K20D autofocus loud?

chse · 11-08-2008, 10:39 AM

I just got a Pentax 50-200mm lens. This made me realize how loud the AF motor of the K20D is. It has a quite high whining pitch. Is this normal? I compared it to my ist DS which is much more silent. Did you experience the same or is this a particular problem of my copy?

chse · 11-08-2008, 12:01 PM

Here are links to the files online (or see attachment below):

K20D.mp3

ist DS.mp3

Here a recording of the 2 cameras. I did this with the lens cap on- the camera is hunting from infinity to close focus and back. I have to say that the DS sounds even quieter in the real world, maybe my program turned up the volume a bit. Do you hear the same when you use your K20D?

What is also interesting is that the motor of the K20D is quite a bit faster. It takes the DS 0.7 seconds to reach closest focus, the K20D only needs 0.4 seconds. The delay to focusing back is 0.375s for the ist DS and 0.275s for the K20D.

*Canada_Rockies* · 11-08-2008, 12:11 PM

Faster = noisier when it comes to screw drive lenses.

*jbinpg* · 11-08-2008, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by chse

I just got a Pentax 50-200mm lens. This made me realize how loud the AF motor of the K20D is. It has a quite high whining pitch. Is this normal? I compared it to my ist DS which is much more silent. Did you experience the same or is this a particular problem of my copy?

Try out one of the Pentax SDM lenses. You can't hear the motor much at all.

rfortson · 11-08-2008, 08:55 PM

I've used my Tamron 18-250 on my K100D, K10D and now my K20D and I never noticed a difference in sound.

jslifoaw · 11-09-2008, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by chse

I just got a Pentax 50-200mm lens. This made me realize how loud the AF motor of the K20D is. It has a quite high whining pitch. Is this normal? I compared it to my ist DS which is much more silent. Did you experience the same or is this a particular problem of my copy?

I used to own the DS, and it is much quieter and much slower. The K100D has the whiniest motor I've ever heard, but it's much faster than the DS. The K20D is faster than the K100D, and even a bit quieter, and a lot more dependable when I tried it. I'm not quite ready to upgrade to it though...

RiceHigh · 11-10-2008, 04:28 AM

Originally Posted by chse

I just got a Pentax 50-200mm lens. This made me realize how loud the AF motor of the K20D is. It has a quite high whining pitch. Is this normal? I compared it to my ist DS which is much more silent. Did you experience the same or is this a particular problem of my copy?

Typical for a Pentax, nothing special :-)

As for the DS, it has the quieter and most gentle AF motor ever found in a Pentax AFSLR (not only DSLR). So, your comparison is not fair then :-))