SAM in lens motors, and the future.

[bfitzgerald]

Some have suggested Sony might have a longer term plan to remove the in body AF motor on some lower end models. Of course we have no idea what will happen as nobody can predict the future, but regardless..do you think they plan to do this?

I have tried a few SAM lenses, but struggle to see what the point of them is. They appear to offer no advantage AF speed wise, nor are they that quiet either.

Comments welcomed

[KevinBarrett]

Why else would they supply kit lenses with built-in motors that are inferior to the camera's own focus motor?

[bfitzgerald]

Kevin I have given up trying to predict what Sony will do

However, I would not be very shocked if the next round of entry models had no AF motor in the body (A2xx-3xx series)
On the other hand Sony would want to start putting AF motors in a fair few lenses, else they could cause themselves some problems. For example CZ 16-80mm (SSM would be better) 16-105mm another upgrader APS lens, maybe even the 50mm f1.4. Some predict a re-vamped 75-300mm lens with built in motor too

If we start seeing that happen, it's almost a sure thing. Currently though, the vast majority of lenses are screw driven. Will be interesting to see how Sigma and Tamron respond as well.

This strategy is not without problems though, it starts to make those vintage Minolta lenses far less appealing if you have no AF on a body. Maybe Sony want people to buy their lenses, but they cannot make them, as 3rd party manufacturers have offerings.

[Greg Beetham]

I can't imagine why you would need to have an in body focus motor and a lens focus motor as well....a backup focus motor, perhaps? nah not likely....ze writing is on the wall for in body focus motors in some models it seems, that also means a change to the A-mount specification, even if it's just the removal of the hole for the body screw drive bit/connector, it's still a change...where is Sony going with this? and what possible benefit is it?
No focus motor in the body means you have to then buy lenses with focus motors (and only those) from that point on to get AF, that'll slow up demand for the older lenses (or even current screw drive AF lenses, most of which are FF) from those that buy those cameras at least...Maybe that's the future for APS-C, Sony is intending to morph it into gimmick central, and promote FF as the serious end of their camera range...
Greg

[bfitzgerald]

Greg I honestly think you are spot on. I cannot predict what Sony will do, but the last 5 models from them sure tells us what type of buyers they are looking for!
I see Sony as pretty strong full frame wise, and they may well continue in that direction, some areas to be looked at (flash system needs work etc), but FF Sony is a real threat to other makers.
In contrast, APS Sony looks rather less interesting, and a lot less serious. Some are even saying the OVF is going to die under Sony's hands. Let's hope not!
SAM looks like a bit of a long term plan, and not a good one at that. I'll stick to my screw drive lenses thanks very much.

[KevinBarrett]

Some are even saying the OVF is going to die under Sony's hands. Let's hope not!

It's hard to believe that the company responsible for the a380, with its puny viewfinder, is the same company responsible for the a900's 100%, 0.74x viewfinder. Even the a850's "truncated" 98% coverage is bigger and brighter than anything from another manufacturer except for Canon's 1Ds mkIII.

Anyway, there is another reason why the new Sony lenses might have built-in focus motors besides the stripping of functionality from the lower-level bodies: If Sony were to introduce a compact interchangeable-lens system like Micro Four Thirds, it will almost certainly be built around in-lens motors, and if 35mm lenses are to be adapted, the ones with SAM or SSM will retain more functionality. Perhaps that is how Sony will "do it right" by that format.

[Dusty]

As someone who is STILL mad that there are no manual focus, MD lens digital bodies, (heck, I'm just mad that AF took over like it did on film, too), I think that doing away with the in-body motor would be real bad news. I bought Sony so that I wouldn't have to buy an OS lens every time I bought a lens,

Having to pay for a motor every time I buy lens is just as bad.

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

Having to pay for a motor every time I buy lens is just as bad.

Exactly! Just how many focus motors should I have to carry around? If it's more than one, I'd like the extraneous ones to be superior and earn their place in my bag...none of this SAM nonsense!

[bossel]

There is no doubt the inbody motor will disappear, I mentioned this before. Question is when. Next year with the A240? Or another year later? It will stay another 5 years or so with the high end models 7xx 9xx.