Does AF use LIDAR nowadays?
Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
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Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get a Canon 5D II or a Canon 6D for that. Older cameras for sure, but full frame with excellent sensors. And there are a ton of inexpensive used EF lenses available. Compared to moderns systems the main difference is the autofocus and video capabilities. Modern mirrorless have cosmically better tracking, eye detect etc.
Full frame sensor = full frame lenses = heavy and expensive. You need something light that you want to carry with you. Otherwise what's the point of having the best medium format camera + lens that you have at home, collecting dust. That means a camera APS-C or micro four thirds sensor might suit better to someone who is new to photography.
I've always thought i am that APSC person and I ended up not taking the camera that much with me because it was small difference to compact camera i was carrying in my pocket. I thought it was skill issue because my photos just didn't have that bite/detail/look.
The moment i got older full frame i realized that "look" has so much to do with the sensor size. In beginning i only had cheap 30euro manual soviet lens and even with that the quality of the photos just shot up.
Full frame is heavy yes but it can be pretty affordable (lenses from china are becoming extremely competitive).
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
With the 200eur budget you wont make the 6D but you might 70D maybe even most of the lens. I would pay a bit more and get 6D though.
I got a 6D from facebook marketplace for ~125 USD, but it was in the US, which has a more 'liquid' second hand electronics market in my experience.
I've been hunting 6D for a while in eu for 200eur you get like 400 000 shutter count. But 6D is also in that range where people don't care about it and often sell it as some junk. So one might get lucky.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I got a 6D from facebook marketplace for ~125 USD, but it was in the US, which has a more 'liquid' second hand electronics market in my experience.
I've been hunting 6D for a while in eu for 200eur you get like 400 000 shutter count. But 6D is also in that range where people don't care about it and often sell it as some junk. So one might get lucky.
Go to your equivalent of estate sales.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#35Does AF use LIDAR nowadays?
I think only in certain cinema rigs. See DJI's products eg https://store.dji.com/product/dji-focus-pro-lidar
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#36Does AF use LIDAR nowadays?
No. Modern cameras usually use a combination of contrast detection (pure image analysis checking the contrast of the region you want in focus), phase detection (an optical system where you split the income image in two and then compare them) and sometimes help of some sort of assist lamp.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#37Does AF use LIDAR nowadays?
Maybe in some niches, but for most modern ILCs (e.x. Sony E mount, Nikon Z mount, etc etc etc) it is typically some form or another of On-sensor Phase Detection coupled with Contrast Detection for finer tuning.
The biggest advantage compared to older SLR designs are that Phase Detection can now work with full light (vs whatever got split off on an SLR pentaprism for the dedicated AF sensor) and can work in conjunction with the contrast Detection for fine tuning focus.
Then, of course, all the predictive stuff added in the last 10ish years as far as processing sensor output to detect eyes/birds/motion/etc.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#38Does AF use LIDAR nowadays?
I think only in certain cinema rigs. See DJI's products eg https://store.dji.com/product/dji-focus-pro-lidar
And just mentioning for people unfamiliar with this stuff, that's not a camera and not even an accessory for a camera. That's an accessory for an accessory. :D
It's a LiDAR that follows a subject and gets distance measurements, and then sends them to an additional accessory which is typically used to control focus in cinema cameras. That second accessory has a motor and is attached to a cinema lens that has certain threading or grooves where the accessory can grip and change the focus.
In cinema, the camera operator (usually) only moves the camera, but not the focus. For that, there's a 'focus puller'. A person who finely operates the focus, sometimes at a certain distance, using some sort of specialized control.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get a Canon 5D II or a Canon 6D for that. Older cameras for sure, but full frame with excellent sensors. And there are a ton of inexpensive used EF lenses available. Compared to moderns systems the main difference is the autofocus and video capabilities. Modern mirrorless have cosmically better tracking, eye detect etc.
Also speaking of older models I think it is important to repeat that the pixel count is not what define the quality of the image but mereley only how cropable the end result will be and it is only really useful if the higher pixel count isn't made of garbage. Accutance of the end result is in most cases much more important. For instance, human eyes can't perceive the difference between a 12MP and a 50MP image printed…
Two tricky things when it comes to pixel count...
On one hand, you have to remember that huge MP doesnt do much if the glass can't resolve well enough.
On the flipside, I have to note that switching to high MP full frame makes it a lot easier to do good, clean crops. Sometimes I might care about a small portion of the frame but for composition reasons (e.x. can't get closer for one reason or another) I at least can lean on cropping more.
Re: Six ingenious ways how Canon DSLRs used to illuminate their autofocus points
#40My uncle Richard is one of the inventors on Honeywell’s early phase‑detect autofocus. Patent US4333007A, which figures out both the direction and amount the lens needs to move instead of hunting.
Modern systems like Canon’s Dual Pixel AF in bodies such as the EOS R5 are very direct descendants of that idea, just implemented on‑sensor with far more processing power.
Every time I see an article such as this, I beam with pride. (Pun intended).