tbone1130 Loc: Pittsburgh Pa

Hi,
Is it advantageous to calibrate your lenses to your camera or just a waste of money buying the gage to do it? If it is is it only good for prime lenses or is it good for telephoto also.
As always thanks
Tom

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

It is good for primes and zooms! If you use a gauge, you still calibrate your lenses to your camera (the gauge just helps you do it)!

cpkeith

You don't need to waste money on any special gauges. I use a Kleenex box and incline a ruler next to it and get great results. The technique is in how you take the photos so that you can make a good and accurate determination regarding calibration and adjustments. YOUTUBE has some good tutorials and I teach a class on Auto Focus Micro Adjustment (calibration) if you are interested in the class materials ( free).😀

waynecrowley Loc: enerywhere/anywhere

Will your method work with a D3200 and kit lens? I am just getting started with DSLR and am less rhan happy with the soft focus I am getting with this combo. I don't know whether it's me (camera shake) or the camera/lens combo. I suspect both since I only see slight improvement using a tripod.

tbone1130 Loc: Pittsburgh Pa

CP,
Thanks!! I'm definitely interested in your class materials. Always interested in learning something new. How would I get them?

Tom

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I substitute a yard stick for the ruler. The Kleenex box, for those who don't what it's used for, is something that the camera can focus on. I set the yardstick beside the object to focus on and lean it at 45 degrees such that the top is farther away and the bottom closer. If the box is in focus, the portion of the yardstick even with the front of the box should be in focus. If it not, apply some correction with the MFA adjustment and see if it is better or worse. Repeat until you are happy with the results.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

A couple years ago, when I bought my 6D, I noticed some of my Canon "L" lenses were not quite as crisp as I felt they should be. I also noticed my focus point was a little off. So, I pulled the main offenders, and took some careful shots for testing purposing. I did some really close pixel peeping and found these lenses were either front or back focusing slightly. I tried several suggested was to adjust the problem out of the lenses, but sometimes the situation got even worse. It was suggested to try FoCal, from Reiken Techology, in Great Britain. I bought a copy of the program, read the manual, and set-up and tested my lenses, even the zooms. Problem solved. FoCal has recently come out with a real upgrade, and it really takes out front/back focus but really puts out a full set of graphs on how your lens is performing on your camera. The system is rather easy to set-up, but you need a sturdy tripod, and area large enough to put up a target, and adjust the distance from the target to the camera. Lighting is important too. I use a 100 watt bulb in a clamp on fixture, clamped to a chair back. The program will also tell you if the lighting is proper. Just set-up your camera to the program specs, and allow it to run. The program will take several shots of the target, and give a print out, if desired of the calibration, color rendering, and more. If you select full auto, it will make the adjustment in your camera for you. The system so easy to set-up, and execute that I use it almost every time I have a paid shoot for all the lenses I plan to use. FoCal can also tell you if something has happened to your lens over time. Like a wide swing in adjustment from one time to another, indicates something has happened within the lens. I feel that any photographer, who is seeking that tack sharp image, must make exact micro-adjustment to their lenses to body. It really makes a difference in the final output of your product.

B

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

If all you do is wide-angle landscape work It will never make a difference.
If you do shallow DoF work, such as portraits then yes, It can make a difference. That's not to say your lenses are off. They may or may not be. It would be an individual lens by lens situation.
And no need to spend money on an expensive system. I use a homemade jig that cost me nothing and I can calibrate a lens in a few minutes each.
Good luck
SS

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The D3200 does not have this advanced feature to micro adjust a lens to the camera body. Everyone that I've read who has performed the micro adjustments to their lenses are pleased with the results. But, these are owners of the highest grade lenses and cameras and they tend to be shooting their lenses wide-open where the depth of field is the narrowest. We're talking very 'micro' adjustments and not every lens / camera combo even requires an adjustment. Your issues are more likely technique particularly if a tripod improves the results. Wayne - if you start a new post with a straight-from-camera JPEG posted as an attachment and 'store original' checked, there's several UHH participants who can review the image and the EXIF data and can offer practical and effective suggestions to improve your results.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Good info! I'm doing a fair amount of birding and I am looking for every possible edge! Two of my cameras have this capability.

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

Tom, if you see an issue with front or back focus, yes it is helpful to use a gauge, but you can do it with a ruler for shorter distances, or a fence for longer ones.

I suggest that in camera AF fine tune is great for primes (wide angle to tele) with most cameras. Some cameras give you more than one point to optimize focus.

I do not recommend it for zooms. They are more complex, will need lots of adjustment at several focal lengths to make the lens more usable. Besides, sometimes things beyond the capability of in camera adjustment are necessary, such as adjusting the communication parameters between the lens and camera, etc.

tbone1130 Loc: Pittsburgh Pa

Thanks for all of the input guys!!

Tom

gawler Loc: rural south australia

well worth the effort , i have used home made worked really well , but have a few lenses and 3 bodys i use FoCal auto system , it is great works well and if you have the pro version you can test for other things as well , i agree you dont need to spend money for good results but if you dont mind spending a bit this system is fast easy and the results are great , i use it on canon 7d 6d 7d2 and a 5d3 ( no longer have ) sigma 150-600 sport sigma 120-300 sport tamron 150-600 canon 100-400 ect ect to all three bodys web address https://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/
zoom lens you will need a good sturdy tripod as vibration can be a problem and a lap top , zoom lens these days like the sigma 150-600 sport can be done at both long and short end i mainly worry about the long end as i rarely use the short end anyway for birding , when doing a zoom lens it is import to have it firmly grounded with no chance of vibration

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

That a can of worms. I have photographed for over 50 years and none of my lenses have ever been fine tuned. I own a Nikon 300 2.8 and the 200-500 5.6 and I have shot them on five different Nikon digital DSLR's platforms, both lens are sharp as a tack with no adjustments EVER needed. With today's focusing systems and post production processing sharpening it comes down to the individual. And folks who are able to fine turn sometimes are never quite pleased with the results. These are the same people who get the BAD COPY of a lens and return it. Like I said, maybe I am just lucky that ALL of my auto focus lenses focus great or maybe I don't get out a microscope and look for flaws in my images. Most of my show work is printed to 20X30 and they look sharp to me and to the folks who buy them. But hey, who am I, just a guy who loves photography.

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Look into the dot-tune method.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1187247/0