5D Mark III / EF 85 1.8 - General Portraiture AFMA

[thesirren]

Unfortunately I do not have the option to perform a full calibration at the moment, so I am going to have to settle with AFMA for at least one more month.

I understand that in most cases settings are different for different units, but I am just curious as to what AFMA settings people use for head / torso / full body shots.

I myself find that mine produces slightly sharper images at +5, when shooting from a ~1m. distance.

[neuroanatomist]

AMFA is completely dependent on the specific lens and body combination.  I've had lenses require very different adjustments on three different bodies, and there's no consistent pattern of offset - it really is on a case to case basis.

As you suggest, at and near the MFD, the optimal AFMA value can be different (but not necessarily - my 100L on my 1D X is best at +2 at 5 meters, +4 at 2.5 meters, and +3 at the MFD).  But...you should determine the adjustment at the subject distance(s) you commonly use, and if you shoot at multiple distances, it's good to test at multiple distances.  Personally, I test all my lenses at 25x and 50x the focal length, and weight the adjustment based on my common shooting distances, as well as the DoF effects (meaning more weight usually goes to the 25x distance).

[pdirestajr]

And then there are times where you may not have to micro adjust a lens. I might just be incredibly lucky, but I have never needed to micro adjust a lens to a body. So like Neuro said, it's really case by case.

[rumorzmonger]

Of the dozens of Canon EF lenses I've owned and tested since Canon introduced the MA feature, I have yet to find a single lens that has needed *any* MA adjustment.

[neuroanatomist]

Of the dozens of Canon EF lenses I've owned and tested since Canon introduced the MA feature, I have yet to find a single lens that has needed *any* MA adjustment.

Lucky you!  May I ask...how have you confirmed that no adjustment was needed?

[Razor2012]

Of the dozens of Canon EF lenses I've owned and tested since Canon introduced the MA feature, I have yet to find a single lens that has needed *any* MA adjustment.

Lucky you!  May I ask...how have you confirmed that no adjustment was needed?

Looks good to me.   

[Random Orbits]

Of the dozens of Canon EF lenses I've owned and tested since Canon introduced the MA feature, I have yet to find a single lens that has needed *any* MA adjustment.

My adjustments are primarily due to the camera.  All my adjustments are around -10 (typically -8 to -12) for all my lenses.

[Max Rebel]

Of the dozens of Canon EF lenses I've owned and tested since Canon introduced the MA feature, I have yet to find a single lens that has needed *any* MA adjustment.

Lucky you!  May I ask...how have you confirmed that no adjustment was needed?

I find most Zoom Lenses need adjustments... (Near and Far) I used a LensAlign Target with Ruler but found it to be long and subjective to my analysis, I've since invested in a great program called Reikan Focal which takes the guess work and time out of aligning my lenses.

http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/

Guessing your alignment is not the way to go... there's a huge difference in clarity and crispness with just +1 .. also when using this software or a LensAlign Target, Canon suggest 50x the focal distance I find 25-30x gives better results. A good rule would also be to test 50x if you shoot far from your subject and 25x if you shoot close to your subject.