mborn Loc: Massachusetts

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

It is IN the camera, if you correct through the camera menu! The camera will recognize the number of adjustments you did for every lens and adjust accordingly!

photogeneralist Loc: Lopez Island Washington State

Just a brief thought: The words used are confusing the issue. You are not tuning the lens. You are tuning the camera body's focusing response for a specific lens. This is not for lens type ie sigma 17-70 f/4 since each individual sigma 17-70 f/4 may require a different focusing response from the camera body.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I cannot remember if I ever had a lens calibration problem. Assuming that will happen sometime I would prefer to send the camera and lens to the manufacturer for adjustments.
One very good thing about manual focus (I am focusing manually now more often with still subjects) is that no fine-tuning is necessary.

CO

Canon has the calibration service for $179. I checked with Nikon. They told me that they don't offer the calibration service. I wish they did.

grichie5

I went through a long exploration of the need to make micro adjustments to the focus of a lens. The consensus of opinions was that fine tuning is not necessary in a mirrorless camera but may be necessary in a DSLR.

The difference between the two is the path that the image follows from the lens to the point at which focus is determined. In a mirrorless camera, the image is projected directly onto the sensor, and focus is determined from the image or parts of it on the sensor.The LCD or viewfinder show that same image as seen by the sensor so that if the image appears in sharp focus, it is in sharp focus.

In a DSLR, most of the image is projected from the mirror to the viewfinder, although part of the image travels through the mirror to a separate sensor that determines focus. if one of these elements, either the focusing sensor or the mirror is slightly out of adjustment, there can be a focusing error.

This is probably a simplistic view, but hopefully accurate.

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

Many have given the answer that you are seeking; i.e. the AF micro-adjustment is retained in the camera. Thus, if you use a different body, you will also need to proceed through the same process. Note that you cannot simply copy the settings of one body to another as each is different even if the model is the same.

There is a section in most cameras under the AF menu for micro-adjustments. This must be enabled if you wish to make use of this feature. By default it is disabled.

Prime lenses will have one adjustment slider. Zoom lenses will have two---one for the wide end and one for the long end. Each of these will need to be adjusted.

I just recently calibrated my lenses to my 5D4 using Reikan FoCal which made whole process easy, straight-forward, and quick---no subjective guess work involved. I recommend that if you are going to get serious about AF micro-adjustments, invest in the software. It is well worth it. I was able calibrate all of my Canon lenses and my Sigma 150-600. I thought, initially, that I would need to calibrate the Sigma lens differently as there are adjustments that can be made on the lens via its lens dock. However, such was not necessary and it was calibrated the same way as the Canon lenses.

There are many opinions on whether lens calibration is necessary and I will admit that, at one point, I was on the side that it was unnecessary. However, seeing the tools on the market raised questions and thoughts that if so much is developed for this purpose and camera manufacturers offer such services then there must be something to it. This article explains it well:

https://photographylife.com/how-to-calibrate-lenses

There have been several people on here who have also talked about the Reikan FoCal software that I mentioned above. Do a search on this site with the word, "Reikan". Excellent product and worth the extra to obtain the Pro version. You can also find information on this software here:

https://www.reikanfocal.com/

Charles

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

NOT FOR THE FAINT of HEART: Focus.... (~ I'm betting THIS post will set off some ALARMS!!)
This is about my Nikon D5200. My D7XXX bodies have the very limited Fine Tune option, so no worries for the most part there.
~My D5200 body (bought used for a great price - 35K exposures and obvious wear on it) consistently back focused on EVERY lens I have - even manual AI-s lenses (no meter, of course). So, I did not use it much because of that. I concluded that I would have to take it in for repair at a good Camera Repair place near me.
~However, after doing a bit.0.research with Google online, I discovered an old site that someone posted that dealt with the Nikon D70 back focus problem by turning a little hex screw in the mirror box (Oh, my!!). The D70 was not much different in that respect from the D5200. So, I thought, what the hey...If I ruin this D5200 body, I'm not out much. And probably the repair place can fix it.
~ So.... IT WORKED though!! The focus is now SPOT ON with all my lenses!! Crazy, huh?!!

EDIT: grichie5's post above hits on the reason for the off-focus in my D5200.
EDIT: This worked with my D7000 also.

GLSmith Loc: Tampa, Fl

Camera bodies are made in one factory, lenses in another...vendors do a best effort....The actual fine tune is done in menu of camera body...when saved, it gets stored on the camera body (I believe). If lens is calibrated on Body A and later placed on body B, the calibration is not seen...Numerous vendors for fine tuning...I use Focal...as a FYI in a zoom itch’s best to adjust at both ends of the zoom

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

OK - - just a clue for all:
I purchased FoCal which Automatically adjusts the microfocus for each lens (near and far for telephotos) within the camera - for up to 5 camera bodies. So far I've adjusted 5 of my lenses on my 80D, and plan to do the same on my 7D sometime real soon now. Yeah - you have to tether your camera over USB to the computer, AND print a HiRes B&W target image on photo paper, but the software then gives guidance regarding camera to target distance vs focal length, and runs the calibration.
ALL of my lenses needed microfocus adjustments - and image clarity was greatly improved.
I discovered my ancient Tokina 12/24 couldn't be calibrated at the Tele end (24) - but I subsequently set the camera adjustment manually on my 80D to +20 which is the max permissible. In the end - all lenses performance was improved on the 80D.
IMHO this software is nothing short of magic.
https://www.reikanfocal.com/

grichie5

I appreciate your response, but it doesn't discuss the distinction between camera types. I believe that the camera you mention, the 5D4 is a Canon DSLR. No question that most people feel that focus adjustments can be of benefit when using a DSLR. My original quest was to see if the same was true with a mirrorless body. Most agree that because of the difference that the image path follows, a focus adjustment is not needed.

grichie5

I appreciate your response, but it doesn't discuss the distinction between camera types. I believe that the camera you mention, the 5D4 is a Canon DSLR. No question that most people feel that focus adjustments can be of benefit when using a DSLR. My original quest was to see if the same was true with a mirrorless body. Most agree that because of the difference that the image path follows, a focus adjustment is not needed.

Rocky71203 Loc: Monroe, LA

I paid a camera repair shop, authorized Nikon partner, to fine tune a Nikon 70-210 4.5, to my Nikon D800 when I was out of town at a conference and when I returned home, I determined it was a huge mistake. I didn't know what to do and had to send it to them and they charged me a repair charge to remove the mess up they made. Everything is alright now. I believe this is an un necessary procedure and I was treated poorly.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

I don't believe that is correct. Each lens is different, each camera body is different.
Sure - it'd be nice if everything was exactly the same, but how they interact is a complex dance.
Obtaining the best micro-adjustments regarding front and back focus IMHO is a key factor here.
Particularly if you frequently use zoom lenses.
No - - I do NOT work for Reikan (I'm a retired physician)
But I've had my aperture opened regarding microfocus adjustments and image sharpness.
Doing that manually for a single lens at the wide angle setting took me 20 minutes.
FoCal did wide and zoom in about 7 minutes. Time is Money.

sscnxy

I don't understand how the lens itself can become worse when one is calibratiing what the camera sees as the point of focus, ie a camera setting is being adjusted. Certainly, if the AF fine tuning job is off the mark, the focus will not look right, but that shouldn't affect or mess up the lens per se.