AF vs AF-S

SoonerShawn

I'm about to purchase a 50 mm 1.4, for my Nikon D3. I will be using it for some portrait stuff and landscape primarily. What is the advantage of buying the AF-S over the AF?

Thanks,
Shawn

bandgeekndb

I'll let others comment on the AF performance of such a lens, but on a sheer compatibility level, the AF-S designation means that there is a focusing motor in the lens, so it will autofocus on older bodies, such as the D40, etc. From the D80 on up, there is a focus motor in the body, so you can use plain AF lenses and still get autofocus.

I'm not sure if you pair an AF-S lens with a body that has an AF motor, which one it uses, and which one is better, so I'll let a more knowledgeable shooter answer that one!

~Nick

jrmyrnsm

The AF-s is newer and uses Nikon's Silent Wave Motor for focusing while the AF uses the screw-drive from the body to drive the autofocus. The advantage of the AF-s is that the autofocus will be a little faster, much quieter, and allow for full-time manual override of the autofocus system. On the other hand the I dont think the AF-s can be used with older manual focus cameras because it lacks an aperture ring. Apparently the AF-s lenses also use a rounded diaphram rather than a straight blade so the bokeh in looks more round and natural than looking like little polygons in the background. Their is a fairly large price difference between the two lenses especially if you are open to looking in the used market where you can get a AF 50mm 1.4 in the neighborhood of $225 while the AF-s is still north of $400. If any of that is incorrect I'm sure someone will come along and correct it but I hope this helps! Both should be excellent lenses.

jrmyrnsm

bandgeekndb wrote:

I'm not sure if you pair an AF-S lens with a body that has an AF motor, which one it uses, and which one is better, so I'll let a more knowledgeable shooter answer that one!

The AF-s lenses don't have the screw drive at all so they will only focus using the SWM(silent wave motor).

Mitchell

You can really use any of these lenses on your D3. Personal preference about the AF, but you will find the AF-S lens will focus more rapidly and more quietly than the AF models.

I shoot an AF 50mm, f1.4 on my D2Xs. It focuses quite fast on a pro body with the strong AF motor. I'm not interested in upgrading to the AF-S given the additional cost at this time.

SoonerShawn

Thank you all for your input. I went with the AF 1.4. I really appreciate all of your help.