AF-Fine Tune: You Don't Need It

Msmoto

Agree, but there are some folks who are always shooting at distances where four inches makes no difference. Having said that, if I found a lens/body were four inches off as I test in a studio...I would wonder if other issues were present.

spraynpray

Having had my 24-120 transformed by Nikon fine tuning it, I was intrigued enough by the title of this thread to go back and re-read the first post. What a load of utter cr@p KR does write! As stated by others, newbies can be set off in the wrong direction by the 'facts' that eejit writes.

Canon can keep him. Seriously. Please.

Hammie

Having had my 24-120 transformed by Nikon fine tuning it...blockquote>

What does Nikon usually charge for this tuning?

spraynpray

It was under warranty so F R E E ! I got all my bodies and lenses done and it only cost about £40 because my 70-200f4 was just out of warranty.

Hammie

It was under warranty so F R E E ! I got all my bodies and lenses done and it only cost about £40 because my 70-200f4 was just out of warranty.

That is awesome. My body and two lenses are all in warranty, but my 24-70 is far out of warranty... maybe 2-3 years now.

I'll call them about it now.

BabaGanoush

I was out today for the first time shooting with my new D7200 + 16-80mm. For this lens, the micro adjustment is +5. The difference in IQ between this setting and a setting of zero is obvious to the eye; it doesn't take a fancy focus chart or FocusTune ruler to see the vast improvement when the lens is properly tuned. As for my experience shooting with my new gear: just plain wow, what a wonderful camera, an absolute joy to be out walking around and taking pictures of people and the scenery. It was just a fabulous day with a camera that was a pleasure to hold. It all seemed such a natural fit in my hands. And I couldn't ask for a better lens for this camera. Nikon, I say +1 to you.

Ironheart

I have the same combo. Welcome to the "wow" club :-)

Photobug

I was out today for the first time shooting with my new D7200 + 16-80mm. For this lens, the micro adjustment is +5. The difference in IQ between this setting and a setting of zero is obvious to the eye; it doesn't take a fancy focus chart or FocusTune ruler to see the vast improvement when the lens is properly tuned. As for my experience shooting with my new gear: just plain wow, what a wonderful camera, an absolute joy to be out walking around and taking pictures of people and the scenery. It was just a fabulous day with a camera that was a pleasure to hold. It all seemed such a natural fit in my hands. And I couldn't ask for a better lens for this camera. Nikon, I say +1 to you.

It's worth the time or $$ to get the fine tuning. Congrats on a great system.

jimmyboy

I have to add to this. Not sure it will help or to change any thought. I own 300 f/2.8 G ED VRll lens. 5 camera bodies 300 700 800E 810 D500. every camera was check for A.F.Fine tune with this lens. It was spot on with all the camera bodies. Now I all so own 400 f/2.8 G ED VRll. this lens I had to adjust. Was front focusing way to much had to move it plus 17 to bring it in. Now D500 with A.F.Tune I was all over the charts with this. They need to improve on this. Had to do it manually, came up with still front focusing moved it +5 to be satisfied wit the D500. Yes I do believe humidity, temp change. When the ground is wet then the sun comes up you'll see mirage which have a effect on your your shots being blurred. Wait for the wind to blow or to move the mirage out of there. NO wind bad day to take pictures. It don't take much wind to move the mirage out of there. These lens that I own always shooting with + 2 converter. You'll see the mirage. In the view finder. If the object looks just a little fussy
just wait for a little breeze the shot will come out clean & clear. Just my 2 cents

rmp

I spent the time to "auto fine tune" a 16-80 lens on a d500. The focus was as good as I could make it, and I was still disappointed with the result. I switched to a 24-70 f2.8 lens and I am happy with the D500. My problem was not the equipment. My problem was me. My "satisfaction" with a camera-lens pair changed over time. Yester-year the less-sharp lenses were "good enough" for me. Today, I am not satisfied with the same image quality. I guess I need to "fine tune" my eyes or my "satisfaction level" every so often.

BVS

This discussion reminds me of something I've been wondering about - why does the lens have anything to do with PD focus accuracy anyway? Doesn't the PDAF sensor double check the focus accuracy after the initial focus attempt, and if it's not in focus keeps adjusting till it's accurate? Or, does the the PDAF sensor just look at the current level of focus, tell the lens to move a certain amount, and then hope things are in focus?

I admit my knowledge of how PDAF works is very limited, so there's probably a good reason, but why does the lens make any difference in terms of AF accuracy? Shouldn't the only thing affecting it be the alignment of the PDAF sensor vs the main sensor?

Also, as an aside, why can't the camera learn on its own the focus characteristics/peculiarities of each lens while you're shooting with them and adjust AF tuning automatically?

Ironheart

BVS said:

Also, as an aside, why can't the camera learn on its own the focus characteristics/peculiarities of each lens while you're shooting with them and adjust AF tuning automatically?

This is what the D5/D500 do when you initiate "auto AF fine-tune". You just have to make sure you have a reasonable high-contrast subject as the target.

