A couple of 7D and 400mm f5.6 questions (1 Viewer)

Paul - Herts · May 5, 2014

Hi Roy, I did try that method with my camera and the 300mm but got focus confirmation throughout the whole range?!? I can only think I was doing something wrong but after over an hour of trying and making no progress I gave up. Will give it another go at the weekend

Roy C · May 6, 2014

Paul - Herts said:
Hi Roy, I did try that method with my camera and the 300mm but got focus confirmation throughout the whole range?!? I can only think I was doing something wrong but after over an hour of trying and making no progress I gave up. Will give it another go at the weekend

That must have been some lens to be spot-on throughout the range Paul

I have never tried the dot-tune method but may give it a whirl sometime.
A few years ago I spent quite a while MA'ing (via a crude method I will admit) a 400/5.6, 70-200, and 300/2.8 IS at 300mm, 420mm and 600mm and they all came back as needed zero adjustments so I have not bothered since - guess I was lucky!.

Roy C · May 8, 2014

Paul - Herts said:
Hi Roy, I did try that method with my camera and the 300mm but got focus confirmation throughout the whole range?!? I can only think I was doing something wrong but after over an hour of trying and making no progress I gave up. Will give it another go at the weekend

Had a go at this with my 5D3 and 100 macro yesterday Paul and it worked a treat. What I did was to put the lens in manual at step one and then obtained the optimal focus manually in live view at 10x zoom. When cycling through the various MA steps the green dot was quick and solid right up to the point where it would not light at all within 5 secs or so - at a distance of 0.5 mtrs my result was +1 to -15 so gave me a -7 result which I have now set. I rechecked at -16 several times and the green light did not come on, at -15 it came on every time so fairly conclusive (also rechecked the +1 end as well).

I am now going to try my 70-200 at both ends of the zoom.

Paul - Herts · May 8, 2014

Roy C said:
Had a go at this with my 5D3 and 100 macro yesterday Paul and it worked a treat. What I did was to put the lens in manual at step one and then obtained the optimal focus manually in live view at 10x zoom. When cycling through the various MA steps the green dot was quick and solid right up to the point where it would not light at all within 5 secs or so - at a distance of 0.5 mtrs my result was +1 to -15 so gave me a -7 result which I have now set. I rechecked at -16 several times and the green light did not come on, at -15 it came on every time so fairly conclusive (also rechecked the +1 end as well).

I am now going to try my 70-200 at both ends of the zoom.

Interesting Roy. I'm sure it said something about setting the camera up at 50x the focal length, so that would be 20m for the 400mm - don't think our garden is that long! 3

I will try at 10m and see how it goes - if we have a break in the rain!

Roy C · May 8, 2014

Paul - Herts said:
Interesting Roy. I'm sure it said something about setting the camera up at 50x the focal length, so that would be 20m for the 400mm - don't think our garden is that long! 3

I will try at 10m and see how it goes - if we have a break in the rain!

I reckon 10 mtrs will give you a good indication Paul. According to the 50x rule I should have done my 100mm macro at 5 mtrs but as I never use it at anywhere near that it made better sense to me to do it a distance that I use most of the time with the lens - I settled on 0.5 mtr as most of my macro shots are at this or even less!

dabut101 · May 8, 2014

will try that on my sigma 500 f4.5 which is not very sharp

Paul - Herts · May 10, 2014

dabut101 said:
will try that on my sigma 500 f4.5 which is not very sharp

Will be interesting to hear if it helps you too.

aaron1956 · May 10, 2014

Just want to chime in and say this is a very informative thread! A lot of techniques mentioned here I want to try. I also am shooting a 400mm lens but with a 5D Mark ll. I think I will load up and drive to the harbor and practice!

Paul - Herts · May 11, 2014

Well, I managed to get out briefly this morning so went and sat in a hide on a local reserve with not much to look at but I did manage to get a couple of shots of a pair of Tufted Ducks (link below for the shot on Flickr). Now, after my test card shots last weekend I decided on an AFMA of +7 and this is what I used on the Tufties, but I also tried some more distant shots of a Canada goose and when I looked at them I thought they could still be a little better so dialled in +9 and the repeat shots did look better.

I have just been out in the garden between showers and tried the dot-tune method that Roy has linked to above. Five minutes of testing and managed to establish that the AF tolerance runs from -1 to +17 giving me a middle reading of +9! Really simple process and does appear to work very well. Just need an opportunity to get out somewhere now!

Tufted Ducks:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/43324529@N04/13972688287/

Roy C · May 12, 2014

Paul - Herts said:
I have just been out in the garden between showers and tried the dot-tune method that Roy has linked to above. Five minutes of testing and managed to establish that the AF tolerance runs from -1 to +17 giving me a middle reading of +9! Really simple process and does appear to work very well. Just need an opportunity to get out somewhere now!

Tufted Ducks:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/43324529@N04/13972688287/

Its certainly an easy method compared with taking a lot of shots at different MA adjustments and then comparing on the PC - just need to see if you are getting consistent sharp shots now Paul although I suspect there will always be a slight difference if shooting from vastly different distances.

