AF Microadjust... where have you been all my life?

I just upgraded from a 60D to a 5D II, and decided to try out the new MA ability.

I own 5 lenses. 3 of them are Canon L. 2 of them are Sigma primes.

I found that all my my lenses, except for my Canon 100mm f2.8L lens, had significant sharpness improvements once I added certain amounts of MA. Optimized values varied between -8 and +15 (believe it or not, the Sigma wasn't the one that needed +15).

This is an incredibly useful tool, and quite honestly, I think most copies of all lenses will benefit from it, at least slightly. I'm beginning to think it's sheer luck if a lens matches your camera perfectly, and most of the time they will be slightly off due to inherent manufacturing tolerance variance. Hence why MA is so damn important.

Why is this feature not available in all DSLR cameras?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

You gotta pay for it.
Apparently it's really hard to put it in lower-end cameras, but I kind of doubt that...

Carlwashere wrote in post #12884843
You gotta pay for it.
Apparently it's really hard to put it in lower-end cameras, but I kind of doubt that...

bullsh*t, it's just software.

Why don't two different GM vehicles that share an LS2 motor run even remotely close 1/4 mile times? Because features are things that you pay for, and even though the timing and fuel maps are just software tables, you have to pay to get the upgrades.

This feature is useful, however, it has some shortcomings. You just haven't hit them yet. Give it time...

HansSteinert wrote in post #12884603
I just upgraded from a 60D to a 5D II, and decided to try out the new MA ability.

I own 5 lenses. 3 of them are Canon L. 2 of them are Sigma primes.

I found that all my my lenses, except for my Canon 100mm f2.8L lens, had significant sharpness improvements once I added certain amounts of MA. Optimized values varied between -8 and +15 (believe it or not, the Sigma wasn't the one that needed +15).

This is an incredibly useful tool, and quite honestly, I think most copies of all lenses will benefit from it, at least slightly. I'm beginning to think it's sheer luck if a lens matches your camera perfectly, and most of the time they will be slightly off due to inherent manufacturing tolerance variance. Hence why MA is so damn important.

Why is this feature not available in all DSLR cameras?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

if you have that many lenses that need THAT much adjustment i would be taking your 5D back to the store you got it from and asking them if you can try a different body in the store to see if it needs the same adjustments.

there is no way that you should be going from a 60D where all lenses were potentially are ok, to a 5D MKII and they need that much adjustment. its just not going to happen without the 5D body being completely out of wack.

do NOT sit on your fanny and just accept a body that requires all lenses to be MA,, thats just total 100% bullcrap no matter who made it.

and MA has its short comings is an understatement. it rarely works because neither the lens nor the body can misfocus equally every shot, its just not possible because of focal distances.
plus different fstops can throw off the MA also.

even canon themselves strictly say that if using MA, the lens/body should be adjusted before each shoot because MA is not a constant variable.

anyways, MA is a broken attempt to cover up canon's half arsed quality control and an excuse to get away with murder when it comes to focus calibration.

nearly every non L lens i have owed has had to be sent in for calibration and came back dead on. i have had 2x 50D's that also needed it, where MA just never worked.. period.
after United Camera got thru with them they were dead on accurate, both lenses and camera bodies where sending them to canon was a nightmare and took 2-3 trips every time to get it right.

i have a 50 1.4 i sent in for wacko front and back focusing, and now... it 100% back focuses every single picture... thanks canon.. you guys would F up a wet dream.

i would love to see a side by side with MA turned off to see what the difference is.
this again would, or could potential prove the point that the body is faulty, not the lenses.

oh.

That sucks.

It seemed consistent when I was shooting with it earlier after I used MA.

TeamSpeed, what kind of short comings?

HansSteinert wrote in post #12884916
oh.

That sucks.

It seemed consistent when I was shooting with it earlier after I used MA.

TeamSpeed, what kind of short comings?

