3 ms·

IME the remaining advantage of SLRs is the speed of phase focusing over contrast focusing - moving subjects are much easier\faster to track with phase focusing.

IME the remaining advantage of SLRs is the speed of phase focusing over contrast focusing - moving subjects are much easier\faster to track with phase focusing. Has contrast focusing caught up yet?

klodolph 5y ago
From the reviews I've read, it sounds like contrast focusing is damn fast these days. A mirrorless system won't beat a DSLR under all conditions, but under most conditions, at the same price point.
gaudat 5y ago
Phase detection AF on the image sensor had been here for more than a few years. I remember the 5D2 (or 5D3) has a "Dual pixel AF" system that does phase detection. My A7m3 does phase detection if there is enough light and it is practically as quick as the DSLRs I used before.
nikita2206 5y ago
Mirrorless cameras are using both contrast and phase detection these days
nullc 5y ago
Modern mirrorless cameras (and some DSLRs) use phase detecting image sensors. E.g. on Canon R5 every pixel on the sensor is microlensed into two sub-pixels, one that sees the left half of the aperture and one that sees the right half. The difference between the two is the phase information for auto-focusing. The use of the image sensor for auto-focusing also means that the camera can use ML object detection to refine the focus point (e.g. eye-detection) and the camera can use optical flow for servo of moving subjects tracking. Without a viewfinder prism in the way the focusing sensor also receives more light, and it's not interrupted while a photo is being taken. So even though the on-sensor phase detectors are less good than the ones used in DSLRs there are a lot of offsetting benefits. The camera can even preserve the dual subpixel info in raw files, though there isn't yet much software to make use of the info in post-processing. In manual focus mode the camera can highlight the portion of the image that's in-focus according to the phase detection. It's pretty @#$@ amazing, especially when using a tilted lens.

IME the remaining advantage of SLRs is the speed of phase focusing over contrast focusing - moving subjects are much easier\faster to track with phase focusing. Has contrast focusing caught up yet?

klodolph 5y ago

From the reviews I've read, it sounds like contrast focusing is damn fast these days. A mirrorless system won't beat a DSLR under all conditions, but under most conditions, at the same price point.

gaudat 5y ago

Phase detection AF on the image sensor had been here for more than a few years. I remember the 5D2 (or 5D3) has a "Dual pixel AF" system that does phase detection. My A7m3 does phase detection if there is enough light and it is practically as quick as the DSLRs I used before.

nikita2206 5y ago

Mirrorless cameras are using both contrast and phase detection these days

nullc 5y ago

Modern mirrorless cameras (and some DSLRs) use phase detecting image sensors. E.g. on Canon R5 every pixel on the sensor is microlensed into two sub-pixels, one that sees the left half of the aperture and one that sees the right half. The difference between the two is the phase information for auto-focusing. The use of the image sensor for auto-focusing also means that the camera can use ML object detection to refine the focus point (e.g. eye-detection) and the camera can use optical flow for servo of moving subjects tracking. Without a viewfinder prism in the way the focusing sensor also receives more light, and it's not interrupted while a photo is being taken. So even though the on-sensor phase detectors are less good than the ones used in DSLRs there are a lot of offsetting benefits. The camera can even preserve the dual subpixel info in raw files, though there isn't yet much software to make use of the info in post-processing. In manual focus mode the camera can highlight the portion of the image that's in-focus according to the phase detection. It's pretty @#$@ amazing, especially when using a tilted lens.