Matching camera to lens ??

tonybassplayer

tonybassplayer

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Tony
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Please excuse my total ignorance in this matter but is there a process to ensure that a camera and lens are working to their optimum ability ?

I suppose what I am asking is when I am using a particular lens should I have done some basic electronic or manual checks to make sure that focus etc is as sharp as can be expected.

Many thanks

Tony
 
No not really. Some lenses might have a forward or back focusing issue that can be micro adjusted in some cameras. It more likely user error if you're have problems. What's the issue?
 
No major issues just wanting to make sure I get the best from the gear. Forward or back focussing, is that when the auto focus is a little bit out ?
 
tonybassplayer said:
No major issues just wanting to make sure I get the best from the gear. Forward or back focussing, is that when the auto focus is a little bit out ?
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Yes it is.

Some people get really anal about it and photograph test charts at different distances to try and calibrate for each and every lens (if the camera has than feature) but I, and a lot of people, take the opinion that unless it is obviously showing up in real world use, using the adjustment feature causes more trouble than it's worth.
 
I'm one of those people that get really anal about it ,but it really does depend on your camera and lens combo as to what can or can't be done
 
This is my current equipment

Canon 60D

Canon 17-55 EFS 2.8 IS USM

Canon 10-18 EFS 4.5-5.6 IS USM

Canon 50 1.8 STM

Sigma 150-600 C ( recent purchase and have the dock but not used yet )
 
Ah well, your camera doesn't have AF micro-adjust so this is a bit of a non-question besides the sigma, but even then unless you are specifically seeing problems in your photos then I would forget about it or you run the risk of spending your life worrying about something that isn't a problem.
 
Thanks guys.

One less thing to think about lol

PS the Sigma seems very sharp so think I will leave alone too.
 
Worth doing the firmware updates with the sigma dock ,and customising your C1 and C2 but it's your choice it will improve it
 
Nawty said:
Ah well, your camera doesn't have AF micro-adjust so this is a bit of a non-question besides the sigma, but even then unless you are specifically seeing problems in your photos then I would forget about it or you run the risk of spending your life worrying about something that isn't a problem.
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That was my attitude. Until I got a 500mm lens whose AF was a touch off. I could get sharper shots by using manual focus, but manual focus was very tricky indeed to get right. It took a long time, and I failed more often than I succeeded. The camera didn't have micro focus adjust, but it was possible for the courageous and patient to adjust the AF sensor plane, i.e. change the AF equally for all lenses. The 500mm required such a tiny adjustment, which made such a bit difference, that I hoped that all my shorter lenses had enough DoF that it would make an insignificant difference to them. To my surprise some of my other lenses, which I'd never suspected of AF problems, sharpened up too. None got worse. It turned out that my camera's AF had been calibrated with a slight generic back focus. I discovered that this was a generic factory calibration problem with this camera. People who were fussy about AF and sent their cameras in for AF recalibration often got them back with a slight back focus.

My next camera had such nice manual focusing aids that I took to checking the accuracy of the AF whenever I had the time. I was surprised to find how often it wasn't quite right, and could be significantly improved by just a touch of manual adjustment. So I took to checking and correcting AF whenever I had the time and could be bothered. The problem was that the errors weren't consistent. A lens with perfect AF in good light would miss focus in poor light. A lens with slight back focus at near distances could have slight front focus at far distances.

So I've ended up treating AF like autoexposure. It mostly gets it right, but quite often needs needs a bit of adjustment.
 
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