Since there is one single value for a lens, you may find that some zooms will actually require a different value at the wide end vs the zoom end. Also, some people have found that some lenses, even primes, require a different value simply based on subject distance. So while it certainly has its merits, it is not a cure-all.

HansSteinert wrote in post #12884603
I just upgraded from a 60D to a 5D II, and decided to try out the new MA ability.

I own 5 lenses. 3 of them are Canon L. 2 of them are Sigma primes.

I found that all my my lenses, except for my Canon 100mm f2.8L lens, had significant sharpness improvements once I added certain amounts of MA. Optimized values varied between -8 and +15 (believe it or not, the Sigma wasn't the one that needed +15).

This is an incredibly useful tool, and quite honestly, I think most copies of all lenses will benefit from it, at least slightly. I'm beginning to think it's sheer luck if a lens matches your camera perfectly, and most of the time they will be slightly off due to inherent manufacturing tolerance variance. Hence why MA is so damn important.

Why is this feature not available in all DSLR cameras?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Wow, all but 1 of my lenses was dead on! I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket!

If focus changes at different apertures, aren't we screwed regardless of MA?

HansSteinert wrote in post #12885026
If focus changes at different apertures, aren't we screwed regardless of MA?

In the manuals for both of my MFA cameras (7D and 5DII) canon seems to be trying to discourage people from using this function. Basically saying "use as last resort" (I am away from home and don't have the manuals with me at present so I don't have the exact verbiage). I am sure Canon had a good reason for this. My guess is that there are too many variables involved for the casual user to use MFA effectively.

HansSteinert wrote in post #12885026
If focus changes at different apertures, aren't we screwed regardless of MA?

Remember that each single value of MFA equates to 1/8 of your DOF. This is quite small. Couple that with the sickness to 100% pixel peep, and you get the complaints.

I based my MA off shooting at a box. I decided to bust out the focusing charts a little bit ago.

My Sigma 50mm is front focusing like no other.

And I saw that my Sigma 50mm is front focusing like a b*tch on it:

Sigma 50mm f1.4 AF:

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

So my 50mm requires an MA of 20...

should I send it in, or just live with MA 20? Is there any downside to MA 20?

^ if you're still under warranty, i'd just send it in.

v_lestat wrote in post #12884889
if you have that many lenses that need THAT much adjustment i would be taking your 5D back to the store you got it from and asking them if you can try a different body in the store to see if it needs the same adjustments.

there is no way that you should be going from a 60D where all lenses were potentially are ok, to a 5D MKII and they need that much adjustment. its just not going to happen without the 5D body being completely out of wack.

do NOT sit on your fanny and just accept a body that requires all lenses to be MA,, thats just total 100% bullcrap no matter who made it.

and MA has its short comings is an understatement. it rarely works because neither the lens nor the body can misfocus equally every shot, its just not possible because of focal distances.
plus different fstops can throw off the MA also.

even canon themselves strictly say that if using MA, the lens/body should be adjusted before each shoot because MA is not a constant variable.

anyways, MA is a broken attempt to cover up canon's half arsed quality control and an excuse to get away with murder when it comes to focus calibration.

nearly every non L lens i have owed has had to be sent in for calibration and came back dead on. i have had 2x 50D's that also needed it, where MA just never worked.. period.
after United Camera got thru with them they were dead on accurate, both lenses and camera bodies where sending them to canon was a nightmare and took 2-3 trips every time to get it right.

i have a 50 1.4 i sent in for wacko front and back focusing, and now... it 100% back focuses every single picture... thanks canon.. you guys would F up a wet dream.

i would love to see a side by side with MA turned off to see what the difference is.
this again would, or could potential prove the point that the body is faulty, not the lenses.

^^^ That makes you sound like you ain't much of a Canon fan ....

The OP's MA adjustments goes from -8 to +15 - surely if it was the body out of whack all the lenses would need very similar MA right? Or not?