tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

So, I have a 24-70 2.8 Nikon that I had to calibrate on my old camera, a D800. Now I have upgraded to the D810 and just finished calibrating it again. This time I had to adjust it to +10 to nail down the focus. I'm wondering if this is a "bad apple" lens because none of the others required calibration. Seems I've always been a little "leery" of this lens because of the need for calibration.
Am I fretting over nothing or should this lens get sent in for a check up?

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

No bad apple. You said you nailed the focus.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

What you see is WHY todays cameras offer focus tuning, to allow the user to achieve the sharpest, fastest focus capable with each and every lens you use.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

You have a more than an arm load of glass, have you ever had to tune a lens that far? Just curious, it seems a little much but the camera had a range of + or - 20 so maybe it is not too far out of range.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I had an old Nikon 17-55mm F2.8 that needed a -12 on my D7000. I think the most I have had to set any of my current lenses is my Nikon 200-500mm F5.6 which is at -6 on my D800E but its also at +3 on my D500. Haven't tuned it to any other bodies as those are the only two I use that lens on.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I'd have it checked. I've got over a dozen lenses - Nikon, Sigma and Tamron, and I have had multiple bodies from D70 to D800 - and I have never found a need to use fine tune. I did have a couple of bad lenses, and found that they were "out of spec" and needed to be re-calibrated, and once this was done they worked fine on all the bodies. Some people swear by the camera AF fine tune. I find it quite limiting, since on many bodies you only get a few focal lengths and distances that you can tune. I have gotten my best results when I let Nikon, Tamron or Sigma do it.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I purchased an 85mm F1.8 from Canon that required +15 correction using Focal. Uncomfortable (like you), I returned it to Canon under warranty, and after checking it, they found "nothing wrong" and returned it to me with no change (still requires +15). I'm still uncomfortable as this is worse (by a factor of 2) than any of my other lenses, but OK for now. My discomfort is what happens when/if it exceeds the available compensation as it ages, but too late to return it. I share your ambivalence and concern, but +10 is not that bad.

Bill_de Loc: US

Here's what Nikon says about Fine Tuning

Fine-tune focus for up to 20 lens types.
AF tuning is not recommended in most situations and may interfere with normal focus; use only when required.

Am I missing something?

--

CO

There's a lot of variation in the AF accuracy of camera and lens combinations. I test the daylights out of my lenses, lenses I rent, and DSLR bodies using a DataColor SpyderLensCal. I rented the Tamron 45mm f/1.8 lens once. It needed -12 AF fine tuning on my Nikon DSLR bodies. I later took a chance and purchased a new one from B&H. I lucked out. That one only requires -3 AF fine tuning on the same cameras. The camera bodies are part of this as well. I had read that a small number of Nikon D7000 cameras has a severe back focusing issue. I had one of those. I had to set the AF fine tuning to about -15 with all lenses. I returned that one and purchased another one from a different company. The AF sensors must be calibrated much more accurately in that one. Only small amounts of AF fine tuning are needed.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I would not worry. That same lens may require a completely different adjustment on a different camera body. For the most part adjustment differences between cameras and lenses is due to manufacturing tolerances. In-camera micro adjustments are actually very subtle to help account for very slight manufacturing differences. I have four Canon bodies. I have some Canon and third-party lenses that require adjustments on all of them, and none of the adjustments are the same from camera to camera. I also have some lenses that don't seem to require any adjustment at all. And others that are + a couple on one body and - a couple on another. The most extreme one is a Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 which is dead on with my Canon 60D but requires +14 on the long end and +13 on the wide end with my 7D Mark II. Meanwhile I have other lenses that don't seem to need any adjustment on either of those bodies. That a good thing with regard to my 60D since unlike my other 3 bodies, it doesn't have micro focus adjustment capability.

For those who claim to have a number of lenses and bodies and need no adjustments at all for any of them, I suggest they may not have investigated the sharpness potential of their lenses well enough and may have overlooked the improvement that micro focus adjustments would add to some of them.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Thanks. I calibrate all my lenses religiously, and the most I had seen until this lens was + or -7 on this 5D3 body. As long as it doesn't get past my adjustment range, I'm good. It's probably just coincidence that it was a refurb from Canon.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

It’s been my experience that when the image is sharp on the focusing screen, it will be sharp at the focal plane. Never had reason to “fine tune.”

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I'd have it calibrated professionally. I have it done for about $30 and I get a printed copy of the results.

team 1

What am I missing ? I have lens that go back years to my first E O S 35 mm years ago up to my 1 V HS and then my 20 d on to my newer ones of today, I have never heard of fine tuning a lens and I update my bodies and just keep using the same lens,all are Canon except one a Sigma 10-20 EX- DC-HSM

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Nope - they are discouraging it unless it is a last resort. Which is why I never do it. And if I did, it would only be on a prime lens, not a zoom.