Microadjust Software for 5D2

Also, how far away do I have to be to calibrate a 300mm lens on a crop body? Is there a reference guide anywhere?

@tdodd

Tim, I'm interested to see that you've tested using the Kenko 1.4x TC.
I recalibrated some lenses today because the light actually seemed consistent for a change, the software worked fine with my 300 F4 but when I attached the TC I got an error message that calibration was not possible citing poor body, lens or other conditions.

Perversely it worked fine calibrating my 500mm with same teleconverter.

Frank covered it in his reply. FoCal comes with documentation in the download about setup for lighting, distance etc.. Maybe it is on the website too. I don't know. I haven't looked.

EDIT : I've looked. Here you go - https://dl.dropbox.com …20Test%20Distan​ce_1.0.pdf

@Laurence. I don't know why there would be a problem. I used the TC with a 135/2, 70-200/2.8L IS I and a Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS. With my 100L Macro it goes mental and won't focus at all, with or without FoCal.

One possible suggestion - make sure you fit the TC to the lens first and then fit the pair to the body.

tdodd wrote in post #14892866
@Laurence. I don't know why there would be a problem. I used the TC with a 135/2, 70-200/2.8L IS I and a Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS. With my 100L Macro it goes mental and won't focus at all, with or without FoCal.

One possible suggestion - make sure you fit the TC to the lens first and then fit the pair to the body.

Thanks Tim, I'm pretty sure I did it the other way round so I'll try again.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14892495
I've got a 50D coming in the mail and I was dead-set on purchasing this software a few days ago.

Now, I'm not so sure. There seem to be *far* too many variables at play here to ensure any kind of accuracy, and that's pretty depressing. (Examples being: 1. Distance from the target. 2. Ensuring that the target is parallel to the image sensor 3. Finding the right kind of light. 4. Obtaining the appropriate *amount* of light. 5. Choosing ideal aperture settings. 6. Choosing ideal exposure compensation settings. 7. Choosing the right printer and paper to use for a testing target...and more.)

The last nail in the coffin might be this: I own a *desktop* and I absolutely can not take this outside.

Is this all just a big giant waste of time for me?

None of this is actually accurate as other have pointed out already. 5 and 6 are not even for you to decide, really. All tests are ideally run with aperture wide open and no exposure compensation.

All my portable devices are Android, so I was in the same boat. I just went out and got a 60 feet USB cable. No problem at all.

The time "wasted" can only be answered by one person and that would be you.

Cheers.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14892782
Also, how far away do I have to be to calibrate a 300mm lens on a crop body? Is there a reference guide anywhere?

20 to 50 times the FL = 6m - 15m or 20ft - 50ft

You can also just print the target at any size you want, put it at any distance you want and just enter the length of the printed top bar into the software.
Done.

It is that easy.

Cheers.

RAW-Shooter wrote in post #14894471
20 to 50 times the FL = 6m - 15m or 20ft - 50ft

You can also just print the target at any size you want, put it at any distance you want and just enter the length of the printed top bar into the software.
Done.

It is that easy.

Cheers.

I see you shoot a 50D as well.

Has this software made a *real* impact on your lenses?

If nothing more, it reaffirms what I already knew about my lenses just from usage.

But it's also allowed me to adjust both ends of my zoom lenses on my 5D3, which has done wonders for some of my glass.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14894518
I see you shoot a 50D as well.

Has this software made a *real* impact on your lenses?

i have a 50d and a 5d3 i have not tried it with the 5d3 yet but it has worked great for my 50d
if your thinking about buying it find the review link i posted a few pages back and it will save you a bit of money... might make your decision easier

edit: looks like they removed the discount page

TheRightLight wrote in post #14894518
I see you shoot a 50D as well.

Has this software made a *real* impact on your lenses?

It will only make an impact if you have a calibration problem to begin with. If you know you have problems with front or back focus this might help you fix it. If you're happy with your focus already then it would seem a waste of time to purchase unless you are attracted by some of the additional features, like sharpest aperture analysis or dust bunny analysis.

As far as calibration goes you can employ more labour intensive methods if you like, but FoCal can speed things along and give a much higher confidence in the outcome as you can see any performance inconsistencies in the graph that is plotted (at least in the Pro version). With more manual methods I think it is hard to account for spurious focus results which might lead you astray or cause frustration. The AFMA calibration graph plotted by FoCal gives a very visual clue to how reliable/repeatable your focus results are. If the graph is all over the place then you know you'll have a hard time getting that body/lens to perform well in the real world when used wide open. If you get a smooth bell curve then you get a warm fuzzy feeling about the precision of your gear.

Even if the calibration is off, so long as the AF performance in reliable/repeatable then it should be easy to correct. It's really no different to adjusting the sights on a rifle. Tight grouping which is just off centre can easily be fixed by a small adjustment. Wild shots which hit all over the target really can't be saved by adjusting the sights. There is a more fundamental problem to be resolved.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14894518
I see you shoot a 50D as well.

Has this software made a *real* impact on your lenses?

No offense, but micro adjust does not effect lenses at all. It just corrects AF in the camera. sure enough, it makes only sense if you actually set MA in the "per lens" mode as opposed to a general (for all lenses) setting.

Yes, I feel that I got the last bit of performance out of the 50D now that I have my MA set for the lenses I own.

Cheers.

I'm having serious problems with FoCal Plus v.1.6.0.141

After a while I get following error message : "License error - Please ensure your system clock is correct - (Code1) "
Then I have to wait several hours before it works again.

Yesterday I got another error message (about AE stuff or something like that) and Focal began acting up.
Each time I mounted a lens on my 7D, the MA setting in the camera menu was -92 (!) and I got an awfully blurred image in the viewfinder. Unmounted and re-mounted the lens, image was still blurry. Tried another lens, image was still blurry.
Also, the MA settings I had entered previously were gone back to 0. I had to disconnect the camera from the computer, then turn it off and on to get things working properly.

I have never encountered such problems with previous versions and I don't understand how it can set the MA to -92 in the camera, which results in a heavy blur, both in the viewfinder and on the pictures I take.

I tried to repair and reinstall FoCal, but no change : after I have calibrated 2 or 3 lenses the software just stops working and messes everything up.

Are you by any chance running the new Firmware on your 7D Francois ?

Bob

Hi Bob, apparently we like to hang out on the same forums ! Thanks again for my Camera Axe

Yes, I've updated my firmware but I'm not sure that's where the problem comes from, since FoCal keeps displaying all sorts of weird error messages.

Fortunately, it looks like my 7D works properly now, and that's a good thing because I'm flying to Madagascar in a few days and it would have been disastrous if the 7D had been out of order.

But I would like to MA all my lenses on my 5D3 too, and FoCal is acting weirdly since I updated to 1.6.0 so I don't know if it's a good idea to use it with the 5D3.