kcj Loc: Seneca SC

Does any one calibrate their own lens ? Are you satisfied and by doing it yourself is it good. What do you use? Also has any one bought a remote for a Nikon on eBay ? Their are some listed for $2.00 they say Nikon and also are the ML L3 this is a lot cheaper then the 17..00 at camera stores. They are in the USA and shipping is 2.50 Thanks

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

kcj, I personally think lens calibration is one of the most abused necessities. Yes calibration is a must to do good photography.
BUT, if you only shoot landscape at f16, why even bother? You'll never see it!
This is the homemade target I use for all my lenses and cameras.
Sometimes I find myself in the field with a new camera or lens that has no calibration. I just use a sign on a post or on a building that has lots of small lettering and focus on a letter in the middle. I've used a wall with texture and a piece of masking tape with a black line drawn in the middle of it. You need a place of high contrast for the focus to lock and You just need to be able to see where the camera is actually focused so you can adjust.
I don't recall ever using a tripod(always handheld) and a lens/camera usually takes about 5 minutes to do, and I guarantee you they are perfectly calibrated.
The X in the middle of my target is to assure my camera locks focus on THAT spot. The graduations are about 1/2" steps cut into the plywood. The target is about 12"x12". The angle is 45 degrees.
I wouldn't use anything that comes out of a printer unless it's on gloss foto paper. I use glossy magazine pages. They are sharp!
Good luck with your calibrating. Don't make it more than it needs to be!!!
SS

Homemade target

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

If I have a problem, I send my stuff to Nikon. They will get it better than I would ever get it with the currently available tools.

Haydon

Agreed Gene, but at the same time I have a friend that just submitted their 100 2.8L macro lens back to Canon for front focusing issues and they want $205.00 for the calibration. Difficult not to consider other alternatives such as LensCal or FoCal for that price.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Although I have several targets for adjusting focus, I've never had the need to use them.

As for the generic remotes, I've bought lots of wireless and wired (intervalometers) for several cameras from Amazon. No problems ever. I drill a tiny hole in the battery tray and attach a quick release lanyard - very handy.

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

I agree Jerry, I never had a problem with the cheap releases, I only had a problem losing them. The drilled hole is more important than the release itself.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Lens fine tuning is most important with larger aperture and long telephoto lenses. It's a great feature to have, if you shoot with those lenses at or near wide open a lot, where depth of field is shallow and any focus error can be more critical. But, otherwise, for most folks it's probably a lot less necessary.



That sounds like a lot more than the usual calibration... probably not something that could be resolved with MFA and FoCal, anyway.

Personally I do use a lot of big telephotos and consider MFA a "must-have", helpful feature.

As to remotes, I shoot Canon and can't comment specifically about Nikon's....

But, I bought one of Canon's inexpensive wireless (IR) remotes used, off eBay, for about $10 shipped. A lot cheaper than the price for a new one, fairly comparable with the cheaper third party.

I also use a couple of the wired releases and one of the more sophisticated wired intervalometers (which can be programmed to do time lapse and other things). These are all OEM (there are cheaper third party) and are more useful than the cheap, wireless unit for a lot of purposes.

I don't know if Nikon's are the same, but the purpose of the inexpensive wireless is basically self-portraits. It only works from in front of the camera (the camera's sensor is on the finger grip, normally would be covered by your fingers while holding the camera), there is no extra long (more than 30 seconds) "bulb" exposure possible with it, nor does it give mirror lock-up, plus any time lapse series made with it would need to be done manually tripping each exposure. The more expensive, wired releases can do all these things reliably and from anywhere around and behind the camera. The wired releases are not usable with all camera models, only the more advanced ones.

Note: some of the more recent Canon have built-in intervalometer, possibly making my more expensive wired remote less necessary. Also, Live View shooting accomplishes much the same thing as mirror lockup. I don't know about Nikon, but the last couple generations of Canon DSLRs have a vastly improved autofocus in Live View.... it's much faster and more useful now.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Many Nikons have an IR receiver on the rear of the body, too. Like Canon, Many Nikons have an intervalometer, accessible through the Menu.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

You would need them - to at least check the focus ??

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

The longer the focal length and the wider the aperture of the lens , the MORE you should be calibrating your focus !

I have used several types of targets - but these days, this is my preferred "target" set up .........

3 cans ( 16 0z. preferred - full cans if it is windy- the idea being the cans represent a 3-d subject approximating a bird :-) ) with good details aligned at a 45 degree angle to the camera position. AF on a distant subject then AF on the center can and see if it is the sharpest in your magnified view - if one of the others is sharper, you deduce which way to make an adjustment and try again. For coarse adjustments the cans can be further apart and finer adjustments, closer together.

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Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Nice shots, but PBR cans?

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Where in the heck did you find three FULL cans?!?!
SS

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Whatever cans/bottles you happen to have lying around .....

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

They have them at the store - empties are cheaper though - when you find them

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Check youtube. Lots of "home" methods.
Mark