Unable to AFMA 70-200mm 2.8 is II

[dirtcastle]

Nice setup.

I just bought FoCal. It seems to get good results. Hopefully they will improve support for the 5D2 and 5D3. Manual mode is tolerable, but I sometimes felt like fidgeting with the controls and keyboard was undermining the delicate nature of the testing. A few times it told me the target had moved. Um, well... yes, because I'm hitting effing buttons during the test. :

Put the camera on a sturdy tripod, and, unless you have a concrete floor, do not move anything during the testing. There is no need to use the keyboard while the camera is taking the test images, and using it should not move the camera or target in any event. If the USB cable is jerking on the camera, perhaps you might consider a longer USB cable, 10 ft ones work well.
I mount my laptop to my tripod with no issues.
This is my indoor setup. The floor is shaky, so I do not dare move while the camera is taking the test photos, concrete is much better.

FoCal "manual mode" appears to require hitting the keyboard after each adjustment change of AFMA (during the test). Or did I miss something?

I will test each lens multiple times with FoCal, each time under slightly different conditions (lighting and distance). That way, any flukes from a particular test will eventually be worked out. I'm also not assuming that FoCal will give me perfect results.

Ultimately, if I can't tell the difference in real world shooting... then it begs the larger question of using FoCal. I don't assume it will always be correct. I use it as another opinion, to confirm or dispute my own hunches.

 

[Loswr]

Ultimately, if I can't tell the difference in real world shooting...

That's true, today. But in a few years, the entire world will be composed of QR Codes, and then FoCal results will be universally applicable to all pictures.

 

[East Wind Photography]

It's also easier to evaluate if you shoot in RAW mode as well. That way the in-camera processing wont monkey with the sharpness and trick the brain into thinking something is sharp when it isnt. Also make sure IS is turned off because IS no matter how you have the camera mounted will shift the image possibly causing inconsistent image sharpness.

Nice setup.

I just bought FoCal. It seems to get good results. Hopefully they will improve support for the 5D2 and 5D3. Manual mode is tolerable, but I sometimes felt like fidgeting with the controls and keyboard was undermining the delicate nature of the testing. A few times it told me the target had moved. Um, well... yes, because I'm hitting effing buttons during the test. :

Try reading a book or watching TV while the Auto test is running. You might get better results.

That would be nice!

Alas... my 5Ds only work in manual mode. But still, I'll take it; it's a lot easier than the setup Neuro diagrammed.

 

[PackLight]

Ultimately, if I can't tell the difference in real world shooting... then it begs the larger question of using FoCal. I don't assume it will always be correct. I use it as another opinion, to confirm or dispute my own hunches.

FoCal or any system you use to test are similar to a stoped clock which has the correct time twice a day. The tests are accurate with the set up you use and the conditions you perform the test in.

You can test with slightly brighter or darker lighting and get diffrent results. With some lenses you can move closer or farther away and the results will be diffrent. The targets we shoot in real life are seldom flat and positioned square to our camera. Changing the aperture on some lenses will move where your camera AF at.

What is best to know is how your AF system for a given lens is going to perform in diffrent conditions at diffrent distances. I find FoCal or LensAlign to be good tools to test the camera in diffrent situations so I know how the lens performs in diffrent situations and I can adjust accordingly.

 

[gjones5252]

So I kinda got tired of trying to do through using the box/ruler and caveman method. Sorry about the pics they were taken while I was at a ranch doing a shoot and couldn't understand what was wrong with my lens. Just haven't ha time to take better ones.
I purchased focal plus today. All my lenses were originally at +14 on average for my 5d mark ii.
So far with focal they are all under 8 + or -
I am concerned though because while I am sure my methods are not accurate I didn't feel as though they would be off by such a massive amounts. I am waiting for the 70-200mm to complete as its been running for a very long time.
As soon as they are done I am excited to test real world usage.

The 70-200mm is finished it ended up at -2....
Ill update on real world test..

