Geoff Pain
Rural Member
Is there anywhere I can take my camera,lens and tc's to to get the microadjustment done?not too sure about doing it myself.I live in North Yorkshire.
Cheers Geoff
Cheers Geoff
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Microadjustment. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Geoff Pain
- Start date
If you get someone else to do this for you then you are going to be paying for their time and quite a bit of it!
I would suggest going to your garden and trying the "Dot Tune" method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zE50jCUPhM
If you get it wrong you can just change the setting for that lens/lens + extender back to zero and try again.
I would suggest going to your garden and trying the "Dot Tune" method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zE50jCUPhM
If you get it wrong you can just change the setting for that lens/lens + extender back to zero and try again.
Malcolm Stewart
Well-known member
I've had a quick look at your linked website, and can't see much to worry about - I'm envious!
You could send your camera and lenses to Canon UK at Elstree. As far as I know they will bring your camera and lenses within Canon's acceptance standards - this may not get them to the optimal point, but should at least be "good enough".
What do I do? (Very necessary in my case as most of my gear is bought "used" and perhaps previously owned by people who became dissatisfied with sharpness.)
In my garden, I take a series of images, with varying AF-MA settings, of a high contrast target on my gravelled driveway, or of a mark on the wall of my house - with the house walls being at a slant angle. I examine the images on my PC, and hopefully home in on better settings for the AF MA for the camera/lens combination. I make the adjustments to the AF MA settings, and go out to the garden and repeat. If I'm satisfied, I'll then visit one of the many local lakes, and repeat the process with finer adjustments to the AF MA settings, but now shooting at ranges close to where I would be when shooting birds. Repeat for different lens / extender combinations... And that's just for the centre AF point! (Just joking - I don't bother with off centre AF points.)
I've not tried dot-tune, but do have a copy of Reiken FoCal which needed more space than I could find in my cluttered home.
(Just a thought - I've had serious decentring on three externally pristine Canon's 70-?? zooms, giving quite poor sharpness on one side. 3 trips to Canon, and the lenses were fixed to a high standard, but obviously at my expense.)
Hope this helps
Geoff Pain
Rural Member
It's the 300 with the 2x on that I'm not happy with but been down to the river and had a play and I'm slowly getting there.Thanks for the replies.
Malcolm Stewart
Well-known member
Hi Geoff,
Which 300, and which 2x ?
I've definitely found it easier optimising long lenses with a 1.4x fitted. After owning a Canon 2x extender for many years, last year I "invested" in a 2x MkIII extender, and had two sessions at my local lake (EF 500 F/4L IS) before I was sort of satisfied with my results - on a 7D Mk II body. Just to confuse matters, 10 days ago I was not happy with results using my 500 with a 1.4x behind it, and yet my test results from last autumn are fine.
john miller
Well-known member
That is very much what I do, as said on another thread, but I use a post with barbed wire. focus on the post and count the barbs in focus before and beyond the post and adjust accordingly.
Geoff Pain
Rural Member
Canon EF 300mm 1:2.8L IS II LENS and Canon 2x III extender.
Malcolm Stewart
Well-known member
Hmmm. La crème de la crème!
With the earlier EF 300 F/2.8L IS (original) lens I found that getting really good results with a 2x fitted seemed more of a lottery than with the 1.4x, and 5 years ago I went for a 500 F/4L IS, using it on a 1D III, 1D IV and now on a 7D II. Theoretically it should be possible to use a 2x behind it, and I have done, but my impressions are that the combination is more easily upset. One of the problems is that the now very high focal length allows viewing over greater distances, and air stability in the line of viewing may be less than optimum, and sadly, difficult to predict.
john miller
Well-known member
I have found there is a huge difference between the Mk1 and Mk2 500mm canons when used with a 2X. With the Mk1, I sold my 2X it was useless, however with the Mk2 500mm and a Mk3 2X results are completely different.
Using a 5D3 or a 1d4, I get good results, have tried it on the new 7d but run out of micro adjustment before I could get a good image.
The high focal length using a 2X is not much more than a 800mm and less than a 800mm with a 1.4X, I have seen excellent results with these combinations on distant birds.
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