AFMA of long lenses

Nelu

1-DX Mark III, EOS R5, EOS R
CR Pro
What do people use to AFMA long lenses?

i have Reikan Focal and it seems to work fine for most of my lenses, but it has a lot of problems with a Tamron 150-600 at 600mm. What do others use for long lenses?
I have them both (Focal and LensAlign) and I prefer the latter one because I can see the results with my own eyes rather than trusting the “machine”; besides, I don’t need a computer with LensAlign, so I can do it in the field.
For me it’s fast and easy but for my 600mm lens I have to do it outdoors, at the temperature I actually take photos.If it’s cold outside I’ll have to wait about 10 minutes for the lens to reach the air temperature otherwise none of the images will be sharp.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,356
22,535
I have them both (Focal and LensAlign) and I prefer the latter one because I can see the results with my own eyes rather than trusting the “machine”; besides, I don’t need a computer with LensAlign, so I can do it in the field.
For me it’s fast and easy but for my 600mm lens I have to do it outdoors, at the temperature I actually take photos.If it’s cold outside I’ll have to wait about 10 minutes for the lens to reach the air temperature otherwise none of the images will be sharp.
As neuro as written, you don’t have to take your computer in the field. I do the same as him - shoot in the field and download and analyse the images indoors. I also find it easier to see a maximum in a curve and how the focus changes with AFMA and repeat shots, but I am used to analysing measurements.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,356
22,535
Agreed. I’ll take an algorithm over the Mark 1 eyeball every day of the week.
I took up the manual method on your advice a couple of years back. It's so quick, less than 15 minutes from deciding to do it to having the results, and maybe as short as 5 minutes a lens.
 
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Nelu

1-DX Mark III, EOS R5, EOS R
CR Pro
As neuro as written, you don’t have to take your computer in the field. I do the same as him - shoot in the field and download and analyse the images indoors. I also find it easier to see a maximum in a curve and how the focus changes with AFMA and repeat shots, but I am used to analysing measurements.
Yeah, that's not an option for me.
Where I live (Calgary, Alberta) there are huge temperature swings during a day in the winter. We call them "Chinook" but Leo de Caprio calls them "Global Warming":)
For that reason I might need to do the AFMA in the field, just before I start shooting. Not always but sometimes. So, there's no time to "download and analyse the images indoors"
This is only the case for the 600mm f/4 lens, not for the 300mm f/2.8 or any other lenses. Only the 600mm is so vulnarable to those temperature differences.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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I have found it difficult to discern differences by eye, perhaps due to my vision. However, I've manually done a AFMA by eye in the field and had surpurb results, thats a exception. I use Focal outdoors. I'm probably on my last paid version of it, since I don't plan on getting a new EF based body or lenses, it will do the equipment I have.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,356
22,535
I have found it difficult to discern differences by eye, perhaps due to my vision. However, I've manually done a AFMA by eye in the field and had surpurb results, thats a exception. I use Focal outdoors. I'm probably on my last paid version of it, since I don't plan on getting a new EF based body or lenses, it will do the equipment I have.
If you use the manual method you don't have to update your version of FoCal.
 
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