 

[PackLight]

So I kinda got tired of trying to do through using the box/ruler and caveman method. Sorry about the pics they were taken while I was at a ranch doing a shoot and couldn't understand what was wrong with my lens. Just haven't ha time to take better ones.
I purchased focal plus today. All my lenses were originally at +14 on average for my 5d mark ii.
So far with focal they are all under 8 + or -
I am concerned though because while I am sure my methods are not accurate I didn't feel as though they would be off by such a massive amounts. I am waiting for the 70-200mm to complete as its been running for a very long time.
As soon as they are done I am excited to test real world usage.

The 70-200mm is finished it ended up at -2....
Ill update on real world test..

The test is all about repeatablity and consistancy. If you run the test four or five times and get the same results, set it up the next day and get the same results then it is probably doing what it should.
But here is a note my 70-200mm on my 5D II is like -1 at 70mm and -2 at 200mm. On my 1D IV it has a widwer span, so you need to check at wide, long and some in the middle to see what the lens is doing overall.

 

[East Wind Photography]

YOu need to test the zooms at both ends of the zoom range and preferably at a few places in between. The AFMA could be different at 70 than it is at 200....and in between. However your DOF will be shallowest at 200 and where it really counts the most.

It's also important to note that using the caveman method is not very accurate. It's difficult to determine what is sharpest on the ruler. Most will look at where softness starts on either side of focus and split the difference. That is usually wrong. Lenses tend to have more DOF away from the ideal focus point than in front. If you are evaluating focus using lenscal, ruler, or other cave man method you need to evaluate the sharpest point on the scale and not guess by splitting the OOF range.

If you cant tell then it either doesn't matter much or you should use a more accurate eval tool such as Focal. Some lenses are just soft wide open and so you cant really tell where the sharpest point is. Focal will work the entire range and mathematically model the AFMA points and calculate the best setting based on the model.

So I kinda got tired of trying to do through using the box/ruler and caveman method. Sorry about the pics they were taken while I was at a ranch doing a shoot and couldn't understand what was wrong with my lens. Just haven't ha time to take better ones.
I purchased focal plus today. All my lenses were originally at +14 on average for my 5d mark ii.
So far with focal they are all under 8 + or -
I am concerned though because while I am sure my methods are not accurate I didn't feel as though they would be off by such a massive amounts. I am waiting for the 70-200mm to complete as its been running for a very long time.
As soon as they are done I am excited to test real world usage.

The 70-200mm is finished it ended up at -2....
Ill update on real world test..

 

[PackLight]

Some lenses are just soft wide open and so you cant really tell where the sharpest point is.

Not the lens he is testing. At 200mm at f/2.8 should be very sharp.
When I did the apeture sharpness test that FoCal Pro provides the only aperture sharper than f/2.8 is f/3.2

 

[canon_convert]

Hi canon_convert,
I'm not 100% sure on refurbs item. My guess is you should be fine since your lens is till under their warranty.

Just tell them what you just told me - "you bought this lens through their site and it seems to be soft on your 5D III"

In my case, I brought my 5D II + 24-105 down to service center in Irvine, CA. I told them the lens is soft and asked if they can help. They did calibrated the lens to match with my 5D II.

The lens did get little better after calibration, but no where near my current 5D III + 24-70 f2.8 II or 70-200 f2.8 IS II.

My 2cents: the 24-105L is not a sharp lens. I tried 2 copies, no luck.

Hey thanks for getting back to me... I'll know for sure about my 24-105 once I get my 70-200 II later this week...Managed to score one from Canon refurb sale

 

[gjones5252]

Yeah tested all my newly calibrated lenses. They are all sharp and very clear under good light. So the method is super crucial.
On a side note the reason all this afma started was because I was not happy with the quality of pictures on my 24-105mm. Even after focal adjustment this is not really what I would be expecting out of such a highly regarded L lens. I want to go use it some more since it is often mentioned as good quality I would expect this is another case of user error