Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/12/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> I would add that the feel of the focusing ring changes when AF is added. My > theory is that to allow the AF motor to work while minimizing power and size > requirements, the focus mechanism of the lens needs to be easily moved. Much > more easily than a typical MF lens. When you manually focus an AF lens you > get a real sloppy feel to the focus. This also means the lens focus will > change at the slightest bump. Some but not many AF-lenses give the proof, that it ain't necessaribly so. My Nikon 180/2.8 AF couples to a smooth resistance- element and some other lenses from other manufaturers do so too. The lens feels better (at least for me) than it's MF predecessor which lacks IF. Even the Nikon 300/2.8 *MF* has a resistance-element that can be uncoupled to focus it with your little fingers tip (If you like to). So there can be loose focussing also in decent MF lenses. I don't think that smooth MF-focussing and AF-capability in one lense is a contradiction. AF lenses can be nice as MF-lenses too. But obviously this counts only for expensive lenses, not for standard-zooms or cheap fixed-focal length lenses or macros where the short focussing-angle easily becomes a problem near infinity. At the Leica price-level it probably wouldn't be that much of a problem to integrate the best of both worlds into a lense. But it would be a big investment for Leica to develop a full new line of lenses (mechanically new) that most likely isn't justified by it's small market share. Look what Yashica did with the Contax AX. best wishes Stefan - -- Stefan Kahlert, Medizinische Poliklnik der Universitaet Bonn uzs13b@uni-bonn.de