Question for hardware BF/FF adjust.

bebop · 12-01-2007, 01:07 AM

Hi,

There was info some time ago about hawrdware focus adjust on istD and istDS. Does anyone have the link bookmarked?

If anyone have that info and for k10 it will be very apreciated.

As I remember the bottom plat has to be removed and there are two hexagonal screws for adjustment there.

Any info is wellcome.

Thanks in advance.

RiceHigh · 12-01-2007, 03:58 AM

Originally posted by bebop

Hi,

There was info some time ago about hawrdware focus adjust on istD and istDS. Does anyone have the link bookmarked?

If anyone have that info and for k10 it will be very apreciated.

As I remember the bottom plat has to be removed and there are two hexagonal screws for adjustment there.

Any info is wellcome.

Thanks in advance.

All possible focus calibration for Pentax DSLRs and Lenses, both hardware or software wise:-

RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Focus Calibrations for (Pentax) (D)SLR Bodies and Lenses

bebop · 12-01-2007, 04:03 PM

Thaks for the link.

I am frequent reader to your blog but I have missed this because back than I did not have focus issues.

Usefull resource.

Thanks once again.

Kami · 12-01-2007, 05:26 PM

Here is the link that you want - it explains how to enter into the debug (service) mode to adjust the AF. It is quite a long read.

self focus adjust for dl,ds,ds2,k100d.: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

bebop · 12-01-2007, 05:42 PM

Hi Kami,

I know that but I am now with 1.30 firware. I know how to downgrade it to 1.10 but still this is not the solution for me.

I think to try the "hard" way. I guess it will work the same way on k10 as and for the rest ot the fleet. The k10 still has the same three adjustement screws on the same positions.

wlachan · 12-01-2007, 11:09 PM

This was what I found out when calibrating my DS (applies to all Pentax DSLRs with 11 points AF sensor), and might help you a little. I strongly suggest using a standard prime lens and outdoor near infinity target as a starting point. If you try to calibrate the camera with close-up distance printed target, you will soon run into inconsistant and unreliable results. Mind you that these screws have been threadlocked from the factory so you might do so too once you are certain the recalibration was accurate.

bebop · 12-02-2007, 03:43 PM

Thank you very much wlachan.

I was about to write you because of your experience with this issue but here you are. :-)

I had some doubts if only the N3 screw should be adjusted or the whole 3 of them. This is because in the Russian forum recommend only the N3 adjustment.

Your post was convincing enough.

Now it is clear that it is working as well on k10 without a glitch.

Just to notice that if you dismantle k10d bottom be aware that there are two type of screws. One for plastic and one for metal. Do not mess them.

Now everything is fine again. I DO have a working camera now...finaly

wlachan · 12-02-2007, 06:18 PM

Glad to know you have fixed your camera. I think the recommendation on altering #3 screw only was due to the fact that some people were happy with spot AF only. By altering #1 or #3 screw only, you are basically altering the whole plane but sooner or later, the centre point will hit the perfect focus. But obviously, the rest 10 AF points won't be. But this is fine if one will be using spot AF only. The real challenge is to bring all 11 points into acceptable accuracy and it might take quite a bit of patience.

JCSullivan · 12-03-2007, 07:20 AM

This is quite interesting BUT, why would anyone want to muck-around with this?
Why or how would the AF get screwed - excuse the pun.

bebop · 12-03-2007, 10:36 AM

Interesting question. The camera was OK with just a little of BF but suddenly 2 month ago the focus just got wrong. Severe back focus. Now is OK.

Lance B · 12-03-2007, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by JCSullivan

This is quite interesting BUT, why would anyone want to muck-around with this?
Why or how would the AF get screwed - excuse the pun.

The camera may not have been set correctly at the factory as these are very, very finite adjustments and therefore need to be adjusted very critically. The amount these screws need to be adjusted is so small, you can therefore see that it doesn't take much to have them incorrectly set in the firat place.

In my opinion, I believe that the cameras should allow for this sort of adjustment easily. The new K20D will have individual focus adjustments for up to 20 AF Pentax lenses in the menu so that when you put the lens on the camera, the camera will recognise that lens and then adjust the focus to suit that lens. In other words, you will test each of your Pentax AF lenses and see if each lens FF's or BF's and then adjust each particular lens so that it focuses correctly via a menu on the camera. This will be stored in the memory so that each time you put that lens on the camera it recognises it and focuses according to the pre set focus that you set for it.

