FoCal

Metal God · 5 Feb 2018

I use the FoCal Pro version. I've used it on my 5D Mk3 & Mk4. Unfortunately the micro adjustments have to be done manually on those particular cameras, but its well worth doing. After adjustment, there was a noticeable improvement on sharpness.

rick448 · 5 Feb 2018

I bought this last week, but haven't had time to try it yet. I'm hoping to do this over the weekend as I think my 50mm 1.2L needs some adjustment.

8bit · 5 Feb 2018

I bought FoCal regular version and used it recently on my Nikon D610 and a few lenses, I am pleased with the results.

First, for my zoom lens (Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8), I can perform the calibration at any focal length, not just at the extreme ends. I think there may have been a warning about calibrating midway through the focal length range but it performed it happily.

As for light, if you have a flash gun then you can mount that on the camera, which will help with the target illumination. I got no warnings etc. that this was not a good idea (FoCal generally tells you if it's unhappy about something) and the flash fired every time. I got no warnings about target illumination when using the flash and I did without.

Brazo · 5 Feb 2018

8bit said:
I bought FoCal regular version and used it recently on my Nikon D610 and a few lenses, I am pleased with the results.

First, for my zoom lens (Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8), I can perform the calibration at any focal length, not just at the extreme ends. I think there may have been a warning about calibrating midway through the focal length range but it performed it happily.

As for light, if you have a flash gun then you can mount that on the camera, which will help with the target illumination. I got no warnings etc. that this was not a good idea (FoCal generally tells you if it's unhappy about something) and the flash fired every time. I got no warnings about target illumination when using the flash and I did without.

I never thought to use the flash. Will give consistent lighting results too.

wezza13 · 6 Feb 2018

Struggling to use Focal Pro with my two D3S'. Just cannot get it to work with the adjustment at all. Can't really be bothered to go through it all again as it is time consuming.

It used to work fine with my D500, D810 and D600 though

gramps · 6 Feb 2018

wezza13 said:
Struggling to use Focal Pro with my two D3S'. Just cannot get it to work with the adjustment at all. Can't really be bothered to go through it all again as it is time consuming.

It used to work fine with my D500, D810 and D600 though

I may have told you that I never got the older version to work with my 2 x D3s bodies so I think there is a problem specifically with that body.

Mick616 · 7 Feb 2018

thanks coleman.

Phil-1 · 26 Feb 2018

If you use the Focal software and it says you need + 20 is that the same measurement if you use the Sigma Dock on the 150-600mm lens?

PhilH04 · 26 Feb 2018

8bit said:
I bought FoCal regular version and used it recently on my Nikon D610 and a few lenses, I am pleased with the results.

First, for my zoom lens (Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8), I can perform the calibration at any focal length, not just at the extreme ends. I think there may have been a warning about calibrating midway through the focal length range but it performed it happily.

As for light, if you have a flash gun then you can mount that on the camera, which will help with the target illumination. I got no warnings etc. that this was not a good idea (FoCal generally tells you if it's unhappy about something) and the flash fired every time. I got no warnings about target illumination when using the flash and I did without.

But you can only store the adjustment for one focal length surely...

The Flash itself will not be illuminating the target for the camera to focus, if the flash has 'focus assist' it will be that aiding the AF, I am not sure how accurate the calibration would be in that situation as the camera will not be focusing on the target but focusing on the IR AF assist pattern.

8bit · 27 Feb 2018

PhilH04 said:
But you can only store the adjustment for one focal length surely...

The Flash itself will not be illuminating the target for the camera to focus, if the flash has 'focus assist' it will be that aiding the AF, I am not sure how accurate the calibration would be in that situation as the camera will not be focusing on the target but focusing on the IR AF assist pattern.

The camera stores one correction per lens, so what I did was took the correction value it calculated at each end and at a mid point (I used 50mm on my 24-70mm) and decided on a compromise close to the mid point value. There was I think 6 points difference between the longest and widest focal lengths in total so a point in the middle is only +/-3 from either end. One point of difference in the adjustment is tiny so for the most part unless you use your zoom lens almost exclusively at one end or the other the best you can do is pick a compromise that suits your typical usage.

As for the flash, mine certainly fires off a couple of times before the shutter is triggered by the software so I guess it is using it to assist AF. I guess they won't all do that though and it is probably more desirable to just have strong enough light in the first place but that's not always possible I guess.

PhilH04 · 27 Feb 2018

8bit said:
One point of difference in the adjustment is tiny so for the most part unless you use your zoom lens almost exclusively at one end or the other the best you can do is pick a compromise that suits your typical usage.

Agreed.

8bit said:
As for the flash, mine certainly fires off a couple of times before the shutter is triggered by the software so I guess it is using it to assist AF. I guess they won't all do that though and it is probably more desirable to just have strong enough light in the first place but that's not always possible I guess.

