to think ahead and plan for the shots. I am sure the other manufacturers also have favorite AF settings which give the best results on their platform. The photographer just needs to learn the system to make the best use of it.
robert_in_ca wrote: lighthound wrote: gkinard1952 wrote:
Is there a noticeable faster focus with the Nikon and Sony super telephotos?
Since Nikon and Sony actually redesigned their big lenses. I am curious if you see a noticeable difference?
None whatsoever. In fact, many reports indicate the R3 paired with any of Canon's great whites is unmatched for speed. This is going to be even more evident with the R1's cross-type AF system.
Also, it's worth noting that in Nikon's case, they still haven't figured out how to AF properly. However, being they depend on Sony to make their sensors for them, it's no surprise that Sony would cripple their competitor sensors like that.
The Z8/Z9
As compared to the R3:
Having shot Canon for years and now shooting Nikon the Nikon requires more setup with the AF system to get the best results--whereas with Canon and Sony it's pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. To be clear the Canon is a little bit better when it comes to their AF - but to make the claims that you are is just ridiculous.
Oh and by the way, Sony semiconductor is a highly regarded company and in no way, shape or form would they "cripple" a sensor they make for other companies.