Paul - Herts · May 13, 2014

I think you are right about the differences at various distances, Roy, and that would be more pronounced with a zoom lens. I still look at the Tamron longingly but I think I have made the right choice for me. Will have to have another go with the tc too - the first shot I took with the lens that was any good was using the tc in live view and it was good. Ever since, until this weekend, I have struggled to get anything decent out of it so I have all my fingers and toes crossed that I can get out either this weekend or next to really try it out

MJN · May 14, 2014

The Dot-Tune method really had me intrigued, I read all twenty three pages about it on Fred Miranda and watched the You tube video a couple of times too.
I thought that I'd got it sussed but came down to earth with a bang!

I methodically went through the cycle of mf adjustments, checking each one several times to be sure. From +5 at one end of the scale to -9 at the other.
After I'd got to -9 I decided to go back to +5 and double check it.
I was surprised to see that I was now ruling out all the + increments and settling on -9 to 0.
I'm sure that I was conducting the test correctly and can't work out why results could radically alter in a few minutes when there were no variables involved.
I would be interested to know if either Paul or Roy could carry out the test again and see if the results remained constant.
Mike.

Roy C · May 15, 2014

MJN said:
The Dot-Tune method really had me intrigued, I read all twenty three pages about it on Fred Miranda and watched the You tube video a couple of times too.
I thought that I'd got it sussed but came down to earth with a bang!

I methodically went through the cycle of mf adjustments, checking each one several times to be sure. From +5 at one end of the scale to -9 at the other.
After I'd got to -9 I decided to go back to +5 and double check it.
I was surprised to see that I was now ruling out all the + increments and settling on -9 to 0.
I'm sure that I was conducting the test correctly and can't work out why results could radically alter in a few minutes when there were no variables involved.
I would be interested to know if either Paul or Roy could carry out the test again and see if the results remained constant.
Mike.

I have only done my 100 macro up to know Mike, but will do it again to check my results from before.

MJN · May 15, 2014

Cheers Roy.
I've just done my 600f4 and 1Dmkiv for the 5th time and achieved my 5th different result!
Strangely enough if you take the mid point collectively it works out at about zero, which is where it was before I started lol!
I've tried the same combo + 1.4x and obtained the same result twice but couldn't register a solid dot at all just now!
Mike.

Roy C · May 18, 2014

I have now re done my 100 macro Mike, same target and distance but this time outdoors in bright light(not sure that should make any difference) - the result was -3 whereas first time it was -7. I think will just leave it at 0 as I never did have issues with the lens lol.
If it was the light that made the difference then that makes the whole thing seem a waste of time as you would be forever changing the MA figure.

Paul - Herts · May 18, 2014

I haven't had chance to test the 400 again - bit fed up with it to be honest as I can get sharp shots on a tripod but am failing miserably hand-held. The shots are definitely more sharply focused now but I end up with motion blur in at least one direction if it isn't mounted.

So I had the 300 f4 IS out this afternoon and AFMA'd that before I took it for a walk. I did find pretty much the same result with it as the 400 and have dialled in +10 but I couldn't find anything to photograph when I was out - except the cuckoo that came within 15 yards but maintained a bush between him and me :-C

Ah well, keep trying I guess

Roy C · May 19, 2014

Paul - Herts said:
I haven't had chance to test the 400 again - bit fed up with it to be honest as I can get sharp shots on a tripod but am failing miserably hand-held. The shots are definitely more sharply focused now but I end up with motion blur in at least one direction if it isn't mounted.

It is all a bit strange Paul but it must come down to you holding technique I guess - as long as you are getting decent shutter speeds (say 1/800 sec or quicker) then hand holding this lens and getting sharp shots should be a breeze.

With some zoom lenses you do get copy variations due to the complexities of the optics and maybe IS but with a simple design non IS lens like the 400/5.6 copy variations is almost unheard of and they have been making it since 1993!

Just a thought but you are not using a protective filter are you? this can sometimes give a strange blur like appearance.

Paul - Herts · May 21, 2014

No filters , Roy, I've never been a fan. Technique for sure :-C

Paul - Herts · May 26, 2014

Well, I spent yesterday at Elmley NR with the lens and have to say that I am much happier with the results after adding the AFMA. Many more keepers but still need to work on my technique though I'm not sure what I can do to help. I have had some problems with my left wrist recently and am finding that I am struggling more as the day goes on - will probably have to use a tripod or monopod more often in the future

MJN · May 26, 2014

Roy C said:
I have now re done my 100 macro Mike, same target and distance but this time outdoors in bright light(not sure that should make any difference) - the result was -3 whereas first time it was -7. I think will just leave it at 0 as I never did have issues with the lens lol.
If it was the light that made the difference then that makes the whole thing seem a waste of time as you would be forever changing the MA figure.

Thanks for that Roy. It seems consistent with results that I was getting and it doesn't fill me with too much enthusiasm.
I have bought Reikan Focal but never got round to using it, Guess I need to give it a go sometime.
Mike.

A couple of 7D and 400mm f5.6 questions (1 Viewer)

Paul Herts

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