50D or 60D,, Tight budget ??

yogestee wrote in post #14655020
In my opinion, go for the 50D for the Micro Focus Adjustment alone.

You would be hard-pressed to find a 60D user who wishes (s)he had MFA. I really believe that Canon improved the AF algorithms with the 60D. The 5D3 seems to bear that out. Notice it now does MFA at both ends of zoom lenses. Anyway, my 60D is dead-on, even with my fast primes, wide open. Maybe the 50D NEEDS MFA. Having a work-around for a deficiency does not make it a better camera.

Thanks ,,i was busy yesterday after noon & evening,,shooting a friends wedding,,about 75 people..so i could not jump on a 60D yesterday,,but with the code saveing info..i will get a 60D soon.
But after clicking about 400 clicks yesterday at the wedding and reception..under many different lights...my old 30D & Tamron 28-75 2.8 combo still does a good job...and all worked just fine...DO i realy need an up grade ?? in these troubled times with $$ tight ?? we will see..yes i want to,but at age 70 . maybe i should be happy with what i have?? its all paid for..and NO credit Card bill...Thats worth something..Ron

sambarino wrote in post #14655125
Maybe the 50D NEEDS MFA. Having a work-around for a deficiency does not make it a better camera.

Don't kid yourself. Canon have MFA on the 1DIII, 1DIV, 1DsMkIII, 5DII, 5DIII, 50D and 7D. Some Nikon and Pentax models have it as well.

With the wide manufacturing tolerances of the lenses then MFA can be a worthwhile addition. I don't know why it was left off the 60D but it is more likely that Canon wanted to reserve some features for the higher range cameras.

It doesn't matter how good the 60D autofocus system is, it still will not be able to get correct focus with a lens that is slightly out of calibration.

I wouldn't get into the argument about whether a 50D or the 60D is a better camera because they are just too different in so many aspects that they cannot really be compared.

Ronnie H wrote in post #14655514
Thanks ,,i was busy yesterday after noon & evening,,shooting a friends wedding,,about 75 people..so i could not jump on a 60D yesterday,,but with the code saveing info..i will get a 60D soon.
But after clicking about 400 clicks yesterday at the wedding and reception..under many different lights...my old 30D & Tamron 28-75 2.8 combo still does a good job...and all worked just fine...DO i realy need an up grade ?? in these troubled times with $$ tight ?? we will see..yes i want to,but at age 70 . maybe i should be happy with what i have?? its all paid for..and NO credit Card bill...Thats worth something..Ron

Ron,, only you can answer this question.

I still shoot with my old 20D, often with my 50D in tandem. Last week I shot a new product launch for Revlon Laos, mostly catwalk stuff. Lowish light at 800 ISO, no flash. I shoot with fast primes, a different focal length on each camera. Ignoring file sizes the 20D images were every bit as good as the 50D images.

I bought a 50D for the MFA. I had a new 50/1.4 that wasn't consistent even after focus calibration by Canon. MFA didn't help. The rest of my Canon lenses are dead-on with a 40D. It's probably of greater value with third-party glass.

Ramon-uk wrote in post #14655600
Don't kid yourself. Canon have MFA on the 1DIII, 1DIV, 1DsMkIII, 5DII, 5DIII, 50D and 7D. Some Nikon and Pentax models have it as well.

With the wide manufacturing tolerances of the lenses then MFA can be a worthwhile addition. I don't know why it was left off the 60D but it is more likely that Canon wanted to reserve some features for the higher range cameras.

It doesn't matter how good the 60D autofocus system is, it still will not be able to get correct focus with a lens that is slightly out of calibration.

I wouldn't get into the argument about whether a 50D or the 60D is a better camera because they are just too different in so many aspects that they cannot really be compared.

Thank you for reinforcing my point. I stated that I believed that Canon improved the AF algorithms with the 60D; hence it does not need MFA. You state that a bunch of cameras OLDER than the 60D DO have MFA. Notice that ALL of the cameras released after the 7D, either don't have MFA (the Rebels), or have a NEWER MFA that does both ends of zoom lenses. I stand by my contention that the 60D has better AF algorithms, and does not need MFA. All better-than-Rebel models since the 7D (5D3, 1DX) have an IMPROVED MFA that can adequately handle zooms. Have you noticed that ALL of the reviews and comments about the 5D3 tout its improved AF performance. Not just the flexibility and adjustability, but the AF performance, no matter what mode it is in. All signs point to a recently upgraded AF algorithm, starting with the 60D. I do appreciate you helping me make my point.

