Canon lens motors compared to Nikon.

Out of curiosity, do all Canon lenses have focusing motors INSIDE the lens itself? I ask because Nikon D type lenses do not have internal motors and rely on bodies which have an AF motor inside them to focus the lens.

Just curious as when I was shooting Nikon I stayed away from the D lenses and opted for G type for the in body motor. I just preferred having what I considered to be newer tech, better build, etc.

What sparked this question is I am considering the EF 35 f/2, but it doesn't have USM. I just wondered if it had a different motor inside the lens or if it relies on an AF motor in Canon EOS bodies.

as far as I am aware no canon EOS bodies have a focus motor

Milutiche wrote in post #15136360
as far as I am aware no canon EOS bodies have a focus motor

I think you're right. I've been reading up on the EF mount on WikiPedia and it seems like there are just different types of focus motors in the EF lenses themselves.

No such issues with canon. All EF lenses work 100% with any EOS (including film) body. USM is just the fastest/smoothest/quie​test (?) motor Canon has. It also always has full-time-manual override (i.e. you can always manually focus with the AF turned on).

(AFAIK).

Not sure about the 35 f/2, but some lenses without USM you can damage the AF motor by turning the manual focus ring while the lens is in the AF-on position.

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

This was a pet peeve of mine when shooting Nikon, albeit briefly.

EF stands for....electro focus. When Canon went to the EF mount they decided that every lens would have its own focus motor system and the body would never have a focus motor.

There are 4 general types of focus motors with Canon. The standard focus motor on the least expensive lenses is just a simple DC motor that turns a gear that moves the focusing elements. The next type is the STM stepping motor, which is quiet and used for the new cameras that do full time autofocus during video. Most of the standard focusing lenses do not allow full time manual and you can damage the gears if you turn the focus ring with auto focus engaged. STM allows manual override without switching the lens to MF mode.

The next two are the USM ultrasonic motors. In general these are silent to nearly silent focusing systems. The first type uses a quiet motor and gear system. The most common lenses with this are the 50mm 1.4 and the 70-300 IS USM. While it allows full time manual with a clutch system that protects the gears, the mechanism on the 50 in particular is somewhat fragile. This type of USM is not much faster than the non-USM motors.

The best USM system is the ring type USM. This uses ultrasonic pulses in two rings that cause the rings to rotate, actuating the focus mechanism. Ring USM is extremely fast and durable due to the lack of moving parts and gear driven motors.

Keyan, you forgot the AFD(Arc Form Drive) motor which is used in the 35mm f/2, the old non-IS 24mm f/2.8 and 28mm f/2.8 lenses and a lot of the early L lenses...AFD motors in general are quite quick(They were used before ring-type USM became cheap and small enough to go in the pro lenses.. its by no means bad), but quite noisy

As for the 35mm f/2 specifically, the AF on it is quite zippy, it does make a high pitched noise when focusing but it focuses fast enough in normal use its not much of a problem(its also not audible unless you're in say, a completely silent church), Unlike most Nikon AF-D primes (like the 35mm f/2D) the focus ring doesnt spin or anything (its decoupled during AF) so you cant accidentally strip the AF gears if your hand is in the wrong spot...

As stated above, All Canon EOS stuff used motors in the lenses, This is why Canon had AF superiority for many years, While the in-body AF system of Nikon and Minolta COULD be fast, it frequently required you to have the big pro bodies which motors with enough torque to drive the lens at a good speed... Canon on the other hand simply put a motor suited to the type of lens in the lens...

ejenner wrote in post #15136418
No such issues with canon. All EF lenses work 100% with any EOS (including film) body. USM is just the fastest/smoothest/quie​test (?) motor Canon has. It also always has full-time-manual override (i.e. you can always manually focus with the AF turned on).

(AFAIK).

Not sure about the 35 f/2, but some lenses without USM you can damage the AF motor by turning the manual focus ring while the lens is in the AF-on position.

This is very good info to me. I have been very paranoid while putting on and taking off lens hoods on my 18-55 lit lens and my 70-300 IS USM. I have been switching the lens to MF before doing this. Looks like at least in the 18-55 case I was right to do so.

KenjiS wrote in post #15137194
Keyan, you forgot the AFD(Arc Form Drive) motor which is used in the 35mm f/2, the old non-IS 24mm f/2.8 and 28mm f/2.8 lenses and a lot of the early L lenses...AFD motors in general are quite quick(They were used before ring-type USM became cheap and small enough to go in the pro lenses.. its by no means bad), but quite noisy

As for the 35mm f/2 specifically, the AF on it is quite zippy, it does make a high pitched noise when focusing but it focuses fast enough in normal use its not much of a problem(its also not audible unless you're in say, a completely silent church), Unlike most Nikon AF-D primes (like the 35mm f/2D) the focus ring doesnt spin or anything (its decoupled during AF) so you cant accidentally strip the AF gears if your hand is in the wrong spot...

As stated above, All Canon EOS stuff used motors in the lenses, This is why Canon had AF superiority for many years, While the in-body AF system of Nikon and Minolta COULD be fast, it frequently required you to have the big pro bodies which motors with enough torque to drive the lens at a good speed... Canon on the other hand simply put a motor suited to the type of lens in the lens...

That's great info! Thanks so much.

ejenner wrote in post #15136418
...USM is just the fastest/smoothest/quie​test (?) motor Canon has. ...

IINM the newly introduced STM is quieter (kind of its reason for being), but it's only available right now, I think, on the 40mm pancake and the new EF-S kit lens.

RTPVid wrote in post #15139015
IINM the newly introduced STM is quieter (kind of its reason for being), but it's only available right now, I think, on the 40mm pancake and the new EF-S kit lens.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that many ring-type USM lenses are comparably quiet to the STM lenses. I own the 40mm STM, and while it can be essentially noise-free when manually focusing slowly (keep in mind that utilizes the motor - it's a focus-by-wire system), AF makes noise that's definitely noticeable in a quiet environment.

Pure speculation on my part, but I think Canon designed the STM motors as a cheaper alternative to the ring-type USM motor, with a comparable noise profile.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #15137252
This is very good info to me. I have been very paranoid while putting on and taking off lens hoods on my 18-55 lit lens and my 70-300 IS USM. I have been switching the lens to MF before doing this. Looks like at least in the 18-55 case I was right to do so.

Yea, I never really though about this because although I had one, I didn't use a hood much with my 18-55. I know I did put filters on and move the mechanism a bit in AF and didn't break anything, but I don't know how long it would have lasted.

One of the main reasons I replaced the kit lens was the non USM and rotating front element (flare being the other reason), rather than IQ.