It will most likely be using the IR AF assist pattern, the first flash will be a pre-flash for the TTL metering, a single flash is not going to be much assistance to the AF, you will be far better getting good illumination on your target...

chuckles · 27 Feb 2018

8bit said:
There was I think 6 points difference between the longest and widest focal lengths in total so a point in the middle is only +/-3 from either end. One point of difference in the adjustment is tiny so for the most part unless you use your zoom lens almost exclusively at one end or the other the best you can do is pick a compromise that suits your typical usage

That's all well and good but I've rarely found the whole thing to be linear and definitely not the same shape curve at the focal lengths I've measured on the same lens.

That compromise means, quite possibly, nothing is ever as sharp/accurate as it could be whatever F/L you use. Compromise can be such a dirty word

welshwizard645 · 27 Feb 2018

chuckles said:
At night I can see the moon (250,000 miles) and during the day I can even manage 93 million miles!

Yet some people still need foglights...

:banghead:

8bit · 28 Feb 2018

chuckles said:
That's all well and good but I've rarely found the whole thing to be linear and definitely not the same shape curve at the focal lengths I've measured on the same lens.

That compromise means, quite possibly, nothing is ever as sharp/accurate as it could be whatever F/L you use. Compromise can be such a dirty word

Well you can do one of two different things I suppose - perform the calibration at each focal length available on your lens and then pick something that you think will work for you, or use Lightroom's library filters to work out what focal length you use most often on a given zoom lens and calibrate for that.

You're absolutely right in that it's not linear but I stand by my point in that for a lens with a medium sort of range between wide and long focal lengths, if the overall difference in calibration values is 6 points then a point halfway or so between the two is going to be almost imperceptibly close to ideal unless you only use one or other end of the range. If the mid point was way out of the range between the two ends it would be a different story but that would likely point to an issue with the calibration software, process or environment probably.

8bit · 28 Feb 2018

PhilH04 said:
It will most likely be using the IR AF assist pattern, the first flash will be a pre-flash for the TTL metering, a single flash is not going to be much assistance to the AF, you will be far better getting good illumination on your target...

Fair enough, I see your point - I don't know a great deal about how flash stuff works yet. Certainly though, FoCal stopped complaining about target illumination when I stuck the flash on the camera. I'll see if I can rig up some additional light on the target next time I do this.

realspeed · 28 Feb 2018

Earlier this last week or so i was going to purchase this bit of kit. However I first tried with the SpyderlensCal which seems to have sharpened the 24-70 and 70-200 mm lenses quite well so wont bother with that electronic version. Anyway with that I can't find what distance to set the target at from the camera.

PhilH04 · 28 Feb 2018

realspeed said:
Anyway with that I can't find what distance to set the target at from the camera.

Normally 50x the focal length of the lens, as the focal length gets longer this does become impractical so reducing down to around 20x should be OK, however there is a school of thought that says to calibrate at your most used distance, i.e if shooting portraits at 8ft then calibrate at that distance.

realspeed · 28 Feb 2018

PhilH04 said:
Normally 50x the focal length of the lens, as the focal length gets longer this does become impractical so reducing down to around 20x should be OK, however there is a school of thought that says to calibrate at your most used distance, i.e if shooting portraits at 8ft then calibrate at that distance.

landscapes will be a problem setting up 1/2 mile away with an 80-400mm lens.

PhilH04 · 28 Feb 2018

realspeed said:
landscapes will be a problem setting up 1/2 mile away with an 80-400mm lens.

OK.... perhaps in that case between 20x to 50x the focal length...

realspeed · 7 Mar 2018

In the end I used a Spyderlenscal to fine tune camera to lens combo. This worked for me tethering the camera to our TV to get a larger picture made adjusting fine tune so much easier.

Bigfungun · 7 Mar 2018

This all sounds so complex. Why not just stick a Newspaper article to a wall and shoot shoot it then adjust the lens if you feel its not sharp enough.
An hour out of your life should be enough to calibrate 4 or 5 lenses.
I generally start at minus 20 and work in increments of 5 up to plus 20. I then have a look at them all and see what looks the sharpest and do increments of 1 until i get it super sharp.
Really only takes and hour or so for 4 or 5 lenses.

realspeed · 7 Mar 2018

Bigfungun said:
This all sounds so complex. Why not just stick a Newspaper article to a wall and shoot shoot it then adjust the lens if you feel its not sharp enough.
An hour out of your life should be enough to calibrate 4 or 5 lenses.
I generally start at minus 20 and work in increments of 5 up to plus 20. I then have a look at them all and see what looks the sharpest and do increments of 1 until i get it super sharp.
Really only takes and hour or so for 4 or 5 lenses.

Doing that wont show back/front focus which is why having a proper target is preferable
using one of these when set up properly ( which this is not by the way) gives an accurate scale to work to.

Just a photo to show the item I use

Bigfungun · 7 Mar 2018

realspeed said:
Doing that wont show back/front focus which is why having a proper target is preferable
using one of these when set up properly ( which this is not by the way) gives an accurate scale to work to.

