Does FoCal work

Pippan wrote in post #18547867
I don't know who's righter, but FoCal recommends 7.5 m (25 ft) for a 300 mm lens and 12 m (40 ft) for a 600 mm lens. You'd need the Pro version to do more than 400 mm.

In any case, unless I'm missing something, if the target is at 50 x FL, its image should be the same size regardless of focal length (I think).

At 50* FL, a 100mm lens is focused at 196" (16.4'), 300mm lens is focused at 590" (49.2'), a 500mm lens is focused at 984" (82.0').
If 100mm f/2, or 300mm f/4, or 500 f/8, in all cases DOF at the respective distances is 19.3" and all frame a 46" x 69" FOV.

Wilt wrote in post #18547980
At 50* FL, a 100mm lens is focused at 196" (16.4'), 300mm lens is focused at 590" (49.2'), a 500mm lens is focused at 984" (82.0').
If 100mm f/2, or 300mm f/4, or 500 f/8, in all cases DOF at the respective distances is 19.3' and all frame a 46" x 69" FOV.

Just to verify, a 300mm lens focused on a target 49.2 feet away, at f/4 will have a dof of 19.3 feet. Correct?

I plugged the numbers in the online dof calculator and I get dof = 1.93 feet. That's using a FF camera.

Is there something I'm not understanding? Thanks.

digital paradise wrote in post #18547958
This is also the first time Canon has hinted about lighting conditions. Page 5

http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …roAdjustGuide_d​esktop.pdf

I had seen this doc before but forgotten about it. Thanks for sharing.

Here's another article from a few years ago, for those who are new to the MFA subject...

http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …icle.shtml?cate​goryId=121

DP, no need to alter my post. You can add additional info after a quote.

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18547998
Just to verify, a 300mm lens focused on a target 49.2 feet away, at f/4 will have a dof of 19.3 feet. Correct?

I plugged the numbers in the online dof calculator and I get dof = 1.93 feet. That's using a FF camera.

Is there something I'm not understanding? Thanks.

your misunderstanding caused by a typo ...in post 46 I meant to type 19.3" (inches), I believe you quoted me just before I saw and corrected the typo caused by not pressing the Shift key to get " rather than '

Wilt wrote in post #18547980
At 50* FL, a 100mm lens is focused at 196" (16.4'), 300mm lens is focused at 590" (49.2'), a 500mm lens is focused at 984" (82.0').
If 100mm f/2, or 300mm f/4, or 500 f/8, in all cases DOF at the respective distances is 19.3" and all frame a 46" x 69" FOV.

I used an online calculator and I get 1.93 for a FF and 1.22 for a crop.

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18548032
DP, no need to alter my post. You can add additional info after a quote.

Sorry. I was actually wanted to quote Wilt and messed up. Deleted.

digital paradise wrote in post #18548043
I used an online calculator and I get 1.93 for a FF and 1.22 for a crop.

Yup, same here.

digital paradise wrote in post #18548046
Sorry. I was actually wanted to quote Wilt and messed up. Deleted.

No problem.
Yup, I get the same dof numbers.

I think I'll put FoCal on the back burner for now.
The last 3 reviews at BHP report issues with the software. And the pro version costs $138. I'll give Dot Tune a try first.

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18548568
No problem.
Yup, I get the same dof numbers.

I think I'll put FoCal on the back burner for now.
The last 3 reviews at BHP report issues with the software. And the pro version costs $138. I'll give Dot Tune a try first.

Why buy ANYTHING?! Do any of these products work better than simply shooting and judging the location of the plane of best focus?

A simple setup as illustrated in this old post works, and without spending $50 or $100 or $150.

a series of videos boxes of Jacques Pepin, each pulled out offset from each other... the tape measure at an angle (to the railing) lying touching the staggered VCR boxes, and the plane of best focus clearly identifiable.

If you take a series of 20 photos with +0 to +20 as the MFA value, BY ZOOMING IN (as seen in the second photo with the ruler) you will immediately know the correction value to use where the plane of best focus coincides the the plane of desired focus.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?p=8611568

Wilt wrote in post #18548624
Why buy ANYTHING?! Do any of these products work better than simply shooting and judging the location of the plane of best focus?

A simple setup as illustrated in this old post works, and without spending $50 or $100 or $150.

a series of videos boxes of Jacques Pepin, each pulled out offset from each other... the tape measure at an angle (to the railing) lying touching the staggered VCR boxes, and the plane of best focus clearly identifiable.

If you take a series of 20 photos with +0 to +20 as the MFA value, BY ZOOMING IN (as seen in the second photo with the ruler) you will immediately know the correction value to use where the plane of best focus coincides the the plane of desired focus.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?p=8611568

No except it took me two days and my eyes went wonky staring at a screen. I always second guess my results. After two days (with breaks in between) I finally settled on +13 for my 72D, 100-400 II and 1.4 III and FoCal gave the same results in 2 minutes. I taped a bill to a wall and used Canon's DPP at 100% to judge various MFA values.

Too bad for Canon users that Canon removed AF Quick Mode from Utilities. I used this method before they did.
Same author that I posted a link to - Is MFA always necessary on the 100-400 II thread.

http://arihazeghiphoto​graphy.com/MA-web/

Yep, agree.

Been following this thread since the beginning, but did not comment in it.

Why anybody would pay anything to do what can so easily be done for free in so many different ways is beyond me.

https://www.youtube.co​m …just+micro+focu​s+for+free

digital paradise wrote in post #18548630
No except it took me two days and my eyes went wonky staring at a screen. I always second guess my results. After two days (with breaks in between) I finally settled on +13 for my 72D, 100-400 II and 1.4 III and FoCal gave the same results in 2 minutes. I taped a bill to a wall and used Canon's DPP at 100% to judge various MFA values.

Yes, the idea of paying for this product is that it gets the job done quickly and is accurate.

Each to his own. I spend thousands on precision equipment. I don't mind using precision software to tune avoiding guesswork and it is beyond me why someone wouldn't

I never used MFA a lot before getting my TC but since I had it I put two cameras and 7 lenses through in few hrs. I just sipped coffee and pressed buttons.

Wilt wrote in post #18548624
Why buy ANYTHING?! Do any of these products work better than simply shooting and judging the location of the plane of best focus?

A simple setup as illustrated in this old post works, and without spending $50 or $100 or $150.
a series of videos boxes of Jacques Pepin, each pulled out offset from each other... the tape measure at an angle (to the railing) lying touching the staggered VCR boxes, and the plane of best focus clearly identifiable.

Do I have to use Jacques Pepin videos? Will Martha Stewart work?

All kidding aside, thanks for your MFA ideas.