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Archive 2013 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?

  
 
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


So I just finished my lens calibration on my 3 lenses with the D800e.

I have:

Sigma 35 1.4
Sigma 50 1.4
Nikon 85 1.4g

on my D700 both Sigma require no AF fine tuning when testing against my resolution chart from MFD and 10 FT away zooming using center point single focus in 100% for checking.

my NIkon 85 1.4G required -2 AF fine tuning with the same procedure above.

On my D800e

Both Sigma 35 and 50 1.4 require -20 AF fine tune OR delete both AF fine tune lens profiles and use -9 or -10 for Default value

My nikon 85 1.4 requires -6 DEFAULT value OR -12 AF fine tune value.

so all 3 lenses needed significant fine tuning to get sharp results however NOW they are sharp and I can use them. I'm tempted to keep the body but it still bugs me.

It could go either way, I have a 90 day NIkon warranty and the VIP warranty purchased from Adorama as well.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance!



May 01, 2013 at 09:57 PM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


The big reason i feel I would like to exchange and see if the results are different or better with a different body are mainly because of resale value. I know I would have a hard time reselling to someone or getting them to swallow the camera is OK and its acceptable that they may need to use the maximum adjustment of - or + values on their lenses. People are wary about that kind of things these days.

So far haven't experienced a left focus issue But i havent specifically hammered on the left or right focus much.



May 01, 2013 at 10:03 PM
derek.fulmer
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


I have a D7000 that had to go to -20 for my 35mm f2 D lens. More than likely I'm taking to APS to have them check it out.


May 02, 2013 at 02:44 PM
Rodolfo Paiz
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Either send to Nikon for calibration, or just keep it. That's what AF fine tune is for, after all... you get your camera/lens combo to be sharp, you're done. I see no problem with the camera.


May 02, 2013 at 02:48 PM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
Either send to Nikon for calibration, or just keep it. That's what AF fine tune is for, after all... you get your camera/lens combo to be sharp, you're done. I see no problem with the camera.



True but I also see it another way

AF Fine tune is meant for fine tuning thats the honest truth... some people have NO issues and need NO tuning NOW however lens mounts stretch, weather changes and over time and years AF fine tune will be thus needed.

What if from the very beginning you were at the MAX of your AF fine tune? what happens when later circumstances change and you need to adjust like you should be allowed? now you cant because you have eaten up all of your slack in adjustment?

Also resale value.. everyone knows when buying a camera lens and body that owners should be forth coming when selling and of course I would and no one would buy a camera body that needed -20 AF fine tune on 3-4 lenses.. it has a stigma associated with it and it will linger.


I have already put in an RMA with adorama and got my shipping label to send back.

If the replacement I receive does the same thing then I will keep it and take that as its obviously my lenses and my D700 that are most likely out of wack.



May 02, 2013 at 03:09 PM
playerofwar
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Send in for callibration and be done with it. Callibration works better than a new body because after callibration, ALL your lenses will be spot on from any distance.


May 02, 2013 at 03:19 PM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


playerofwar wrote:
Send in for calibration and be done with it. Calibration works better than a new body because after calibration, ALL your lenses will be spot on from any distance.


cant do that, 2 lenses are sigma so i doubt nikon will be able to calibrate those lenses.

if they were Nikon lenses then i would have a tough time doing that because then they would not be calibrated properly with my D700.

one time i sent a sigma lens in with my D700 and D300s body to Sigma warranty for lens calibration.. man that was a nightmare... the lens didn't focus right on either body when i get them back and I was out 2 weeks...



May 02, 2013 at 03:47 PM
okafoja
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Your chances of getting one that will not require AF tuning is very slim. Unless you are going to resale it with those lenses I shouldn't worry about it.

On my D800 my 70-200VRII requires +13@70mm, +7@135mm and 0@200mm. 50/1.8g requires +7. Finally did it on my sigma 35/1.4 and it requires +13. 105VR requires +5 and 16-35 requires +4@16mm and +7 at 35mm.

It is crazy buy I've learned to leave with it. I am getting crazy sharp images now and that's what counts. After months of bickering I realized that AF tuning is the only way forward.

I never worried about any of these tuning with my D700.



May 02, 2013 at 07:38 PM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


okafoja wrote:
Your chances of getting one that will not require AF tuning is very slim. Unless you are going to resale it with those lenses I shouldn't worry about it.

On my D800 my 70-200VRII requires +13@70mm, +7@135mm and 0@200mm. 50/1.8g requires +7. Finally did it on my sigma 35/1.4 and it requires +13. 105VR requires +5 and 16-35 requires +4@16mm and +7 at 35mm.

It is crazy buy I've learned to leave with it. I am getting crazy sharp images now and that's what counts. After months of bickering I realized that AF tuning is the only way forward.

I never worried
...Show more


oh I don't doubt that and like i said earlier I expect some AF fine tuning... I wouldn't mind if it was -10 or -12 but -20 on 2 lenses is not good and at the max and over time it could get worse and then I have no more room to improve it.