Just a photo to show the item I use

I have one of those and use it but I was just giving a cheap simple method for others to try

Phil-1 · 9 Mar 2018

Bigfungun said:
I have one of those and use it but I was just giving a cheap simple method for others to try

Mine arrived this evening. Planning on trying it tomorrow

sep9001 · 9 Mar 2018

Phil-1 said:
Mine arrived this evening. Planning on trying it tomorrow

Hi

Did you get a spydercal, thinking of getting one but also focal looks good... Confused [emoji848]

Phil-1 · 9 Mar 2018

sep9001 said:
Hi

Did you get a spydercal, thinking of getting one but also focal looks good... Confused [emoji848]

I've been looking at both for ages and decided to get the Lenscal first as I need to adjust my Sigma 150-600mm. This needs to be done at different lengths. Focal only does the long and short ends

sep9001 · 9 Mar 2018

Phil-1 said:
I've been looking at both for ages and decided to get the Lenscal first as I need to adjust my Sigma 150-600mm. This needs to be done at different lengths. Focal only does the long and short ends

Thank you, I don't have any that long but think focal might give better results as the spyder would be based on what I think is sharp.

Snapper67 · 9 Mar 2018

Phil-1 said:
I've been looking at both for ages and decided to get the Lenscal first as I need to adjust my Sigma 150-600mm. This needs to be done at different lengths. Focal only does the long and short ends

Focal will give you the settings for whichever zoom you wish to calibrate. Only higher end bodies allow you to store multiple AF fine tune adjustments for different focal lengths.

My Nikon 18-200mm calibrated at -3 at 18mm and -7 at 200mm so I've set the fine tune to -5 as recommended.

Focal is an excellent piece of software, highly recommended.

Cheers,

Dougie.

realspeed · 9 Mar 2018

I have had Spyderlenscal for some time ie years.. As I don't have a laptop to tether it to I have to use the TV . This means there is no point in me getting the electronic computer version as I have a desktop ,so setting up the target at a distance is an no no on longer mm lenses. Having just fine tuned lenses to my nikon D810 it appears to me to have corrected any back/front focus issues.

Icee · 10 Mar 2018

Phil-1 said:
Thanks. I normally use this lens at its longest length. Would you suggest the Pro version?

I did mine at 600mm and its sharp through the whole range

sep9001 · 5 May 2018

Hi

Sorry do you have to buy the hard target or can I use one that has been printed on a normal paper via a laser printer?

Thank you

Kodiak Qc · 5 May 2018

sep9001 said:
do you have to buy the hard target

No… and no printing either!
Just use a ruler at 45~60° angle.

sep9001 · 5 May 2018

Kodiak Qc said:
No… and no printing either!
Just use a ruler at 45~60° angle.

Thank you, @Kodiak, have tried using the ruler and dot tune methods but still not happy with one of my lens, so thinking of giving focal a try.

Kodiak Qc · 5 May 2018

sep9001 said:
so thinking of giving focal a try.

You won't be happy with focal either…
the gear won't do it but your approach.

sep9001 · 5 May 2018

Kodiak Qc said:
You won't be happy with focal either…
the gear won't do it but your approach.

Do you mean approach to af fine tune or me using the camera? Thank you

Brazo · 5 May 2018

I printed my targets off using a laser printer and semi decent paper.

Dot tune and the other methods require a degree of guess work, Focal does it all for you. The other methods (and I’ve tried them all) require user input, Focal tells you what the number is. It couldn't be more simple.

Kodiak Qc · 5 May 2018

sep9001 said:
Do you mean

I mean…

set a ruler anywhere between 45~60! on a table
set camera on tripod and levelled
use the centre AF point and aim at a number on the ruler
tether to computer
get to the minimal focusing distance, AF and shoot
the target should show in focus and an equal number of lines before and after
if no, either it is front of back focus
compensate as necessary

sep9001 · 6 May 2018

Kodiak Qc said:
I mean…

set a ruler anywhere between 45~60! on a table

set camera on tripod and levelled

use the centre AF point and aim at a number on the ruler

tether to computer

get to the minimal focusing distance, AF and shoot

the target should show in focus and an equal number of lines before and after

if no, either it is front of back focus

compensate as necessary

Thank you will give it another go.

sep9001 · 6 May 2018

Brazo said:
I printed my targets off using a laser printer and semi decent paper.

Dot tune and the other methods require a degree of guess work, Focal does it all for you. The other methods (and I’ve tried them all) require user input, Focal tells you what the number is. It couldn't be more simple.

Thank you, agree this is the problem, guess work. Going to give the ruler ones one more go before going for focal.

Kodiak Qc · 6 May 2018

sep9001 said:
Going to give the ruler ones one more go before going for focal.

What ever goes wrong with the ruler WILL also go wrong
with focal… it is a ruler!!!