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How fast is AF in Alpha 700 ?

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Brake6

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I'm about to upgrade/change my camera. From a KM 7D to something "better". Recently I have started to take more and more pictures in the motor-sport arena, and therefor want a camera with a very fast AF.

So the question is, is the AF in A700 fast enough? The 7D's – with Sigma EX lens's – is not up to the task. I understand that the speed of the AF depends on the lens also… How high up in the price range do you need to go so that the lens is not the bottleneck for the AF?

The best option for me is to buy a A700, and the more expensive one is to change system to… Nikon D300 maybe.

Regards,
Magnus
 
Magnus, the a700 is a big improvement on the KM 5D and 7D when it comes to autofocus - not just speed, but accuracy as well. You can still get hunting at times in indoor low-light settings, but in general autofocus is very good indeed on the a700. In the past, this was one of the main ways in which Canon DSLRs were superior to the KM and Sony ones, but in my view the a700 removes this advantage from Canon.

But you're right - a lot depends on the lens. I think you also need to hunt down reviews of the lenses that interest you and see what people have to say about the focus speed.

And why not pop into a store and ask to try out an a700 with a long lens, if they have one?
 
I don't think its up to Canon speeds but its faster.
Its at least as fast the Dynax/Maxxum 7 (film), which was good.

--
Direct your eye right inward, and you'll find a thousand
regions in your mind Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and
be Expert in home-cosmography.
-H.D. Thoreau
 
That sounds good :) I have been using Minolta since I started photography in the late 70's – and I really dont want to leave "my brand" (well, its a Sony but it's soul is a Minolta ;) )

I will take the advice and try it.

Thanks!

Regards,
Magnus
 
How fast is the AF? I will let these shots speak for themselves:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&thread=25351628
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&thread=25269507

(i know, bad form to trump up ones images like that, but they do answer the question.. ;)

Anyway, the AF is alot faster, but as importantly, more accurate. The speed would mean nothing if the lock wasn't right; thankfully, it has both. No camera is perfect, and the a700 can still hunt and can still miss. But compared to the a100, it is one hell of an improvement.
 
Wow, wow! Nice shoots :) And you have me convinced. It just have to be a A700 (still, I will test it first). I have tried shooting flying birds with my 7D (Sigma 70-200 2.8), but more times then not the shoot is missed due to the AF.

Regards,
Magnus
 
I also have the Nikon D200 (until I get it sold). The AF of the a700 and the Nikon are very comparable. Eye start, however, makes the difference when shooting action stuff. I love it!
 
Would be nice, if someone who actually used a Canon 30D/40D for quite some time (Aarif?), could comment on this.

I have no doubts, that the AF performance in the A700 has improved much over the KM/A100, but I'm still not convinced, it is up to the Canons.

Cecco
 
1.7x faster than A100
1.3x more precise than A100

--

Future A700 owner!
 
I am using 16-80 - 5 times zoom - so it should be quite slow.

Well, it is not - it is almost instantaneous. I could barely ever take a decent shot like this before with my 5D or A100:



now it is always perfect and fast. Taken at 3200. You can see original on my flickr feed.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogic
 
Hi, Cecco - I have to admit I haven't used my 30D for a little while (I have a 7D, A700 and a 1DM2N, so with the M2 you can probably see why not). I'm going to sell it, but before I do I'll slap a lens on it and share my impressions vs. the A700. It might be unfair to use a USM lens, so I'll try the kit lens (18-55) vs. the closest aperture and zoom range match I have (I don't want to be taking advantage of either the center high-speed AF or USM if both don't have it).

--
Rich

my budding galleries: http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
 
Hi, Magnus - I echo the advice to try it out, but suggest you go to a place that will let you put at least your favorite lens on the camera. The only good Sigma zoom I have is the 100-300 f/4 (non-DG) and while I like the IQ it delivers on this camera, I think the gearing contributes to a slower focus speed than on some of my other lenses - but it's enough for BIF, I think. Best of luck with this!

--
Rich

my budding galleries: http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
 
RichV said:
Hi, Cecco - I have to admit I haven't used my 30D for a little while
(I have a 7D, A700 and a 1DM2N, so with the M2 you can probably see
why not). I'm going to sell it, but before I do I'll slap a lens on
it and share my impressions vs. the A700. It might be unfair to use a
USM lens, so I'll try the kit lens (18-55) vs. the closest aperture
and zoom range match I have (I don't want to be taking advantage of
either the center high-speed AF or USM if both don't have it).
Click to expand...
If you have a comparable USM lens to use too then if you have the chance it would be interesting to hear about that too.

