On 5 Mar 2003 20:13:35 -0800, binneal@yahoo.com (Yong) wrote:

>I am using an AF Nikkor 35-135/f3.5-4.5 zoom lens on a Nikon

>N2020/F501 and

>sometimes it just doesn't give me precise focus even with enough

>light. I understand that both the body and the lens contribute to the

>problem

>(the lens with f3.5 is slow and the body uses the first generation AF

>mechanism with 96 CCD vs. say the popular MultiCAM 900). Because of

>this, I almost stopped using this lens. Althought I like to carry my

>f1.4 or f2.8 prime lenses around, they are just not as flexible as

>zoom lens in some scenario.

I laughed every time someone said (after a new model

introduction...), "Well, now, AF works well!" - and it

wasn't any more reliable than it was on the 2020...;-)

This stopped with the F100 and F5 - these do work, though

I was not happy with the AF of the 35-135 even on these

(it appeared to work better with this particular lens

on the 8008).

>Here are my questions:

>1. if I upgrade the body to say N80 or D100 and keep this zoom lens,

>does it improve the focusing significantly? Any hand-on experience?

>2. If I replace the focus screen that came with the N2020 with a more

>Manual Focus friendly one (called type E or J I guess), will I get

>better assistance for MF?

I prefer the matte-centered "B" screen that comes with the

2020. BTW, if you cannot see VERY well at 3.5' focus

distance, you will not be able to MF very well with

many cameras. If this is a problem, see the "4-Way Glasses"

article on my web page, under "I babble" - it works well

for camera-use and for generall seeing.

>3, or should I just give up this lens or any AF zoom with similar

>speed

>(like the 70-300mm/f4-5.6)?

No, if you must use AF... (I prefer MF to AF, if I can see

well, and if the camera VF is sharp [less likely with

newer cameras than you would think...]).