Interesting Fine Focus Adjustment

AussieTrev · 08-03-2012, 11:37 PM

We have just got the Sigma 105mm f2.8 back from repair, second go, and we felt it was a bit soft. I grabbed a Datacolor Spyder LensCal and found something amazing. Started with the K5 and was finding that every lens needed adjustment and not just a bit. Anyway long story short, I have had to make a universal adjustment to the camera body of +10 before then making adjustments to each lens. This started to worry me and we then put the lenses through the testing on the K30 and there was only slight adjustments on each lens and no universal adjustment required. So back to the K5 and the +10 is required. We were able to adjust each lens to be fairly spot on even with the +10.

The 105 was a bit on the soft side as it was a bit out. This must happen when one drops it on a tiled floor with a K20D and battery grip pushing it.

Anyone found that the body needs such a large adjustment universally before applying each individual lens adjustments?

**Michaelina2** · 08-04-2012, 01:39 AM

Sorry... no cigar!

AF fine adjustment is either by lens, OR by body... NOT both at the same time. See page 126, K-5, Operating Manual (English).

Cheers...

AussieTrev · 08-04-2012, 04:06 AM

Originally posted by Michaelina2

Sorry... no cigar!

AF fine adjustment is either by lens, OR by body... NOT both at the same time. See page 126, K-5, Operating Manual (English).

Cheers...

Thanks for your information. I went back and ran all the lens through again and I think I may have missed getting the K5 exactly level with the target, where as the K30 I did as it just needed slight tweaking the K5 was good with most of the lenses with a let less adjustment needed. Although reading the manual if you set the body adjustment first selecting OK then only selecting OK when setting the individual lens adjustment It should combine the two. I might be missing it altogether though, but I have no overall adjustment on the K5 and only individual adjustment for some of the lenses.

the one lens that I was worried about, the Sigma 105 macro was out a bit which could be attributed to it's fall.

Thanks again.

**Michaelina2** · 08-04-2012, 05:00 AM

Originally posted by AussieTrev

Thanks for your information. I went back and ran all the lens through again and I think I may have missed getting the K5 exactly level with the target, where as the K30 I did as it just needed slight tweaking the K5 was good with most of the lenses with a let less adjustment needed. Although reading the manual if you set the body adjustment first selecting OK then only selecting OK when setting the individual lens adjustment It should combine the two. I might be missing it altogether though, but I have no overall adjustment on the K5 and only individual adjustment for some of the lenses.

the one lens that I was worried about, the Sigma 105 macro was out a bit which could be attributed to it's fall.

Thanks again.

I apologize for the confusion.

Said another way: Pentax permits a twenty step (-10 to +10) AF micro-adjustment for up to 20 individual Pentax AF lenses, OR the same 20 steps globally for ALL Pentax AF lenses on a K-5... NOT both. For example, a +15 (ALL is set to +10 and +5 for the one lens) for a DA 70 Ltd is NOT permitted... It's either a common setting for ALL AF lenses, or an individual setting for one AF lens (20 max).

If you discover that fussing around with the AF micro-adjustment feature does not correct things to your satisfaction, you need to send the lens and camera to Pentax service so they can work their magic.

Finally, beware... some third party lenses respond to AF micro-adjustment, some do not. Pentax can't help you.

Cheers...

AussieTrev · 08-04-2012, 05:37 AM

What I find interesting is that the K30 book doesn't include the paragraph about the global adjustments over riding the individual adjustments. I'm still confused but as I have not got any global adjustment on either camera now it doesn't matter. I do wish I could adjust the K-01.

bxf · 08-04-2012, 05:54 AM

Don't know about the K30, but the following may provide some further understanding on the K5 AF Adjustment:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/175386-auto-focus-microadjust-k-5-a-4.html

AussieTrev · 08-04-2012, 01:00 PM

bxf, thinks for the link. I was starting to see that for the K5 from the manual warning. What I then found to throw the confusion was the K30 manual. I don't have the time at the moment to run those type of tests with the K30, but will try and have a look in time. I suspect that it would be the same as the K5 as I don't think Pentax would change something like that. After I re did the K5 I turned the ALL to 0 for all lenses and was very careful to have the camera level with the target and this changed the result. The possibility of a different result for different distances from the target is quite possible. For a landscape field lens this shouldn't be a problem. As my wife is into macros focus issues come into play quite a bit with very short depth of fields involved. With her macro lens the 105 it was an issue on it's return from repair and we thought it may have been stuffed. It did have a BF/FF issue, I just can't remember which now so the lens cal unit was worth buying, and we got to drive through the new tunnel before there is a toll.

