[slip]

As the title states, what is/was your fastest focusing lens?

All options welcomed

Thanks

Randy

[Drake Avenue]

My FA* 85mm f1.4 and DA 21mm Limited are extremely zippy.

[bassek]

The F70-210 or the F35-70. I have no F-series prime...

Seb

[c.a.m]

The Pentax-F 50/1.7 focuses very quickly, almost alarmingly so.

[bimjo]

A pinhole.




Somebody had to do it.

[stevebrot]

Good question? I don't know that I have a good answer. I own four non-macro screw drive lenses (FA 35/2. FA 77/1.8, DA 18-55 kit, and DA 50/1.8) and all four are equally fast of the K-3. My Sigma 50/2.8 Macro is slower. The only one left is is a Sigma 17-70 (C) and it is about the same quickness as the primes.

I suspect that you will find that lenses sort out roughly into two groups, those that focus fast (most primes and higher-end zooms) and those that do not (consumer super zooms and true macro lenses).


Steve

[Na Horuk]

A pinhole.

lol I was about to say fisheye, but you got it better!

So yes, there is hyperfocal, panfocus, and other such things that beat AF. I think with Pentax, the limited primes probably have the fastest AF. I am not sure it is possible to compare "all brands", I don't think any database exists. The other problem is that this highly depends on the camera, not just the lens. And available light - in daylight, most lenses should focus quickly, at low light, things are different. An f1.4 will suddenly have a big advantage over f3.5 lenses.
And the DoF is another factors. The DA 14mm has a wide DoF, so even if focus is not perfectly on the mark, it will probably still be acceptably sharp, especially if you shoot at f8.

If you need perfect focus of fast moving objects, it is best to manually pre-focus and use burst mode or triggers.

[delegopa]

One more vote for Pinhole lenses. Skip focussing and let huge DOF do the work

[stevebrot]

A pinhole.




Somebody had to do it.

Good work! I suppose I could add my 8mm manual focus fisheye. There is not much sense attempting focus with that lens.


Steve

---------- Post added 10-25-14 at 12:33 PM ----------

What about Pinhole lenses?

Fast to focus...slow to expose

[Adam]

As the title states, what is/was your fastest focusing lens?

All options welcomed

Thanks

Randy

The Sigma 17-70mm C, Sigma 70-200mm OS HSM, DA 40, and 18-135mm are at the top of their class, I'd say. Also, just about any screwdrive lens with a short throw will be fast to focus, especially with the K-3.

[slip]

Mine is the Sigma 70-200 2.8 non HSM by far

[MadMathMind]

The Sigma 18-35 Art* and 17-70 Contemporary both fly to focus for me. The 70-200 HSM II (non OS) has a tendency to take a ride every now and then, much like the DA*300 but not quite as bad. The F50 f/1.7 is pretty good, but it is incredibly noisy; the FA77 is considerably slower than the 50.


*Several users have reported major focus issues with this lens. I've seen none of it with my copy.

[VisualDarkness]

No AF can beat a fix-focus design, no one can.

[kh1234567890]

As the title states, what is/was your fastest focusing lens?

DA40 and DA21.

[EarlVonTapia]

Out of the lenses I've owned, I'd say the DA 70 was pretty zippy.

Focusing speed depends a lot on your camera body.

For example, read some early reviews of the Tamron 90 Macro. A common complaint is the super-slow focusing. I've used a Tamron 90 Macro on a *ist DL and indeed it is slow.

But on my K30, the Tamron 90 focuses just as fast (with the limiter) as other lenses, enough that I regularly use it for event shooting.