Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

Hey Hoggers 3 questions. I have a D7200,18-140,75-300,70-300 and 2 Sigmas the 17-50 and10-20.Eventhough I am not having any problems should I have them calibrated to my 7200? Will I see a significant difference? Thanks
Royce

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I wouldn't calibrate them if you don't have issues. You may actually create issues.

rcarol

No

Rongnongno Loc: FL

No. Calibrating a zoom is near impossible as you are dealing with range.

Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

What I was thinking too. Thanks

wjones8637 Loc: Burleson, TX

Since you aren’t having problems I’ll answer your last question first - Probably not. If you want to check for front or rear autofocus issues, there are a number of discussions on the board. The abridged version is place a ruler or chart with sharp markings at a 45 degree angle the take a photo and examine the result finding the sharpest marking. Your manual gives instructions for entering the correction if one is needed. I have a D7100 and concluded that for the very minor adjustments a few lenses needed it wasn’t worth the effort.

Bill

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

This is one of those Canon vs Nikon, Mac vs PC arguments. You’ll find pros and excellent photographers here that swear by it, and others, equally qualified, that feel exactly the opposite. I’d suggest searching on “ugly hedgehog calibration” using your regular search engine (since the UHH search function is so limited) and read the arguments on both sides - you’ll find MANY threads on the subject. BTW, I do calibrate all my lenses, including zooms, and it does make a difference for me. Hard to recognize better if you’ve never seen better or tried it. I think your Nikon only allows a single calibration per lens (correct me if I’m mistaken - Canon provides two), and since all the lenses you mention are zooms and the calibration does typically vary from one end of the range to the other, it may not be as useful to you unless some of your lenses are front or back focusing and the same direction at both ends of the range.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Royce, you should at least test them at the longest focal length. .....f6.3/5.6 lenses tend to hide any mis-focusing issues - which is not so much the case for f2.8/4 lenses !
The longer focal lengths are the most critical for focus.
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TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

And that is a good point. If you shoot fast lenses wide open or nearly so, having the AF spot-on is important, while smaller apertures with a larger DOF tends to “hide” AF errors.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

If you can only adjust at one focal length - as I have said the longest is the most critical - UNLESS YOU feel that there is a shorter focal length that you use the most and want absolutely to be in focus........then use that one ! Also , test and calibrate at the subject distance that is most important to YOU.
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Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

What everyone forgets is if you do calibrate and it is worse just don't turn on lens calibration or erase the calibration. You can do no permanent harm

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

👍 Exactly.

User ID

No. If it ain’t fix, don’t broke it.

Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

Exactly I'll move on to something else Thanks all

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Royce I AF fine tune all my optics on my Nikon Bodies...
Albeit it is a joy to find ones that are spot on...

There is a very simply test that will quickly tell you if your D7200's AF system focuses any given lens correctly.
Please be aware that your D7200's AF system uses Phase Detection... Why? because it is very, very fast!
However Live View on your D7200 uses Contrast Detection AF which works by analyzing pixels on the camera's sensor. While Contrast Detection is much slower than Phase Detection it is completely without error... This is why mirrorless cameras that use Contrast Detection by comparing high contrast edges on adjacent pixels do not require any lens calibration...

Why I'm I sharing the above? To let you know that you can use Live View to validate the integrity of the lens on a particular body. If you can't get a sharp image in Live View likely the lenses has serious issues... This has happen to me on a lens with moisture damage which was impossible to focus in Live View... A technician corroborated my findings and said the lens was beyond repair.

Likely all your lenses will work just fine in Live View... The next test is to shoot the same target with your normal focus mode immediately after verifying perfect focus in Live View... If your AF system (in Phase Detection) matches perfectly... You're done! If not you'll be best advised to attempt to calibrate you lens with AF Fine Tune...

Word of wisdom... Shoot the lens one stop below wide open... it's easier to see the focus errors that way... Wide open will not yield sharp results on a fast lens... i.e. a f/1.4... Shoot that lens at f/1.8 or f/2 and you'll get a better picture of the acuity latent within...

Second issue... Contrary to what some others may believe... Shoot your lens tests at the distance you will be using in actual practice during your AF testing... If you are a portrait photographer then shoot it at your normal distance from your client.

Third issue... Like others have mentioned Zoom Lens need to be calibrated at the focal length you will be using them NOT at their maximum focal length... Unless you are going to purchase one of the newest Sigma's or Tamron's if so then by all means come up the curve on the Sigma Dock or Tamron TAP in Console... they are amazingly useful for calibrating zoom optics at varying focal lengths... Thus are certainly worth there fee...

btw I shoot the Sigma AF 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM on my D7200 Nikon.... Totally Love this epic glass for shooting events... Fast, accurate with stellar Optical Stablization! It's a winner and I did not have to AF Fine Tune it... It was spot on right out of the box!

Hope this helps Royce or is at least food for thought...
All the best on your photographic journey...