Best way of doing AF MA?

[Alex]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this has already been posted before but I was unable to find anything on it.. Sooo...

What have you found the best way to do the micro adjustment on the autofocus??

Cheers
Alex

 

[Loswr]

Reikan FoCal.

 

[cliffwang]

Reikan FoCal.

+1
If your camera is supported by FoCal, you can adjust a lens in 5 minutes in auto mode, 15 minutes in semi-auto mode.

 

[ddl]

I've tried various eyeball methods (LensAlign Pro, Spyder LensCal, etc.) and have realized that Reiken Focal (Pro for me) is the way to go.

Focal is by far the fastest, easiest and most consistent.

Just be sure to verify focus accuracy at various subject distances where you typically shoot at other than 50 x Focal Length recommended for MA.

 

[Viggo]

FoCal for me also. Now with Mac beta release out. Not for mountain lion.

 

[RunAndGun]

FoCal

 

[DanielG.]

FoCal for me also. Now with Mac beta release out. Not for mountain lion.

The beta doesn't run on Mountain Lion?

 

[Viggo]

FoCal for me also. Now with Mac beta release out. Not for mountain lion.

The beta doesn't run on Mountain Lion?

Something about a driver from Canon being released in October I think. I swapped to Lion from snow leopard, but it never worked with my hardware so I'm still running SL.

 

[DanielG.]

Something about a driver from Canon being released in October I think. I swapped to Lion from snow leopard, but it never worked with my hardware so I'm still running SL.

Thanks, now I've found the info myself (of course after asking).

At present, the Canon interface files don’t work on Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8), so you need Lion (10.7) to run FoCal. The Canon website indicates that they will support Mountain Lion in early October, and we think that there won’t be any change needed to FoCal in order to run.
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/index.php/2012/09/first-focal-for-mac-beta-release/

Good thing I didn't have the time for updating to ML yet.

 

[canon816]

I've tried all the methods and focal pro is the best. The fact that there seems to be consensus here speaks volumes as to the effectiveness of focal.

 

[kaihp]

I really like FoCal as well, although I'm getting incorrect results on my 70-200 Mk I. Focal concludes that -1 is the optimum AFMA value, but real shooting shows that +6 is the right amount. I suspect that my setup around the focus target is the culprit, not focal itself.

 

[Axilrod]

Do you need some kind of physical object for focal to work or...?

 

[Loswr]

Do you need some kind of physical object for focal to work or...?

FoCal provides targets that you print out yourself, ideally on heavy matte paper with an inkjet printer

 

[aznable]

focal is easy to use...nothing miracolous but you will save a lot of time

here a link to buy with 40% discount
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

 

[funkboy]

Keith at Northlight has a really good tutorial on how to do AF calibration for free on your computer monitor. Reichmann at LL also has a nice tutorial on how to use the LensAlign tool.

Good luck

 

[csli]

focal is easy to use...nothing miracolous but you will save a lot of time

here a link to buy with 40% discount
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

Should I get the Focal Plus or Focal Pro?

Thanks,

 

[bkorcel]

Get the pro version so you have access to all of the other cool tests and reports.

focal is easy to use...nothing miracolous but you will save a lot of time

here a link to buy with 40% discount
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

Should I get the Focal Plus or Focal Pro?

Thanks,

 

[csli]

Get the pro version so you have access to all of the other cool tests and reports.

focal is easy to use...nothing miracolous but you will save a lot of time

here a link to buy with 40% discount
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

OK. Thanks!

Should I get the Focal Plus or Focal Pro?

Thanks,

 

[csli]

Get the pro version so you have access to all of the other cool tests and reports.

focal is easy to use...nothing miracolous but you will save a lot of time

here a link to buy with 40% discount
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

Should I get the Focal Plus or Focal Pro?

Thanks,

OK, thanks!

 

[bklein61]

I am wondering when you do the microadjustment with FoCal do you leave your UV filter on or take it off. I presently using B&W XS Pro on my lenses.