Need Help Micro-Adjusting? Free Self-Standing Focus Adjustment Chart!

So I took off today, reading through POTN "is my lens sharp" and "how do I adjust my lens" posts, saw a couple where folks were discussing the best methods, and decided maybe I can help those that are having a hard time with adjustments. I used this after I made it, and adjusted my 17-55 another +2, so it seemed to work better for me than my prior method.

It is free, just download the word doc off my site. It is a template with 3 folds on each sheet, a cut here and there, and viola! I know it is not as nice as the products that are out there now for adjustments, but this is free and you can make it yourself if you have a printer. It may be temperamental to keep standing, but stand a book or something behind the focus sheet, and it should be just fine. It's free, whaddya expect?!

If you have any minor suggestions, please let me know and I can try to address them. Maybe this can be the defacto focus chart for DIYers instead of either purchasing a product or just using the old focus screen everybody points to and then folks have a hard time using it.

http://www.invisicord.​com/docs/invisicordfoc​uschart.doc
or
http://www.invisicord.​com/docs/invisicordfoc​uschart.pdf

If you would like to donate to help with the hosting of this, please send whatever small contribution you would like to freebies AT invisicord.com, a good part of the proceeds will actually go to our local Harvest Food Bank for Thanksgiving.

Here is a closeup crop from the 17-55 on the 50D, to give you an idea of how it looks when using it for focus check. I could almost use some finer cross marks inside that grid to really help finetuning.

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Very cool! I'll give this a try this evening. Thanks for posting!

Thanks.

Very nice. Thanx.

I added smaller graduation marks in between each of the table grids, not sure if it helps any, but I have uploaded the latest version. Enjoy!

So did any of you give this a shot and did it work decently? Any suggestion for changes?

Thanks - Looking forward to trying this out!

TeamSpeed wrote in post #8625511
So did any of you give this a shot and did it work decently? Any suggestion for changes?

Printed it out today and will try tonight.

gjl711 wrote in post #8625844
Printed it out today and will try tonight.

LOL, love your location, wish I lived there! Thanks, definitely let me know here or through PMs if you have issues or want to suggest changes.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #8625975
LOL, love your location, wish I lived there! Thanks, definitely let me know here or through PMs if you have issues or want to suggest changes.

Will do.

Thanks! To think I was thinking of paying $149 for one I found advertised!

00silvergt wrote in post #8626358
Thanks! To think I was thinking of paying $149 for one I found advertised!

The virtue of LensAlign Pro at that price is that you're 100% certain that your camera sensor is parallel to the test panel, even at 25 meters away. You can't get that from your test papers, and it's critical to fore and back focus. The $149 method is also reproducible,time after time, if you want to check alignment after a camera bump, for example.

You have a $3000 camera/lens out of which you want sharp photos, and you're cutting out a test target from paper to do it?

tvphotog wrote in post #8626450
The virtue of LensAlign Pro at that price is that you're 100% certain that your camera sensor is parallel to the test panel, even at 25 meters away. You can't get that from your test papers, and it's critical to fore and back focus.

You have a $3000 camera/lens out of which you want sharp photos, and you're cutting out a test target from paper to do it?

Um, it's free...if it doesn't work, I'll throw it away and spend the $149.00...I was being grateful to the OP for sharing...my mama thought me that.

tvphotog wrote in post #8626450
The virtue of LensAlign Pro at that price is that you're 100% certain that your camera sensor is parallel to the test panel, even at 25 meters away. You can't get that from your test papers, and it's critical to fore and back focus. The $149 method is also reproducible,time after time, if you want to check alignment after a camera bump, for example.

You have a $3000 camera/lens out of which you want sharp photos, and you're cutting out a test target from paper to do it?

And to think that you have to spend $150 just to micro-adjust your lenses? There is absolutely ZERO reason to spend that to align your lenses, there are so many ways to do that cost nothing. And the cost of the camera means nothing, you are simply adjusting your lenses to whatever body you have, regardless of cost. Adjusting at 25 meters is also very easily done at zero cost and is reproducible, btw.

Hmmm, I wonder how we all got along before the LensAlign, I can barely remember those old days of micro adjustments without the $150 tools?