A new rebel is coming. How will it be better than the last?

WilbaW wrote:

plantdoc wrote:

Based on recent experience, I would not buy another rebel without MFA.

Fair enough, not trying to change your mind, but I'm not so pessimistic. Everyone thought the 60D would be useless without AF MA but it turned out to be a fine performer with very few credible reports of trouble. I'm a bit of an AF perfectionist, and with my good lenses (L and recent EF-S) I've never had a problem with it. Something seemed to happen between the 7D and the 60D that make AF a lot more reliable. We saw it when firmware 2 came out for the 7D, and a lot of owners reported needing very little adjustment compared to the first version of the firmware. I get the same sense with from the feedback for the Rebels released since the 60D, so I would be confident that most Rebel owners don't need it, unless they own something like the original 100-400, which has a reputation for needing significant adjustment.

Agree, it seems that some Canon bodies need a lot more MFA than others - which suggests it is more related to the properties of the AF system that is used than to individual variations. Although for the older Rebels I think the main accuracy problem was with the secondary mirror and not so much the AF sensors themselves.

My 450D has inaccurate AF (even worse than my previous 300D), especially with SWA lenses. And the OVF isn't accurate enough either for focusing. So I use Liveview MF whenever possible, although it is a kludge (very slow, difficult to see in bright light etc.). I have similar experience with 550D body, but haven't used the newer Rebels. The AF limitations are probably the main barrier for optimal image quality for my shots, together with the limited DR of the sensor.

I can imagine Canon learned something from the AF woes with earlier Rebel models (although those issues were never officially recognized). MFA can help, but IMHO it is also a bit of a kludge so I would prefer a good (reliable and accurate) PD-AF system or efficient dual-pixel implementation. I didn't switch to xxD/xD series cameras yet because I want a small/light camera, unfortunately MFA has only been available on the 'heavier' gear.