The Canon 1D series are very nice no doubt about it, but for me they are just too monstrously big and heavy. I was at Bic Camera here in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago and played with the 1DmkIII with 50mm f1.2L on it. I would never be interested in this camera because of the size and weight. It reminded me a bit of holding a Pentax 6x7 SLR (6x7 film SLR). The size and weight did not seem to be hugely different and this was for a 1.3x 18.7mm x 28.7mm sensor vs. a 60mm x 70mm sensor. Of course, I know for some people and for some uses these huge cameras with relatively tiny sensors buried inside are just about perfect, just not for me. :-)

--
Henry Richardson
http://www.bakubo.com
 
Marco Cinnirella said:
And why not pop into a store and ask to try out an a700 with a long
lens, if they have one?
Click to expand...
If it's like the Sony store here, take your own lens.

Did that with my Minolta 100mm D macro, still hunts some, but faster than my 7D. Note I was not giving it a easy time, trying to shoot macros of diatoms with the lens and the 1200 ringflash. Snaps of easier subjects it did not hunt and was fast in comparison to my 7D.

The kit lens that was on it was very fast.

Walt
 
RichV said:
Hi, Magnus - I echo the advice to try it out, but suggest you go to a
place that will let you put at least your favorite lens on the
camera.

--
Rich

my budding galleries: http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
Click to expand...
I will bring my own lens and memory card, so that I can examine the pictures at home on my own computer and compare it to the 7D.

But, I'm living at The Rim of the known civilization ;). That is Sweden. So finding a store with a a700 might be hard. But I will visiting Goteborg on monday and hoping I find one there.

Regards,
Magnus
 
Magnus,

Did you get a chance to read link in my earlier post?

In the AF section, mentions that a700 is 1.7 times faster than a100, and 1.3 times more accurate (before allowing for center point i think.. maybe Japanese readers can translate in more detail?)

Here is the URL again in case you missed it...
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=22162

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69
 
RichV said:
Hi, Cecco - I have to admit I haven't used my 30D for a little while
(I have a 7D, A700 and a 1DM2N, so with the M2 you can probably see
why not). I'm going to sell it, but before I do I'll slap a lens on
it and share my impressions vs. the A700. It might be unfair to use a
USM lens, so I'll try the kit lens (18-55) vs. the closest aperture
and zoom range match I have (I don't want to be taking advantage of
either the center high-speed AF or USM if both don't have it).
Click to expand...
Hi Rich,

as I've already said, I have not doubts, that the A700 AF performance is a big step up from the A100.

But I think I'm well advised to look as well beyond the own KM/Sony playground. For many of us non yet A700 owners, the A700 looks tempting, but it is not the only way to upgrade. If similar priced cameras from other brands have still better AF performance, I'd like to know about that before I make my decision.

So your test is very welcome.

But I do not think it is necessary to omit center high-speed AF or USM in the test. Canon USM lenses are not more expensive than Sony non-SSM lenses.

As a user, I'm interested, what AF performance I get from both cameras with a popular, good quality lens of comparable speed and zoom range. What technology the AF mechanism in the body/lens uses is irrelevant as long as the overall price of the combo is comparable.

In real world usage you wouldn't restrict yourself not to use USM-lenses on Canon or not to use the center high-speed AF sensor on Sony for fairness reasons either.

Cecco
 
Brake6 said:
Recently I have started to take more and more pictures in
the motor-sport arena, and therefor want a camera with a very fast AF.

So the question is, is the AF in A700 fast enough?
Click to expand...
A friend asked me to his remote controlled airplane meet a couple of weekends ago. I don't normally shoot continuous AF, so I don't have the technique of tracking.

Nevertheless, here's a burst of 10 shots from the Alpha A700 for your consideration. They show varying degrees of focus acuity. Here's the first, one from in the middle, and the last in the series.



1st in the series: 1/500s f/16.0 at 200.0mm iso640



6th in the series 5 seconds later: 1/400s f/16.0 at 200.0mm iso640



10th in the series 1 second later: 1/800s f/16.0 at 200.0mm iso640

All 10 can be seen here.
http://www.pbase.com/tlaloc/continuous_af

These photos were taken directly from RAW without sharpening or any PP other than downsizing for the web.

From other shots taken at the meet, I'm sure the limitation is my ability to pan, plus my incorrect choice of shutter speed, rather than the camera's ability to continuously AF.

At the closest, I was about 1.5 meters from these planes, which meant that the ability to pan well was important. Next time I'll go for higher ISOs and lower f stops in order to get faster shutter speeds. Plus more panning practice. So far I'm quite pleased with the A700's continuous AF capability.
 
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