Thanks everyone for your help, photography is a learning experience. Now to find somewhere to get a roll of film processed.

zapp · 08-08-2012, 11:58 AM

My camera requried more than +10 for adjustment. Customer service or a software hack can reset the zero position. What really stinks is that Pentax quality control does not catch these defects. Even worse. If your camera requires fine adjustment for AF, it most likely requires fine adjustement for the MF system as well - shimming of the focusing screen.
Oh yes, and in artificial light Pentax AF just sucks, no way to correct this with a single global fine tuning adjustment.

Don't worry about distance or aprture depending changes for lens fine tuning. The camera is so badly out of calibration that you need to fix the main problem first before you worry about anything else.

Pentax needs to come up with something real good in the near future or I am looking for an alternative - that does not mean that the others do a better job, but Pentax had its try

AussieTrev · 08-08-2012, 01:38 PM

Zap, I found that there was fine focus issues with some of the lenses, but the problem I first highlighted, after retesting, is a problem with the user, me. It is critical to have the focus test range setup correctly or else there are false errors produced. On the second round of testing the issues with only with lenses, not with the body. We tested multiple cameras and found most lenses had similar errors on both cameras, especially the Sigma 105 that had suffered damage and been repaired. What your describing is not indictive of the problems I encounted. If you have these large errors, you may have a problem with your camera and this is something that perhaps a technician could correct.

As for auto focus performance, I'm sure there are better cameras out there and some I MIT be able to afford, but I find the K5 just fine and quite fast enough.

08-03-2012, 11:37 PM	#1
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590	Interesting Fine Focus Adjustment We have just got the Sigma 105mm f2.8 back from repair, second go, and we felt it was a bit soft. I grabbed a Datacolor Spyder LensCal and found something amazing. Started with the K5 and was finding that every lens needed adjustment and not just a bit. Anyway long story short, I have had to make a universal adjustment to the camera body of +10 before then making adjustments to each lens. This started to worry me and we then put the lenses through the testing on the K30 and there was only slight adjustments on each lens and no universal adjustment required. So back to the K5 and the +10 is required. We were able to adjust each lens to be fairly spot on even with the +10. The 105 was a bit on the soft side as it was a bit out. This must happen when one drops it on a tiled floor with a K20D and battery grip pushing it. Anyone found that the body needs such a large adjustment universally before applying each individual lens adjustments?

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08-04-2012, 01:39 AM	#2
Michaelina2 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SE Michigan USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,300	Sorry... no cigar! AF fine adjustment is either by lens, OR by body... NOT both at the same time. See page 126, K-5, Operating Manual (English). Cheers...

08-04-2012, 04:06 AM	#3
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590 Original Poster	Originally posted by Michaelina2 Sorry... no cigar! AF fine adjustment is either by lens, OR by body... NOT both at the same time. See page 126, K-5, Operating Manual (English). Cheers... Thanks for your information. I went back and ran all the lens through again and I think I may have missed getting the K5 exactly level with the target, where as the K30 I did as it just needed slight tweaking the K5 was good with most of the lenses with a let less adjustment needed. Although reading the manual if you set the body adjustment first selecting OK then only selecting OK when setting the individual lens adjustment It should combine the two. I might be missing it altogether though, but I have no overall adjustment on the K5 and only individual adjustment for some of the lenses. the one lens that I was worried about, the Sigma 105 macro was out a bit which could be attributed to it's fall. Thanks again.

