AF/MF switches: recessed or exposed?

[andyfrazer]

I just bought the 24-150 L f/4 lens to replace my 24-85.  Overall, I love it. The only thing that bothers me is the recessed design of the AF/MF switch.

I checked Michael's review of this lens, and I was surprised to find that he actually finds this design change to be an improvement:

"One final point that I'll add is that in addition to silky smooth focusing and zoom ring action, they have with this lens (finally) improved the AF/MF and IS switches. Till now these have been all to easy to accidentally switch to the wrong position, especially when wearing gloves, because the sliders protruded. Now the sliders for both switches are recessed, and are unlikely to be moved by accident."

I can understand that if you're wearing gloves, you might be concerned about accidentally switching this thing. But when you want to switch it, I find it very difficult to use even without gloves. I actually have to reposition my hand in order to get enough finger tip grip on the thing. I can't believe it's even possible to use this switch with gloves.

As a "professional" lens, I find this very disappointing. I could probably epoxy some little knob onto the switch to make it more usable, but I hate to do that.

Do other 24-105 owners find the recessed swtich to be an improvement, or a hinderance?

Thanks

Andy Frazer
http://www.gorillasites.com/nightphotos

[Ben Rubinstein]

Having briefly had the 24-105L before returning to the 24-70L I would say that yes it makes it easier not to hit it by mistake which in the course of shooting happens in the real world more than I like to admit, however the old style unrecessed switch is both easier to flick should you need to (e.g. focusing on a group and then switching to MF for all the shots then focusing again for the next group, that is if you find switching to CF4-1 a pain like I do!) and more importantly to me, I would notice a lot faster in which position it is in, something that has saved my bacon many a time when shooting using the wide end and subconsciously noticing..

Personally I still prefer the sticking out style.

[DiaAzul]

Having the lens switches change as a result of contact with my body, bag or any other surface then anything that minimise changes to settings whilst using the camera is an absolute imperative. The sticking out switch design is a menace and requires the switches to be taped up so that they cannot be accidentally changed. For Canon's target market of photojournalists, sports and event photographers the design change to minimise accidental changing of settings is a god-send and goes a long way to minimising frustrations due to switches getting knocked in use.

Having said that, with use I think you will find that the recessed switches become less stiff and easier to adjust. Generally I have not had a problem with the recessed design, the opposite cannot be said for the ridged switches.

[macgyver]

The AF switch on the 70-200 IS sticks out like a sore thumb.  The others are more recesed and I hit them on accident far far less. I now have a strip of gaff tape over the whole lot of them.  I've lost shots to accedentally hit switches.

[Jonathan Wienke]

I have all my AF/MF switches taped to the AF position; I got tired of accidentally bumping the switch to MF and wondering why AF quit working in the middle of shooting. It's not the sort of thing one wants to happen in the middle of a wedding. I have my cameras configured as described here so that I can switch from AF to MF without needing to futz with the switch on the lens. Since all but the cheapest Canon lenses can be manually focused even with the switch in the AF position, IMO it's the best way to work.