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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CAU" data-source="post: 1332015" data-attributes="member: 55324">Thanks for the info! I know that the 50D has the Digic 4, but as AFAIK the processor is not directly involved in the focusing system (there's a dedicated processor for that, which hasn't been changed from the 40D), I wasn't expecting any significant performance increase. The excerpt below speculates only on a slight speed boost, but I hope to see a thorough test. The results from "Chasseur d'images" sound very promising, is there any further info on that (e.g. details on the quantification of the improvement, and how the 50D compares to the 1D series)?<a href="http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-9314-9568" target="_blank">http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-9314-9568</a>"The 50D's autofocus system carries over mostly unaltered from the 40D: it remains comprised of nine AF points, all of which act as cross-type with f/5.6 or faster lenses (the centre AF point operates with higher precision than the other points with f/2.8 or faster lenses).While Canon is emphasizing this time around the AF system's ability to detect scene colour temperature and light flicker, and include that as part of the 50D's autotofocus calculation, that capability was also present in the 40D, says Canon USA's Westfall. Canon's briefing notes on the camera make no mention, says Westfall, of autofocus sensor or algorithm changes in the 50D, relative to the 40D.Where those calculations are performed is also the same: in a dedicated microprocessor. This should mean the speed of autofocus will feel about the same as before, with one caveat: because the 50D's main CPU, DIGIC 4, is faster than DIGIC III in the 40D, certain functions of the new model may end up enjoying a slight speed boost, even if they don't directly depend on the DIGIC processor to perform their specific function. Autofocus speed could well be one such function that is improved in this way, though whether any speed jump is noticeable or leads to a higher percentage of in-focus pictures is impossible to say without actually using the camera."</blockquote>

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