08-04-2012, 05:00 AM	#4
Michaelina2 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SE Michigan USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,300	Originally posted by AussieTrev Thanks for your information. I went back and ran all the lens through again and I think I may have missed getting the K5 exactly level with the target, where as the K30 I did as it just needed slight tweaking the K5 was good with most of the lenses with a let less adjustment needed. Although reading the manual if you set the body adjustment first selecting OK then only selecting OK when setting the individual lens adjustment It should combine the two. I might be missing it altogether though, but I have no overall adjustment on the K5 and only individual adjustment for some of the lenses. the one lens that I was worried about, the Sigma 105 macro was out a bit which could be attributed to it's fall. Thanks again. I apologize for the confusion. Said another way: Pentax permits a twenty step (-10 to +10) AF micro-adjustment for up to 20 individual Pentax AF lenses, OR the same 20 steps globally for ALL Pentax AF lenses on a K-5... NOT both. For example, a +15 (ALL is set to +10 and +5 for the one lens) for a DA 70 Ltd is NOT permitted... It's either a common setting for ALL AF lenses, or an individual setting for one AF lens (20 max). If you discover that fussing around with the AF micro-adjustment feature does not correct things to your satisfaction, you need to send the lens and camera to Pentax service so they can work their magic. Finally, beware... some third party lenses respond to AF micro-adjustment, some do not. Pentax can't help you. Cheers...

08-04-2012, 05:37 AM	#5
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590 Original Poster	What I find interesting is that the K30 book doesn't include the paragraph about the global adjustments over riding the individual adjustments. I'm still confused but as I have not got any global adjustment on either camera now it doesn't matter. I do wish I could adjust the K-01.

08-04-2012, 05:54 AM	#6
bxf Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Lisbon area Posts: 1,660	Don't know about the K30, but the following may provide some further understanding on the K5 AF Adjustment: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/175386-auto-focus-microadjust-k-5-a-4.html

08-04-2012, 01:00 PM	#7
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590 Original Poster	bxf, thinks for the link. I was starting to see that for the K5 from the manual warning. What I then found to throw the confusion was the K30 manual. I don't have the time at the moment to run those type of tests with the K30, but will try and have a look in time. I suspect that it would be the same as the K5 as I don't think Pentax would change something like that. After I re did the K5 I turned the ALL to 0 for all lenses and was very careful to have the camera level with the target and this changed the result. The possibility of a different result for different distances from the target is quite possible. For a landscape field lens this shouldn't be a problem. As my wife is into macros focus issues come into play quite a bit with very short depth of fields involved. With her macro lens the 105 it was an issue on it's return from repair and we thought it may have been stuffed. It did have a BF/FF issue, I just can't remember which now so the lens cal unit was worth buying, and we got to drive through the new tunnel before there is a toll. Thanks everyone for your help, photography is a learning experience. Now to find somewhere to get a roll of film processed.

08-08-2012, 11:58 AM	#8
zapp Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 2,385	My camera requried more than +10 for adjustment. Customer service or a software hack can reset the zero position. What really stinks is that Pentax quality control does not catch these defects. Even worse. If your camera requires fine adjustment for AF, it most likely requires fine adjustement for the MF system as well - shimming of the focusing screen. Oh yes, and in artificial light Pentax AF just sucks, no way to correct this with a single global fine tuning adjustment. Don't worry about distance or aprture depending changes for lens fine tuning. The camera is so badly out of calibration that you need to fix the main problem first before you worry about anything else. Pentax needs to come up with something real good in the near future or I am looking for an alternative - that does not mean that the others do a better job, but Pentax had its try

08-08-2012, 01:38 PM	#9
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590 Original Poster	Zap, I found that there was fine focus issues with some of the lenses, but the problem I first highlighted, after retesting, is a problem with the user, me. It is critical to have the focus test range setup correctly or else there are false errors produced. On the second round of testing the issues with only with lenses, not with the body. We tested multiple cameras and found most lenses had similar errors on both cameras, especially the Sigma 105 that had suffered damage and been repaired. What your describing is not indictive of the problems I encounted. If you have these large errors, you may have a problem with your camera and this is something that perhaps a technician could correct. As for auto focus performance, I'm sure there are better cameras out there and some I MIT be able to afford, but I find the K5 just fine and quite fast enough.

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