Stephen S
Veteran
- Location
- East Bay, Northern California
- Name
- Stephen Scharf
So, I'm hoping we'll be able to find out some point in the reasonably near future. I just purchased a LNIB E-M1, which should arrive next week, and I plan to rent an Olympus 4/3 sonic wave AF motor lens and test it while shooting motorsports. We'll be able to see how it stacks up to the X-T1 and also to a pro Canon 1D series body and Canon USM AF lenses.
Just extending this line of thought a little further, last weekend, I used my X-T1 to shoot trackside motorsports at the Ferrari Challenge at Sonoma Raceway. While I got some images that were sharp and in-focus, the overall hit rate was quite a bit lower than when I posted my karting thread a few weeks back, and also not comparable to the hit rate I was able to get with my Canon 1D MkII N and 70-200/2.8 L IS II. So, while I think the continuous/predictive AF of the X-T1 is probably the best of any interchangeable lens mirrorless system (but we'll see for sure when I get the E-M1), there seems to be an upper limit of tracking at "closing speeds" that the camera is able to keep up with, and go-karts are probably that limit, but not full-on race cars at race pace. All in all, quite good, but not presently at a level than can supplant a pro-level DSLR body for professional level sports photojournalism.