Lens Calibration: Dear friends, First of all, do you have your lenses calibrated to the camera body and if so, how often? I just sent my Nikon D7000 away to a Nikon authorized photo...

theehmann

Dear friends,
First of all, do you have your lenses calibrated to the camera body and if so, how often? I just sent my Nikon D7000 away to a Nikon authorized photo service be cleaned/calibrated and am wondering if I need to take my lenses to my local camera shop to also be calibrated.
Thanks for your thoughts.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Why not do it yourself

https://www.slrlounge.com/calibrate-lenses-simple-fix-blurry-images/

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

The lens and camera are calibrated together. I take mine to Precision Camera and for $28.50 (per lens) they calibrate them and provide me with a print out. I usually have several lenses at one time calibrated and they are usually different. I find it worth the expense. Others may not, preferring to do it themselves.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

DavidPine wrote:

The lens and camera are calibrated together. I take mine to Precision Camera and for $28.50 (per lens) they calibrate them and provide me with a print out. I usually have several lenses at one time calibrated and they are usually different. I find it worth the expense. Others may not, preferring to do it themselves.

I'm curious, what does the printout detail?

theehmann

This is very helpful. Thank you.

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

theehmann wrote:

Dear friends,
First of all, do you have your lenses calibrated to the camera body and if so, how often? I just sent my Nikon D7000 away to a Nikon authorized photo service be cleaned/calibrated and am wondering if I need to take my lenses to my local camera shop to also be calibrated.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Lens calibration is best done by a service center. DIY corrections are not intended for permanent applications. Besides they only offer limited adjustments on focal length/distance, and infinity focus may be affected. Lenses have many more adjustment points, for multiple focal lengths (if adjusting a zoom) and multiple distances.

Here is a tutorial from Nikon on doing AF-Fine Tune on a D4. Notice the warning "Note that AF tuning is not normally required and may interfere with normal focus; use only when necessary.", and the distance for fine tuning which is "Position the target at about the distance where a human subject would fill the frame in portrait ("tall") orientation."

http://nps.nikonimaging.com/technical_solutions/d4s_tips/af_fine-tuning/

Bottom line, let the service center do it.

theehmann

Very helpful. Thank you.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

theehmann wrote:

Dear friends,
First of all, do you have your lenses calibrated to the camera body and if so, how often? I just sent my Nikon D7000 away to a Nikon authorized photo service be cleaned/calibrated and am wondering if I need to take my lenses to my local camera shop to also be calibrated.
Thanks for your thoughts.

There are many folks and shops out there who say they can preform this service. But beware, there are many variables when it comes to correctly calibrating a lens. Personally I have found that I have not had to do it to any of my lenses. But if I did, I would send it to a authorized Nikon repair service.

CO

I use the DataColor SpyderLensCal. You can see on the tilted scale if the camera is front focusing or back focusing. One UHH member has already stated that large amounts of AF fine tuning may interfere with focus. It's fine to do if only small amounts of AF fine tuning are needed.

cthahn

What are they calibrated for?

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

cthahn wrote:

What are they calibrated for?

Focus sharpness

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

CO wrote:

I use the DataColor SpyderLensCal. You can see on the tilted scale if the camera is front focusing or back focusing. One UHH member has already stated that large amounts of AF fine tuning may interfere with focus. It's fine to do if only small amounts of AF fine tuning are needed.

FWIW - I use a set of 5 batteries to determine if my lenses are front or back focusing, takes a minute to do and is very easy - I then make use of the "DOT TUNE" procedure to set my viewfinder focus to critical live view focus, again, takes a couple of minutes and easily done.

Once set the camera remembers each lens that needed AF Fine Tuning, and in most all cases AF Fine Tuning is between 0 & 5 at the most. I only worry about f/4.0 and smaller aperture where AF fine Tune will make a difference due to dof.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

theehmann wrote:

Dear friends,
First of all, do you have your lenses calibrated to the camera body and if so, how often? I just sent my Nikon D7000 away to a Nikon authorized photo service be cleaned/calibrated and am wondering if I need to take my lenses to my local camera shop to also be calibrated.
Thanks for your thoughts.

I now use a Micro 4/3 mirrorless system. There is no optical viewfinder, so there is NEVER a need to calibrate lenses to bodies.

I used lots of Canon and Nikon gear over the years, and had several calibration issues. Sometimes it's the body, sometimes it's the lens. Royal PITA to chase it unless there is a provision in the body to store individual lens cal data. Once calibrated, though, the calibration usually is pretty stable. I never had to do it twice.

I did have one Canon EOS 40D that could never be calibrated to ANY lens. Canon finally swapped it for a good one. I had to send it back three times and whine a lot.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I have never calibrated any lens--I wonder if that's the reason why so many of my shots need to be deleted. Glad to know it could not be my lack of skill. Thanks.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Dngallagher wrote:

FWIW - I use a set of 5 batteries to determine if ... (show quote)

Domino's work better and you can group them tighter and use more of them. But again you can only calibrate for that distance, if you change distance points, you have to do it again, and again, and again. Remember, lens re calibration is only good for the distance you calibrate it for.