lens help nikon 85mm 1.4g

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pmac

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peter
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hi
i bought this lens recently and love it but have been finding it hard to use and have been getting strange results.
im not sure if its back/front focusing/something else or im just finding it hard to use.
heres a picture i took yesterday at 1.4,i expected that the only part that would be infocus would be the wood just above the metal spade part to be infocus as thats where i focused and where it shows in NX.
But if you lok at thepicture in large that part is in focus but also the bottom of the picture seems to be infocus,including the little green plant.but inbetween the focus point and plant is out of focus(full size on my flickr account)


gardening by pmac1985, on Flickr


Is this normal or is there a problem here.with my shooting or equipment...i need to put my mind at rest either way.
imean this isnt always like this.this is another shot checking the dof but at an angle not straight on like the first pic.

Beer by pmac1985, on Flickr

thanks
peter
 
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The first one is also at an angle but taken from above, imagine the plane of focus to be parallel to the sensor and it will intersect both the wooden handle and the patch of ground/plant in front. Because the metal part is further away it is out of focus. Had the shot been taken parallel to the spade, both the handle and metal part would have been in focus. In other words just as you'd expect really, nothing to worry about.
 
okay thanks. just wasnt sure as ive found quite a few shots to be infocus not where the focus point was showing but slightly above or below.

as for the AF fine tune im not sure i want to start playing with that,as i dont realy know what im doing so could just make things worse.

whats the best way to test everything. Ive seen all these things regarding charts,with the photo taken at a 45 degree angle.
but half asmany people that say they work say they dont,and there are to many things to factor in,range/angle ect.
i dont want to have £3000 worth of equipment thats not spot on
 
It's easy to do, approximate 5 minutes.

I stuck my camera on a tripod, put a cheese grater on the table and marked one of the holes I wanted to focus on with a pen.
Admittedly it was out to start with, you the just go into fine tune mode and start chasing the error- that's it.
Take the camera off the tripod, go practice on some other objects and you should noticed it to behave exactly how you wanted it too.

Your camera will then hold the lens in it's memory and you won't need to touch it again.

Your only other option is have the lens returned to Nikon for re calibration.

The cheese grater I admit ain't the most technical method, but it worked perfect for me.

You could try it shooting along piano keys, marks along a carpet or basically anything that can help you " chase the error". Try not to use something floating in mid air, as you will struggle to know what direction to adjust.

I did my test 4 ft from the grater.

Hope that helped, don't panic-after all that's why Nikon have AF Fine tune.

Steve
 
Just studied you trowel pic, and that is perfectly normal.

Remember these lens have an incredibly short D of F at near focus, probably only a few mm!

What you are experience in the shot is creamy Bokeh!!!!

Go out and use that to your effect and have fun.
 
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