French magazine Autofocus Tests K5II K30 etc etc

SteveB · 02-21-2013, 04:13 PM

AF Tests
Lots of cameras tested for AF performance tracking a car I believe, all in French but the diagrams are quite clear. The closer the green triangles are together and the shorter distance from the camera the better. There's mirrorless cams to compare with as well, which all seem pretty hopeless in comparison to DSLRs.

JinDesu · 02-21-2013, 05:03 PM

Looks like Sony performs well in AF in those tests. And that D4!

EarlVonTapia · 02-21-2013, 11:39 PM

I love these types of reports, with all the charts and comparisons. I just wish it was translated.

On page 38 there is an overall ranking. The Pentax K30 managed a "C" rank, while the K5II got a "D". I would be curious to know how this came to be.

EDIT: Nevermind, it's the price. I thought it was ranked in terms of "the best".

tclausen · 02-22-2013, 01:29 AM

Caveat Lector: Fnac is a chain of shops & an on-line presence selling photo-gear in France.

I am always sceptic as to if the advice of an used-car salesman on which ride is "the best for me" is not really based on "which set of wheels he needs to get off the lot to get the biggest commission".

Same goes for Fnac, or Best Buy, or .... anywhere that sells stuff, really: is the "expert advice" offered really perfectly neutral wrt. which units bring in the bigger profit / satisfies contracts with suppliers, etc?

Note, I don't know that this is the case with Fnac's tests - but, it's worth being aware that they're making their living "selling the stuff they're reviewing".

SteveB · 02-23-2013, 02:41 AM

The interesting find for me is the generally slow AF (Déclenchement) of the Nikon DSLRs apart from the rapid D4 (0.1s). It's 0.3s for the K-30 and K5II which is a good average I would say with a few at 0.2s but the Nikons are the only ones consistently down at about 0.5s. The Canon 7D, much praised for its AF, isn't quick either (0.5s).

02-21-2013, 04:13 PM	#1
SteveB Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: U.K. Posts: 685	French magazine Autofocus Tests K5II K30 etc etc AF Tests Lots of cameras tested for AF performance tracking a car I believe, all in French but the diagrams are quite clear. The closer the green triangles are together and the shorter distance from the camera the better. There's mirrorless cams to compare with as well, which all seem pretty hopeless in comparison to DSLRs.

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02-21-2013, 05:03 PM	#2
JinDesu Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: New York City Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,638	Looks like Sony performs well in AF in those tests. And that D4!

02-21-2013, 11:39 PM	#3
EarlVonTapia Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,207	I love these types of reports, with all the charts and comparisons. I just wish it was translated. On page 38 there is an overall ranking. The Pentax K30 managed a "C" rank, while the K5II got a "D". I would be curious to know how this came to be. EDIT: Nevermind, it's the price. I thought it was ranked in terms of "the best".

02-22-2013, 01:29 AM	#4
tclausen Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 1,397	Caveat Lector: Fnac is a chain of shops & an on-line presence selling photo-gear in France. I am always sceptic as to if the advice of an used-car salesman on which ride is "the best for me" is not really based on "which set of wheels he needs to get off the lot to get the biggest commission". Same goes for Fnac, or Best Buy, or .... anywhere that sells stuff, really: is the "expert advice" offered really perfectly neutral wrt. which units bring in the bigger profit / satisfies contracts with suppliers, etc? Note, I don't know that this is the case with Fnac's tests - but, it's worth being aware that they're making their living "selling the stuff they're reviewing".

02-23-2013, 02:41 AM	#5
SteveB Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: U.K. Posts: 685 Original Poster	The interesting find for me is the generally slow AF (Déclenchement) of the Nikon DSLRs apart from the rapid D4 (0.1s). It's 0.3s for the K-30 and K5II which is a good average I would say with a few at 0.2s but the Nikons are the only ones consistently down at about 0.5s. The Canon 7D, much praised for its AF, isn't quick either (0.5s).