Originally posted by Asahiflex Interesting. My K-5 focuses super fast in good light, virtually instant. But I do not have any SDM lenses, only screwdrive ones, so that may be the cause of your experience?
I mainly use FA limiteds, which aren't SDM.
And it's not about slow AF. K-5 AF is fast, however it's not so precise and not so consistent. Out of a few hundred pictures taken with D700 only a few were out of focus. Out of focus rate of K-5 is much higher.
Also I really liked how D700 focus worked in multipoint mode: it really manages to pick the right object to focus at. Makes portrait photography really easy, no need to focus and recompose. No chance for this with K-5 AF.
Originally posted by Ash Even in quite low light I've been reasonably happy with the K-5 in weddings.
Me too. However I found out that it still lacks a lot compared to competition. With K-5 you can take excellent pictures, however you need to put much more effort just to take picture technically right (correct AF, etc.). With D700 you don't need so much effort to get technically good picture, so you can put more effort into creative part of photography.
After using D700, the main remark from my wife was: "After a few dozens pictures I just stopped checking them for correct focus - they all were precisely in focus."
By the way, In my opinion, K-5 ergonomics and camera control is way better than D700...