I want a camera body that will leave me some wiggle room for adjustments later down the road and right now I don't have that wiggle room unfortunately.

I really appreciate all the feedback guys and I hope that you can respect my decision and see its not just someone else wanting to return with buyers remorse etc I just want to feel comfortable with a camera body that is going to give me a little more wiggle room on fine tune adjustments in the future.


I have already purchased another D800e from adorama tonight since I have a wedding i'm shooting next weekend and Adorama takes 8 days just to receive a return and inspect it before they ship out another and I will just get a refund on the one i'm about to send back tomorrow.



May 02, 2013 at 11:14 PM
scottam10
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Send it in for calibration while it's under warranty, it shouldn't be maxed out, especially if those lenses don't need much adjustment on another body

I'm curious why there is a difference between the 'default' and 'individual lens' fine tune values, I'd expect them to be the same for any given lens?



May 02, 2013 at 11:23 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


If it is maxed out then it may just be wanting a setting of 21 or 22 and you would not be certain.

More to the point, when the D800s had that non-existent AF problem last year they were initially being "fixed" in ways that used up your ability to do fine tuning. Then by about September last year Nikon finally got it right and were able to fix both new and used D800s in a way that did not sacrifice your fine tune range.

Therefore I suggest that you do send it in for calibration on the basis that there is insufficient fine tune range and also ask that they check it out for the AF problems.

However, the biggest hurdle you face is that you have only run out of fine tune range with Sigma lenses. It would be easier if a Nikon lens was affected too. Nikon might decide that it is not a warranty issue and hit you with their standard service fee, but at least you would know ( or is that hope ?) that the camera is right.

Are you able to borrow a friend's nikon lens and fine tune it too just to see if it needs a higher adjustment ?



May 03, 2013 at 04:52 AM
Mark_L
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


The safest and fastest way to deal with the problem is to return it and get another. You clearly have one right on the limit of tolerence so you may get a lens the same way and run out of fine tune, on top of that if you have 3d party lenses you can't just send it in to nikon and have them all play nice togther. If you send the body in to nikon it could come back almost as bad, they way claim impact damage, they may claim it is within spec etc.


May 03, 2013 at 07:05 AM
Frogfish
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


nextelbuddy wrote:
True but I also see it another way

AF Fine tune is meant for fine tuning thats the honest truth... some people have NO issues and need NO tuning NOW however lens mounts stretch, weather changes and over time and years AF fine tune will be thus needed.

Also resale value.. everyone knows when buying a camera lens and body that owners should be forth coming when selling and of course I would and no one would buy a camera body that needed -20 AF fine tune on 3-4 lenses.. it has a stigma associated with it and it will linger.


You are missing something very important here (esp. re. resale). And that is that every camera is different. Just because a lens is -20 on your camera doesn't mean it will be on someone else's. It could indeed be perfect.

I think it is best explained here :
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths

IMHO I would return your camera to it's defaults and send it back for a replacement, which may or may not be much better (well can't get much worse compatibility wise).



May 03, 2013 at 08:02 AM
eSchwab
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


If you're confident you can do it yourself. I did it on my camera. On the inside of the mirror box there are two allen head screws that operate ecentric cams to adjust the mirror position. Lock up the mirror for cleaning and you can see them on the right hand side when you're looking in. One adjusts the main mirror, the other adjusts the secondary mirror that goes to the autofocus sensors. I'm pretty sure the one that is farther back is for the autofocus. Tiny adjustments in it will bring all your lenses back closer to zero.


May 03, 2013 at 08:22 AM
egd5
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


If your next camera has problems too, I would send it to Nikon. I have a D800 and it needed -20 on two of my main lenses. I sent it to Nikon and it came back fine. I have since played with the lenses more, and it's probably paranoia on my part, but I set them at +2. That's my experience, for what it's worth.


May 03, 2013 at 09:01 AM
pmac1985
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


Well from my recent D800 experience I would not send it to nikon, but return it for a replacement if you can and feel the need to do so.
They managed to return mine with 10X worse AF after it being sent for the left side issue, and I know Im not the only one thats had this issue.



May 04, 2013 at 01:52 AM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


well got my 2nd D800e in today and again requires -18 with the sigma 50 1.4 while on my D700 requires 0 AF adjustment.

Also this second body came in a nice Silver NIkon Refurbished box compared to the last one that came in a plain white box however this new camera came with 1701 images already on it so clearly this was a return not a demo unit etc..

i will be keeping this one since its not any better than the last one in regards to AF fine tune.

Should have kept the last one it only had 4 images on it when i got it lol oh well...



May 07, 2013 at 01:50 PM
Rodolfo Paiz
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · -20 fine tune on 2 lenses and -12 on one D800e.. exchange for another?


On a shutter whose MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is 200K or 300K clicks, those first 1700 are barely 1% of its lifetime. You'll likely sell it with less than 100K clicks anyway... don't worry about it.



May 07, 2013 at 01:56 PM





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