R1 Autofocus Speed

I am tossing around the idea of getting a used R1 and was wondering if anyone can put the R1 autofocus speed in terms I and others can relate to. For example, I have used the H1, V3 and W120. How does the R1 compare ? Also, how does the "pre-focus" or holding the shutter button half way down until youre ready for the shot work out for you ?

Thanks for the info guys

The R1 is no speed demon but it is deadly accurate. I use the one push quite often. The half press also works well if the distance between the focus point and the final subject are about the same and/or if one uses settings that give a large DOF.

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Busch

Take the scenic route! Life is too short to do otherwise.

http://www.pbase.com/busch

I can't really compare it to the models you listed but I can say that I wouldn't use mine for shooting sports or my kids riding around on their bikes. I have tried and it definitely can capture good shots if you carefully prefocus and/or use the 3 shot burst but you wouldn't want to be using it as a primary camera when shooting moving subjects.

Having said that, I still think it is an amazing camera with an incredible lens. If I could remove that lens and use it on any of my other cameras I would be truly happy! I mainly use it for portrait shots and some landscapes these days. Every time I consider selling it I end up taking a few shots of the kids with it and realize why it is such a special camera.

Here are a few recent shots. These haven't been processed in any way as of yet...that is why the horizon is a little funky on some of them. One of the shots of my daughter was also mistakenly using the 'vibrant' colour mode but that is why I shoot in RAW as well.

http://gallery.me.com/samt/100158
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Sam

'Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it... albeit probably in colour the second time around.'

busch said:

The R1 is no speed demon but it is deadly accurate.

Click to expand...

Dittos on that

Here's a low light R1 image, at 4.5, using spot focus on her right eye;

sdn40 said:

I am tossing around the idea of getting a used R1 and was wondering if anyone can put the R1 autofocus speed in terms I and others can relate to. For example, I have used the H1, V3 and W120. How does the R1 compare ? Also, how does the "pre-focus" or holding the shutter button half way down until youre ready for the shot work out for you ?

Thanks for the info guys

Click to expand...

Prefocus works very well, handy when pretending you're a sports photgrapher.





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Great camera, but not good for shooting small children, or anything else that won't stay still.
The autofocus is SLOW !

I'd read all the reviews that mentioned that prior to buying mine, but didn't think it really applied to anything I was doing as I rarely would film sports. It was only after we had children that I realised that toddlers don't stay still and are completely unpredictable.

Great camera for travel or hiking. Relatively compact for something with such a good lens.