The reason this is needed at all, is because PDAF depends on the alignment of multiple physical tolerances. If the image is in focus with the mirror down, will the final image be in focus with the mirror up, and the image now projected to the sensor? If the flange of one lens is slightly thinner/thicker/has more play than another, the answer will vary from lens to lens. AF fine tune is the way to make that micro adjustment to the final result being "perfect".

Pistnbroke

You don't need it ?? Oh yes Two identical Sig 300mm f4 one at +15 the other -10
a Nikon 28-300 +15 ....of course you don't need it ....

MegapixelSchnitzel

I do use focus tuning even though I don't tend to shoot wide open nor do I tend to shoot action. My work tends to be very deliberate and composed. My calibration involves the thumb and fingers of my left hand applied deftly to the focusing ring. If the point I want isn't quite right I simply twist a bit until it is.

NSXTypeR

If I made my own AF tune rig, then maybe I could do it with my D7000. There was definitely some back focus/front focus issue that I had here.

I had the hardest time getting this bird in focus. Granted, I'm not used to shooting tiny birds, or action for that matter.

Pistnbroke

own rig ? Lay a 2 ft ruler on the ground about 20ft away .Put a small box with a bar code on it to the side at 12 inches and shoot from eye level. Some lenses have such bad definition wide open you may need to stop down to make anything look sharp !!
Flash helps remove any movement issues .

NSXTypeR

I haven't looked into making your own rig, but thanks for the suggestion.

I'm still trying to read up on the finer points of AF fine tune. From what I understand, if I tune the AF for 135mm, doesn't it possibly throw off AF for the other focal lengths?

Ironheart

Not necessarily, and it might make it better. Which lens? In any event tune for where you shoot the most, and check the other FLs. If you have a really wonky lens (e.g. wants +15 at one end and -15 at the other) send it to Nikon.

Pistnbroke

Wonky lens = 24-120 which is the only lens I would not buy grey as the Nikon option is removed

IanG

@NSXTypeR AF fine tune is lens dependent - when you replace the 135mm with another lens, the values (if calibrated) for the new lens are applied. Put back the 135mm and it will use the values determined for the 135mm.

NSXTypeR

IanG said:

@NSXTypeR AF fine tune is lens dependent - when you replace the 135mm with another lens, the values (if calibrated) for the new lens are applied. Put back the 135mm and it will use the values determined for the 135mm.

Ironheart said:

Not necessarily, and it might make it better. Which lens? In any event tune for where you shoot the most, and check the other FLs. If you have a really wonky lens (e.g. wants +15 at one end and -15 at the other) send it to Nikon.

To answer both your questions, this is for an 18-135 kit zoom. It's a fairly low end lens, I know, but I'm trying to eek out the best performance from it and I think the next bit to explore would be to take a look at AF fine tune. I was concerned that tuning the long end might affect the other focal lengths.

Pistnbroke

You are right NSXT but I think you will be fine if you do the FFA at 135mm . It is only lenses like the 24-120 which have wild variations over the zoom range that need Nikon to reprogramme there internal computer.

DaveyJ

I admit I have yet to fine tune adjust my 16-80. Very happy with it as is. But to say fine tuning is unneeded? Makes Ken Rockwell look like his us pitching to little leaguers which is his intent! Nikon would NOT have put the feature on the camera if it had no use! Note they do not put it on low level DSLRs. And it is just possible they could benefit, but as a price point driven no frills model it is passed on purpose. The existence of it on D7200, D500, etc. is a powerful testimony to it's value! Unfortunately I have under utilized this feature! For real info I find many other websites FAR better than KR. Thom Hogan and a number of others. Sure are getting to be a lot of people trying to make a living out of "helping".

DaveyJ

Also I should add.....Nikon Rumors(this thread) is very good in this subject and now is where I would go to fine tune a lens......just saying!

HockeyMan

Just to comment on this thread. I thought my 70-200 f/2.8 VRII was losing its ability to focus correctly. At first, it was very sharp. But over the course of it's life, it seemed to capture images that were more and more blurry. I thought the lens isn't that light, I must be getting older and I'm hands are shaking more. I tried fiddling with the af fine tune to -10 because I thought the lens was back-focusing on subjects. But I saw no difference in sharpness going to -10. Going to +10 made the shots look terribly out of focus. I thought, I'm just lousy, I'm not a pro. Well one very recent day (xmas) I tried going all the way to -20 and what a difference it makes. I eventually set it to -17. All this time I thought it was me, but it wasn't, it was the af fine tune. Truthfully, it really is me. I should have tried going beyond -+10 in the first place. I'm really glad I kept reading this thread over the course of it's life. I've owned my 70-200 for 2 years and I am such a lousy photographer that I didn't get this part right until now. Of course, I'm not paid to get it right, which is why it took me so long. I feel happy that my D800/70-200 combo works as intended now but dumb at the same time. Y'all can always just call me stupid.