I bought one Friday using the coupon codes so did not need to send a broken camera in. Scheduled to arrive tomorrow and can not wait!!

sambarino wrote in post #14656343
I stand by my contention that the 60D has better AF algorithms, and does not need MFA. All better-than-Rebel models since the 7D (5D3, 1DX) have an IMPROVED MFA that can adequately handle zooms.

Ah, so you are saying that the 60D has a better AF system than the later 5D3 & 1DX because unlike the 60D the later models still need MFA. Looks like that supposedly improved sytem they fitted to the 60D wasn't too clever then.


Incidentally the only difference between the original MFA and the later version is the fact that it has a larger look-up table that allows a range of correction data to accomodate different focal lengths of a zoom lens rather than a single correction per lens. It is still the same sort of sytem, it's just been expanded.

sambarino wrote in post #14656343
Thank you for reinforcing my point. I stated that I believed that Canon improved the AF algorithms with the 60D; hence it does not need MFA. You state that a bunch of cameras OLDER than the 60D DO have MFA. Notice that ALL of the cameras released after the 7D, either don't have MFA (the Rebels), or have a NEWER MFA that does both ends of zoom lenses. I stand by my contention that the 60D has better AF algorithms, and does not need MFA. All better-than-Rebel models since the 7D (5D3, 1DX) have an IMPROVED MFA that can adequately handle zooms. Have you noticed that ALL of the reviews and comments about the 5D3 tout its improved AF performance. Not just the flexibility and adjustability, but the AF performance, no matter what mode it is in. All signs point to a recently upgraded AF algorithm, starting with the 60D. I do appreciate you helping me make my point.

Better algorithms won't help if the lens itself is off.

As an analogy, imagine a speedometer in a car. If the needle is always slightly higher than it should be, it won't matter if it's the most precise speedometer in the world, it'll still always be X mph higher than the actual speed.

Ramon-uk wrote in post #14656880
Ah, so you are saying that the 60D has a better AF system than the later 5D3 & 1DX because unlike the 60D the later models still need MFA. Looks like that supposedly improved sytem they fitted to the 60D wasn't too clever then.


Incidentally the only difference between the original MFA and the later version is the fact that it has a larger look-up table that allows a range of correction data to accomodate different focal lengths of a zoom lens rather than a single correction per lens. It is still the same sort of sytem, it's just been expanded.

No need to put words in my mouth here. I never claimed the 60D AF was better than 5D3 or 1DX. The 60D does not have MFA for two reasons: better AF algorithms, and it is a consumer level camera. The 5D3 and 1DX, being higher-end, NEWER cameras, go the 60D one better by including an MFA system that can handle both ends of zooms. Once again, your information corroborates my point. Thank you.

Shall we wait and see what the AF and MFA systems of the next few Canon releases are like? In the mean-time, you are free to believe what ever you wish about the AF and MFA systems of current Canon cameras. I prefer my view of things; it is backed by empirical evidence. The truth is in the using. And those using the 60D, me included, claim it does not need MFA. And those using 5D3 claim radically better AF performance. I am simply observing the world around me.

Sambarino,

Without saying that the AF system on the 60D is bad*, I have to say that your assertation that improved algorithims mean that MFA is not necessary is simply wrong.

*it isn't.

Echo Johnson wrote in post #14657080
Sambarino,

Without saying that the AF system on the 60D is bad*, I have to say that your assertation that improved algorithims mean that MFA is not necessary is simply wrong.

*it isn't.

You may be correct. All I know for sure is that I had 3 lenses that back-focused on my T1i: 85 1.8, 135L, 200 2.8L. None of them had problems on my 60D. I concede that I do not KNOW my assertion is true, I merely suspect it. The reports of other users of the 60D and of users of the 5D3 seem to support some sort of improvement in AF performance in Canon cameras. Then again, I could be mis-reading the whole thing. In any event, I am more than happy with my 60D. That said, I would buy a 5D3 in a minute if I could figure out how to explain it to my wife.

sambarino wrote in post #14657117
I would buy a 5D3 in a minute if I could figure out how to explain it to my wife.

I can agree with this statement, so we do have something in common

The 60D's AF system is identical to the 50D and 40D. Your camera body was out of spec.

KnightRT wrote in post #14654764
I think the 60D is a better camera overall, but I'm faster with the joystick and wouldn't want to give that up. I'm led to believe you can map the 60D's buttons to somewhat similar effect.

that makes sense. I really think Canon should have made the 60d more like the 50d. joystick and MFA. but they didnt so that is that. I believe they were trying to keep the price down and appeal to rebel users (like I was). it is a fantastic camera though. Every bit as good as the previous cameras and better in many ways.

yogestee wrote in post #14655020
In my opinion, go for the 50D for the Micro Focus Adjustment alone.

that is definitely a good reason to go for a 50d.