The FF Canon 1DS MKII etc have this same feature in their cameras as their lenses also have this problem.

The Nikon D70(and more than likely other subsequent models) has focus adjust screws in the mirror box.

bebop · 12-04-2007, 01:03 AM

Lets hope that pentax will release firmware update for the k10d with the new k20d features in their best tradition (istDS2->istDS)

Because I am not sure that I will jump to 14mpix at the same sensor size.

Regards,

Originally posted by Lance B

The camera may not have been set correctly at the factory as these are very, very finite adjustments and therefore need to be adjusted very critically. The amount these screws need to be adjusted is so small, you can therefore see that it doesn't take much to have them incorrectly set in the firat place.

In my opinion, I believe that the cameras should allow for this sort of adjustment easily. The new K20D will have individual focus adjustments for up to 20 AF Pentax lenses in the menu so that when you put the lens on the camera, the camera will recognise that lens and then adjust the focus to suit that lens. In other words, you will test each of your Pentax AF lenses and see if each lens FF's or BF's and then adjust each particular lens so that it focuses correctly via a menu on the camera. This will be stored in the memory so that each time you put that lens on the camera it recognises it and focuses according to the pre set focus that you set for it.

The FF Canon 1DS MKII etc have this same feature in their cameras as their lenses also have this problem.

The Nikon D70(and more than likely other subsequent models) has focus adjust screws in the mirror box.

JCSullivan · 12-04-2007, 04:57 AM

Thanks Lance.

bebop · 12-11-2007, 07:39 AM

May be you allready know that but this is new for me.

esp@cenet original document view

Here you can find drawing of the pentax autofocus system where the three bolts are easy to find.

So wlachan ... you are absolutely correct. No doubt about that.

**barondla** · 12-13-2007, 07:05 PM

What are these 3 screws actually moving? Is it the af sensor, image sensor, or something else? My K10D has major bf - all of a sudden. This could fix it. Do you aim at infinity target, af then adjust and do it again untill it hits the target or what? How can this work for every lens when the new camera is going to remember 20 different ones? So confusing.

thanks
barondla

12-02-2007, 06:18 PM	#8
wlachan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 2,625	Glad to know you have fixed your camera. I think the recommendation on altering #3 screw only was due to the fact that some people were happy with spot AF only. By altering #1 or #3 screw only, you are basically altering the whole plane but sooner or later, the centre point will hit the perfect focus. But obviously, the rest 10 AF points won't be. But this is fine if one will be using spot AF only. The real challenge is to bring all 11 points into acceptable accuracy and it might take quite a bit of patience. Last edited by wlachan; 12-02-2007 at 06:24 PM.

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12-01-2007, 01:07 AM	#1
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13	Question for hardware BF/FF adjust. Hi, There was info some time ago about hawrdware focus adjust on istD and istDS. Does anyone have the link bookmarked? If anyone have that info and for k10 it will be very apreciated. As I remember the bottom plat has to be removed and there are two hexagonal screws for adjustment there. Any info is wellcome. Thanks in advance.

12-01-2007, 03:58 AM	#2
RiceHigh Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 1,934	Originally posted by bebop Hi, There was info some time ago about hawrdware focus adjust on istD and istDS. Does anyone have the link bookmarked? If anyone have that info and for k10 it will be very apreciated. As I remember the bottom plat has to be removed and there are two hexagonal screws for adjustment there. Any info is wellcome. Thanks in advance. All possible focus calibration for Pentax DSLRs and Lenses, both hardware or software wise:- RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Focus Calibrations for (Pentax) (D)SLR Bodies and Lenses

12-01-2007, 04:03 PM	#3
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	Thaks for the link. I am frequent reader to your blog but I have missed this because back than I did not have focus issues. Usefull resource. Thanks once again.

12-01-2007, 05:26 PM	#4
Kami Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 81	Here is the link that you want - it explains how to enter into the debug (service) mode to adjust the AF. It is quite a long read. self focus adjust for dl,ds,ds2,k100d.: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

12-01-2007, 05:42 PM	#5
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	Hi Kami, I know that but I am now with 1.30 firware. I know how to downgrade it to 1.10 but still this is not the solution for me. I think to try the "hard" way. I guess it will work the same way on k10 as and for the rest ot the fleet. The k10 still has the same three adjustement screws on the same positions.

