Originally posted by Fogel70 They would also have to convert the lenses to "focus by wire", so the motor control focus even with manual focus.
Not something I would like to have on Limited lenses, as the distance scale and mechanical stops on focus ring would be removed.
Focus by wire is one of the main reasons why I still don't want to go mirrorless yet. Focusing by wire just doesn't suit me at the state it's in right now. Maybe someday when every camera body allows the customisation of focus direction, rotation distance, and focus distance limits, and once the latency is 100% unnoticeable, I'll reconsider, but until then classic helicoid focusing is the only method that appeals to me. Plus, one of the main reasons I still prefer OVFs is because I can see through them without powering up the camera, but if I use a focus by wire lens on a DSLR I wouldn't be able to focus and that advantage would be lost for me.
Again, once mirrorless tech gets better I can reconsider, but in the meantime I'm more than happy with having both AF motors and image stabilisation systems consolidated into the camera body, rather than inserted into every single lens. It just makes more sense to me to avoid redundancies and over-engineering, because having more electronics in the lenses just means there's more components susceptible to failure.