AF Micro adjustment

[Patrick]

Has anyone any experience of AF micro adjustment on a camera?
Nikon, Canon, Sony & Pentax all have models that include this function, but none seem to promote the feature very much..

I am considering changing my Canon 40D to the Canon 50D which does have the feature. It is claimed to get that extra sharpness out of lenses when used wide open.

Patrick

[Ian]

Re: AF Micro adjustment

Has anyone any experience of AF micro adjustment on a camera?
Nikon, Canon, Sony & Pentax all have models that include this function, but none seem to promote the feature very much..

I am considering changing my Canon 40D to the Canon 50D which does have the feature. It is claimed to get that extra sharpness out of lenses when used wide open.

Patrick

It seems to be a growing feature in DSLRs. Olympus, too, has included this feature in its two most recently released DSLRs (E-30 and E-620).

It's supposed to combat front or back focus issues, which will normally affect faster lenses at full aperture.

Ian

[Patrick]

Re: AF Micro adjustment

It seems to be a growing feature in DSLRs. Olympus, too, has included this feature in its two most recently released DSLRs (E-30 and E-620).

It's supposed to combat front or back focus issues, which will normally affect faster lenses at full aperture.

Ian

Hi Ian

On the face of it the feature looks to be very useful, can't understand why the the makers don't make more of a fuss about it. It strikes me as being more useful than some of the things the shout about.
I was hoping someone had used it and can comment on how much benefit they had or hadn't found.

Patrick

[Ian]

Re: AF Micro adjustment

Hi Ian

On the face of it the feature looks to be very useful, can't understand why the the makers don't make more of a fuss about it. It strikes me as being more useful than some of the things the shout about.
I was hoping someone had used it and can comment on how much benefit they had or hadn't found.

Patrick

It's one of those features that you should really keep well alone unless you really need it. If you set it up incorrectly, it will cause your shots to be out of focus. Only a tiny minority of people will need to use this feature and I suppose the manufacturers are wary of lots of support issues for people who use it incorrectly.

Ian

[Patrick]

Re: AF Micro adjustment

It's one of those features that you should really keep well alone unless you really need it. If you set it up incorrectly, it will cause your shots to be out of focus. Only a tiny minority of people will need to use this feature and I suppose the manufacturers are wary of lots of support issues for people who use it incorrectly.

Ian

Hi Ian

If the manufactures are wary of it why do they feature it at all?
It can be disabled or changed if done incorrectly.

Anyway I have been doing some surfing on the subject and it appears there is more use for the feature than you might think, its offered on the following cameras:-
Canon 1DIII, 1DsMkIII, 5DII, 50D,
Nikon D3, D3x, D300, D700,
Sony A900,
Pentax K20

This is an extract concerning AF Micro adjustment from a review of the 50D.

"Of the lenses I mounted and adjusted, the 18-200 needed the least adjustment, a setting of +1. The 85mm f/1.8 needed a setting of -3, the 60mm Macro f/2.8 required -3 as well, and the 28-135mm a setting of -7. The 50mm f/2.8 needed at least a -2 setting"

Of the reviews that tested the feature (many ignore it), all found a benefit to a larger or smaller degree. The most benefit I should think would be when the lens is used wide open.

Patrick