12-01-2007, 11:09 PM	#6
wlachan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 2,625	This was what I found out when calibrating my DS (applies to all Pentax DSLRs with 11 points AF sensor), and might help you a little. I strongly suggest using a standard prime lens and outdoor near infinity target as a starting point. If you try to calibrate the camera with close-up distance printed target, you will soon run into inconsistant and unreliable results. Mind you that these screws have been threadlocked from the factory so you might do so too once you are certain the recalibration was accurate.

12-02-2007, 03:43 PM	#7
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	Thank you very much wlachan. I was about to write you because of your experience with this issue but here you are. :-) I had some doubts if only the N3 screw should be adjusted or the whole 3 of them. This is because in the Russian forum recommend only the N3 adjustment. Your post was convincing enough. Now it is clear that it is working as well on k10 without a glitch. Just to notice that if you dismantle k10d bottom be aware that there are two type of screws. One for plastic and one for metal. Do not mess them. Now everything is fine again. I DO have a working camera now...finaly

12-03-2007, 07:20 AM	#9
JCSullivan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Windsor, Canada Posts: 3,056	This is quite interesting BUT, why would anyone want to muck-around with this? Why or how would the AF get screwed - excuse the pun.

12-03-2007, 10:36 AM	#10
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	Interesting question. The camera was OK with just a little of BF but suddenly 2 month ago the focus just got wrong. Severe back focus. Now is OK.

12-03-2007, 05:33 PM	#11
Lance B Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 593	Originally posted by JCSullivan This is quite interesting BUT, why would anyone want to muck-around with this? Why or how would the AF get screwed - excuse the pun. The camera may not have been set correctly at the factory as these are very, very finite adjustments and therefore need to be adjusted very critically. The amount these screws need to be adjusted is so small, you can therefore see that it doesn't take much to have them incorrectly set in the firat place. In my opinion, I believe that the cameras should allow for this sort of adjustment easily. The new K20D will have individual focus adjustments for up to 20 AF Pentax lenses in the menu so that when you put the lens on the camera, the camera will recognise that lens and then adjust the focus to suit that lens. In other words, you will test each of your Pentax AF lenses and see if each lens FF's or BF's and then adjust each particular lens so that it focuses correctly via a menu on the camera. This will be stored in the memory so that each time you put that lens on the camera it recognises it and focuses according to the pre set focus that you set for it. The FF Canon 1DS MKII etc have this same feature in their cameras as their lenses also have this problem. The Nikon D70(and more than likely other subsequent models) has focus adjust screws in the mirror box.

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12-04-2007, 01:03 AM	#12
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	Lets hope that pentax will release firmware update for the k10d with the new k20d features in their best tradition (istDS2->istDS) Because I am not sure that I will jump to 14mpix at the same sensor size. Regards, Originally posted by Lance B The camera may not have been set correctly at the factory as these are very, very finite adjustments and therefore need to be adjusted very critically. The amount these screws need to be adjusted is so small, you can therefore see that it doesn't take much to have them incorrectly set in the firat place. In my opinion, I believe that the cameras should allow for this sort of adjustment easily. The new K20D will have individual focus adjustments for up to 20 AF Pentax lenses in the menu so that when you put the lens on the camera, the camera will recognise that lens and then adjust the focus to suit that lens. In other words, you will test each of your Pentax AF lenses and see if each lens FF's or BF's and then adjust each particular lens so that it focuses correctly via a menu on the camera. This will be stored in the memory so that each time you put that lens on the camera it recognises it and focuses according to the pre set focus that you set for it. The FF Canon 1DS MKII etc have this same feature in their cameras as their lenses also have this problem. The Nikon D70(and more than likely other subsequent models) has focus adjust screws in the mirror box.

12-04-2007, 04:57 AM	#13
JCSullivan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Windsor, Canada Posts: 3,056	Thanks Lance.

12-11-2007, 07:39 AM	#14
bebop New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 13 Original Poster	May be you allready know that but this is new for me. esp@cenet original document view Here you can find drawing of the pentax autofocus system where the three bolts are easy to find. So wlachan ... you are absolutely correct. No doubt about that.

12-13-2007, 07:05 PM	#15
barondla Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: midwest, United States Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,714	What are these 3 screws actually moving? Is it the af sensor, image sensor, or something else? My K10D has major bf - all of a sudden. This could fix it. Do you aim at infinity target, af then adjust and do it again untill it hits the target or what? How can this work for every lens when the new camera is going to remember 20 different ones? So confusing. thanks barondla