Do Canon EOS 650D/T4i hybrid AF features require STM lenses?
Asked 6/9/2012
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Canon promoted the EOS 650D/T4i's hybrid AF and continuous autofocus for video alongside its STM lenses. Is STM actually required for hybrid AF to work, or will the camera still autofocus with non-STM lenses? If it does work, what are the practical differences when using older Canon or third-party lenses in live view and video?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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No, there is no hard prerequisite. You can use any lens you want. Just that STM "allows a better experience" as you say, because:
- It is really silent. (no noise during video recording because of vibrations etc.)
- Better design for Video (contrast-based) AF - smooth focus etc.
Also see the follwoing hands-on experience:
We found the focus to be much snappier than on the T3i, in particular it was very smooth with the new 18-135 STM lens attached to it. During video, focus was nearly silent and smoothly moved to grab the subject we wanted. With a non-STM lens the focus isn’t as smooth, but it’s still accurate, though the same trouble with low-contrast subjects exists.
Source here.
So for tl;dr readers: it works also with non-STM lenses but if you can, use STM ones.
Originally by user952. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user952
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
STM lenses are not a hard requirement for the EOS 650D/T4i’s hybrid AF or video AF to function. Non-STM lenses can still autofocus in live view and video.
The practical difference is performance: STM lenses are designed to focus more smoothly and quietly, which is especially important for video. They tend to produce less focus motor noise and more fluid focus transitions. With non-STM lenses, autofocus may still be accurate, but it is often less smooth, slower, and more likely to hunt, especially in low contrast, at longer focal lengths, or with moving subjects. Third-party or older lenses may perform particularly poorly in live view, sometimes searching back and forth before locking focus.
So the issue is not that Canon technically blocked non-STM lenses, but that STM lenses give a much better user experience for continuous AF during video.
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