10% OFF with code NC110 at checkout If not, then you're almost definitely NOT getting the best from your gear!
Your camera and lenses were each adjusted for the best performance when they left the factory, but until you put the lens on the camera, they've never been used together!
And, chances are, each came out the factory quite some time ago. Your cameras and lenses have been used, and that use had made them slightly different to how they were when they were new.
FoCal tunes your lenses to your camera, adjusting for all those tiny differences cause by wear-and-tear, temperature changes or even slight imperfections in your gear.
Percentage of lenses that would show a noticeable sharpness improvement after calibration with FoCal:
Canon DSLRs
Nikon DSLRs
Nikon Z Mirrorless (F-mount lenses)
Nikon Z Mirrorless (Z-mount lenses)
Autofocus isn't perfect, but it can be tuned…
DSLRs use a separate autofocus sensor - it's quick, but it needs tuning!
The Autofocus Sensor is in the bottom of the camera, and measures the focus change required to get your image in focus.
But the actual image is captured with a different sensor at the back of the camera. Tiny movements in the relative position of the sensors, amongst other things, results in poorly focused images.
And this is exactly the situation that Reikan FoCal can help fix!
Over 80% of all DSLRs and lenses will show a noticeable improvement in image quality after calibration with FoCal.
Mirrorless autofocus isn't perfect…
Autofocus is performed using the actual Image Sensor in mirrorless cameras, so the biggest need to tune your autofocus is removed. But there's still plenty of things that can affect the autofocus performance:
All of these can be mitigated by autofocus tuning with Reikan FoCal.
Here are a few reasons why you might need to tune your camera and lenses:
Cameras and lenses are manufactured and adjusted before leaving the factory, but when you match your camera and lenses together, they may benefit from tuning.
General use of a camera can cause tiny movements in the sensors and mounts. Big knocks and bumps can make checking and tuning with Reikan FoCal a must.
Over time, motors and gears can wear, making the focus position slightly inaccurate. Lens elements can shift fractionally causing slight focus errors.
Adding anything between the camera and lens increases chances of misalignment between the lens and body. Teleconverted and adapted lenses benefit most from fine tuning.
Hot and cold conditions cause mechanical parts in both your camera and lenses to move fractionally, introducing focus issues.
Checking and adjusting gives you confidence you're getting the very best from from all your expensive kit.
If you're interested in digging deeper, here are two comprehensive articles on our blog which explain - in a lot of detail - why you need to calibrate both DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
This post guides you through how DSLR autofocus works and why you really do need to calibrate to get the best from your camera and lenses.
With plenty of pictures and a step-by-step explanation on how everything works, along with evidence to show the need to tune, this should answer most of your questions about DSLR autofocus!
You are almost certainly not getting the sharpest shots from your DSLR - and it's not your fault!
What if I then told you there's an easy fix?
Mirrorless cameras don't need calibrating.
Wrong!
At Reikan, we've been gathering autofocus calibration results for almost 10 years now from users of our FoCal software, which includes data from users of Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras… and it shows that you'd probably benefit from tuning your mirrorless camera.
This post series guides you, with simple explanations, through all the reasons why you should check your mirrorless camera.
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