DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

DIY – Micro Adjustment And Calibration Tool For Lenses

Jun 1, 2011 by Udi Tirosh Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

CíclopeManufactures of cameras and lenses make their equipment to fall into certain quality control standards.

But sometimes that may not be good enough. This DIY lens aligning setup work great, and is usually a sure improvement over the default setting.

If you need something a tad more pro, there is a pre-made accessory you can buy called LensAlign MKII.

Materials

  • Cereal box (needs to be at least as big as an 8.5 x ll piece of paper on one side)
  • Good Quality scissors
  • a focusing box (made in photoshop)
  • a focus ruler (made in photoshop)
  • black tape
  • High quality printer (laser or inkjet)
  • 8.5 x 11 Sheet of paper (x2) to use for printing the images on.

First make a focusing board, the idea here is to make multiple points to focus on, so you can use different lenses at different focal lengths without having to make different sizes focusing boards. This was made in photoshop using a ton of guides and grids so it all aligns nicely. (Click for high res template download)

Focusing box

Next create a focus ruler. In photoshop, start with a 5px high box (width doesnt matter). Keep duplicating the height until it takes half of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

On the first dup, you’ll have 1 5px cell. On the second dup, you’ll have 2 5px cells, on the third dup you’ll have 4 5px cells, well you get the point…

Do a similar process for the next row (10px) and the next row (20px) and the…

Then place numbers on the guides. The numbers will make is easier to tell what’s in focus. Make sure to use really sharp text and really sharp boxes to make it easier to tell what is in focus. Or… You can download the template by clicking the image below.(Click for high res template download)

Focus ruler

After finishing (or downloading) the focusing board and focusing ruler print them on two separate pieces of paper

You will now use the cereal box!

The cereal box will be used to build the entire focusing aid construction. Parts of the box will go as backsides on the prints to make them hard, and part of it will be used to build the three dimensional stand for the focusing back and focus ruler. Of course, this is just one way of doing it and it was the least costly for me.

First, trace the cutouts onto the cardboard cereal box. Make sure they don’t hit any of the creases on the box. Add about a quarter of an inch on each side of the focusing board. Keep the focus ruler cardboard the same size as the cut out.

Tape the focusing ruler to the cardboard back.

The stand for the entire thing has a peculiar form. It is shaped to allow mounting of the focusing ruler and to allow it to slide the center to different planes.

cardboard-layout

You would need to add some support on the back to give the stand some sturdiness. The easiest way to do so is by cutting a few strips of cardboard and taping them as triangles on the back.

Make one big triangle that is aligned with the bottom to allow the box to free-stand.

Back of stand

Notice the big triangle is not on the picture. It will be added later, after covering the entire thing with black tape. That way it could be removable so the whole thing could collapse.

Now, cover the stand with black tape. Then mount the focusing board and the focus ruler on to the stand. The Tricky part is to get the focus ruler on strait and inline with the focus board. I used to pieces of tape on the back side of the ruler to hold and balance on the cutout for it. Once it is all done it should look like this.

_mg_6641

Here is the process I used to calibrate my Canon 50mm f1.4, You can follow the steps to calibrate your lenses.

First, set your aperture to the widest possible opening, f1.4 in my case. This makes sense, since with this wide aperture all but the main focusing point would be blurred.

Next, focus on the middle right box of the focusing board and go from there.

The first picture is the one above and by looking closely you can see that the focus point is on the far side of the zero at the number 8 (anyways, that looks to be the sharpest to me). That needed to be changed so the focus was on the middle of the central zero.

The following procedure applies to Canon, but similar steps can be taken for other cameras.

  1. First turn the camera on, then I hit the menu button, go to the custom functions tab.
  2. Then I go to C.FnIII:Autofocus/Drive and hit the set button.
  3. Go to the number 7 using the wheel around the set button, and hit set.
  4. Then go to #2: Adjust by lens and then hit the info button to change it use the dial to go negative or positive (go negative if your focus is on the far side of
    zero and go positive if it is on the close side).
  5. I really did not know how much to change it, but I guessed and went to -8, which was way too much as seen in the next picture. Those steps should be repeated until the lens is calibrated.

8 forward

If you look closely you can see that it is focused on the 8 in front of the zero now. I then dialed it down to -3 which its still not quite perfect but it is much better than before.

0spot on

Rinse and repeat until focus is perfect.

About The Author

Jason Irons is a photographer based in Aurora Colorado, you can see his work on his site and read his musing on his blog.

[Cyclope image by Libertinus]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Here’s how to use the calibration tool in Lightroom Nail your focus every single time with this DIY lens calibration solution New Viltrox roadmap shows nine new lenses on the way including Micro Four Thirds cine lenses How to color grade in Photoshop using only Solid Color Adjustment Layers

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: lens

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.net

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Freelens By Building Your Own Bellows
Photographing Stars At Night Video Tutorial »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners
  • Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest
  • 5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey
  • Photographers, keep an eye out for auroras around the world this weekend
  • How to make beautiful frozen soap bubble photos this winter

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy