Is lens align pro better than data color spyderlen calibration tool ?

Is lens align pro better than data color spyderlen calibration tool ?

just use a line of batteries (at a 45 degree angle) or a yardstick lying on its side (again, at a 45 degree angle).

put a high contrast target at the "zero point" and focus on that item.

~mike

I had been wondering the same thing myself as I have about three people I know willing to go in parts to buy one of these units so we can all use it to micro adjust our lenses. Anyone have any real world experience with one or preferably both that can comment?

My lenses are sharp having bought and used a Lens Align MKII. It improved sharpness obtained using all manner of home grown DIY methods. Given that I won't be buying another lens anytime soon, I sold the Lens Align and got most of my money back. I have no qualms re-buying a Lens Align along with some future lens purchase, optimizing the lens, and then selling the Lens Align again.

One of them is an over-priced bit of plastic that can be replaced by a printed chart. And so is the other one.

I like the battery method. If a lens shows a problem in real world photos, then I'll do more tests using charts etc...

hollis_f wrote in post #12451350
One of them is an over-priced bit of plastic that can be replaced by a printed chart. And so is the other one.

You tried a Lens Align, right?

A much less expensive and equally effective methodology (flat surfaces for focusing, an inclined plane for evaluation of focus accuracy)

Everyone can keep saying that they can reproduce the results with a printed piece of paper. I don't buy it. I purchased the Lens Align and after using it, I can say it's easier to get repeatable results than a test chart or batteries or whatever.

Sure, you can use something else, but with the lens align, you have two things helping you out. First, you are focusing on a flat target instead of a angled target. This target is also very large so you can be sure your AF sensor is not hitting something else. Second, you can make the camera perfectly parallel to the target through the sighting mechanism. It's very quick to set up and get repeatable results, something I could never get with a test chart or multiple targets, like batteries, set at an angle.

What alignment mechanism does Lens Align use for ensuring your focal plane is perfectly parallel to the target...I'm curious, not challenging.

Wilt wrote in post #12451976
...and how well it works

The flat surfaces simply need to be wide enough within the frame for the AF zone to detect them unambigously within the frame

This example is confusing to me. The sharpest part of the test photo of the man is not aligned with the sharpest part of the ruler.

Wilt wrote in post #12452398
What alignment mechanism does Lens Align use for ensuring your focal plane is perfectly parallel to the target...I'm curious, not challenging.

There is a small hole in the middle of the test target. You sight though that hole with your camera to see another small dot behind it. When the dot and the hole are lined up, you know you are parallel to the AF target. You then close the hole off and take your shot. The Lens Align website might explain it better.

MGW172 wrote in post #12452401
This example is confusing to me. The sharpest part of the test photo of the man is not aligned with the sharpest part of the ruler.

The illustration was to show that focus on the front of the box (parallel to focal plane), where the '9' is aliged, can be assessed by looking at the focus on the inclined plane. It wasn not intended to show or not show correct focus.

In any event since the next box back was 1/2" back (about where the 7.75" mark on the ruler is), and proper focus was not way that far back...so one could conclude from this example that perhaps there was 1/5 of 1/2" (or 1/10") error, which I decided was not worth bothering about!

MGW172 wrote in post #12452411
There is a small hole in the middle of the test target. You sight though that hole with your camera to see another small dot behind it. When the dot and the hole are lined up, you know you are parallel to the AF target. You then close the hole off and take your shot. The Lens Align website might explain it better.

thanks for the explanation.

Wilt wrote in post #12453132
The illustration was to show that focus on the front of the box (parallel to focal plane), where the '9' is aliged, can be assessed by looking at the focus on the inclined plane. It wasn not intended to show or not show correct focus.

In any event since the next box back was 1/2" back (about where the 7.75" mark on the ruler is), and proper focus was not way that far back...so one could conclude from this example that perhaps there was 1/5 of 1/2" (or 1/10") error, which I decided was not worth bothering about!

Ah okay, gotcha. It appeared that it was a photograph but it was actually individual boxes at different increments.