Nearly a good idea (Page 3): When posting, check "store original". If you are successful there will be a "Download" link below the photo. Make sure you don't strip the EXIF data before...

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

quixdraw wrote:

Did a test off a rest, light not great - preliminary outcome, I did better through the finder. Light S/B good tomorrow, will try with a tripod, and possibly a print of your target, or another. Again, thanks!

When posting, check "store original". If you are successful there will be a "Download" link below the photo. Make sure you don't strip the EXIF data before posting. This gives us much more information to help analyse the problem.

Photec

I had that 80-400D lens a good while back. I never could get consistently sharp results either, so I sent it to my oldest granddaughter to shoot bicycle races. About a year later we were both shooting at a velodrome in Frisco, TX and she was consistently getting excellent images using a D200. I was very impressed with the build quality of the 80-400, but for that particular focal range I switched to the 200-400 f4G. Now we are both very happy.

Quixdraw Loc: x

PHRubin wrote:

When posting, check "store original". If you are successful there will be a "Download" link below the photo. Make sure you don't strip the EXIF data before posting. This gives us much more information to help analyse the problem.

Thanks - I do understand. What I post is what I intend to post!

Quixdraw Loc: x

Photec wrote:

I had that 80-400D lens a good while back. I never could get consistently sharp results either, so I sent it to my oldest granddaughter to shoot bicycle races. About a year later we were both shooting at a velodrome in Frisco, TX and she was consistently getting excellent images using a D200. I was very impressed with the build quality of the 80-400, but for that particular focal range I switched to the 200-400 f4G. Now we are both very happy.

Thanks!

tomcat

Send it in to Nikon with some of these pictures as examples. They can give you a quote. I would not fiddle with the camera controls to make an attempt to adjust the focusing.

tomcat

joer wrote:

I have tried to calibrate Nikon and third party lenses and never have been successful. I eventually gave up thinking the process was created as a placebo to occupy pixel peeper in order keep them out of the warranty process.

Quixdraw Loc: x

tomcat wrote:

Send it in to Nikon with some of these pictures as examples. They can give you a quote. I would not fiddle with the camera controls to make an attempt to adjust the focusing.

Thanks! I still have a few things to try. First, there are still two camera bodies I haven't used the lens on. If it works on one of them, problem solved - I can just dedicate to use with that camera. Sending it back is a valid option also. Nikon service has been excellent on two past occasions.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

quixdraw wrote:

Thanks - I will try it, but almost never resort to live view. Too many years of viewfinders plus a couple of years having to use a viewfinderless camera on the job - ugh.

I just use live view to test the lens. If it’s not sharp in live view it’s the lens.

sscnxy

CO wrote:

It seems like the focusing is off. There's a great... (show quote)

Fantastic demonstration of how to use the SpyderLensCal chart to fine tune AF. I'm a stickler like you with regard to checking all my lenses for AF tune. More likely than not, they'll need at least a bit of tuning to get it perfect. That being said, I personally think the 400 mm focal length shot shows a slight amount of front focus. Now it may not be bothersome enough to warrant fixing, but I'm a real butt when it comes to wringing out max sharpness out of every lens. We should all thank you much for showing how to do the fine tuning because I suspect many photogs give reasons why they don't ever think it is necessary, likely because they've never attempted it. Once they do it and see the difference in the sharpness of their photos, they'd probably check every lens.

CO

sscnxy wrote:

Fantastic demonstration of how to use the SpyderLe... (show quote)

I noticed that about slight front focusing at 400mm also. I tested the lens at 80, 105, 135, 200, 300, and 400mm. It seemed to be very consistent throughout the range. I didn't want to load too many photos on my post. At the 400mm end, the zero on the scale still looked sharp enough so I left it alone. It could enter a small amount of correction.

sscnxy

CO wrote:

I noticed that about slight front focusing at 400mm also. I tested the lens at 80, 105, 135, 200, 300, and 400mm. It seemed to be very consistent throughout the range. I didn't want to load too many photos on my post. At the 400mm end, the zero on the scale still looked sharp enough so I left it alone. It could enter a small amount of correction.

IMHO, the AF Fine Tune naysayers should really pay attention to what you presented in this thread. I think they'd learn something valuable. I always pay a lot of attention to your missives.

NMY