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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
LensAlign and Micro Adjustment of Lenses
Alan Herzberg, Photographer
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Elm Grove | WI | USA | Posted: 9:38 AM on 01.15.10 |
->> The Mark IV Sequel thread started to veer into the topic of micro adjustment of lenses so I thought I'd start a new thread on that topic if people want to discuss it more. The geek in me loves this stuff.
My specific question is for those of you who have purchase or used LensAlign. Which version of their product did you get? (Lite; Pro; Pro Plus). And would you recommend the version you purchased or would you recommend a step up or down from the one you got? |
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Peter Buehner, Photographer
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Orono | ME | USA | Posted: 11:56 AM on 01.15.10 |
->> If you use it with anything long (300mm and up) you will want the bigger ruler and target. You cannot see the adjustments with the smaller one if you are at a decent distance.
I think they also now sell a little gadget that lets you mark your adjustments in the photo which would help a lot. that may be the "plus" you refer to in your post. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 2:34 PM on 01.15.10 |
| ->> If you use it with a 300mm, won't you have to be over 50 feet away? |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 2:46 PM on 01.15.10 |
->> Matthew-
No; the target is angled pretty steeply. |
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Steve Violette, Photographer
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Gulf Breeze | FL | USA | Posted: 2:55 PM on 01.15.10 |
->> I use the Pro model - the longer version would be needed for the 300 or 400 or longer because the DoF is wider than the ruler is long. Yes, you can angle it pretty steep, but the longer version helps.
I have done this on a 1DIII and 1DsIII and the adjustments were similar on each camera for the same lens. to me, this explains why some people claimed to have "soft lenses" and the fix was always to send the lens and body to the manufacturer and have them matched. my understanding was that a micro-adjustment was made at the repair center.
A friend on mine has a 5D and complained of front focus issues with his 70-200 - sure enough this was the case and very easily identifiable with the LensAlign gizmo - he eventually sent camera and body to canon to "match them up". with the newer cameras you can make this adjustment and check it regularly. In fact I recently rechecked my 70-200 and found it had moved slightly (2 adjustment points) When I had it into Canon for a clean and check, they said a couple items were loose and tightened things up - THe adjustment is back to where it was. I believe this is a useful tool....if you use it regularly
Steve |
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Peter Buehner, Photographer
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Orono | ME | USA | Posted: 6:46 PM on 01.15.10 |
->> Matthew,
Lensalign has a distance computation guide on their site at rawworkflow.com
They suggest 24.6 feet as a distance for a 300mm using the small ruler. I have also seen it suggested that you want to calibrate your lenses as near to typical shooting distance as reasonably feasible. 24.6 feet seems very close to me.
Peter |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 8:18 PM on 01.15.10 |
| ->> I bought the Lite model and unless you have someone with you to adjust the target while you are looking through the viewfinder it takes forever to get aligned just to start the test. |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Northwest Missouri | MO | USA | Posted: 10:29 PM on 01.15.10 |
| ->> Good topic guys. I think this would make an excellent How-to workshop or Youtube video. |
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Ric Tapia, Photographer, Photo Editor
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