mco_970 wrote:
Got this ordered and am looking forward to trying this w/ my 7D and 5D2. I hope people who are trying it will post back with their results.
I've been experimenting with the Pro version since Monday. I'm not going to do a review on it, but will say it is a tremendous break with the struggles and tedium of the past, provides a revealing and interesting insight into the AF system, while producing as good or better results than previous methods. I'm sure there will be upgrades and refinements along the way, but I'm really happy with the first version.
Can anyone tell me if I can install this on two computers with one license? I'd like a copy on my desktop for most stuff, and a copy on my husband's laptop for MA'ing the 400 and 500 (since my laptop is a poodle ).
ETA - I did send an email to support asking, just thought someone might know the answer and give me a headstart on this project today.
I was one of the beta testers and have the full pro version now. It can be installed on two computers. I have it on a laptop for the 400 and 70-200 + 1.4 tc so i can take them outside and get the distance needed.
Great tool that takes the guess work out of MA and is much easier than the other methods. It has given me consistent results with all of my lens's.
Kafn8td wrote:
I was one of the beta testers and have the full pro version now. It can be installed on two computers. I have it on a laptop for the 400 and 70-200 + 1.4 tc so i can take them outside and get the distance needed.
Great tool that takes the guess work out of MA and is much easier than the other methods. It has given me consistent results with all of my lens's.
Would you mind providing a description of your outside setup used for MA'ing the 400 including what distance you had the target at?
I got email back pretty quickly from Rich - it can be installed on as many computers as I wish. That makes things a bit easier.
I have run through 2 cameras and 9 lenses, repeating some of the tests at multiple focal lengths. Did not have to sit by the computer and babysit. I am VERY happy with how easy the testing was. I only have two lenses left to test when I get the laptop setup and I'm DONE. Then I can go shoot and see how the results bear out in real shooting.
Interestingly, I tried my 50 1.4 that I thought needs sent into Canon and the software was able to tell me the behavior of the lens was very unpredictable. I wish I had back the hours of my life that I spent trying to MFA that blasted lens.
The software did lock up a few times and needed restarted. Still totally worth it, IMO. I will reserve final judgement until I can do some shooting, but thus far, I am very happy with it.
schlotz wrote:
Would you mind providing a description of your outside setup used for MA'ing the 400 including what distance you had the target at?
Sure. I stepped off about 50 feet from my fence and set up my tripod on my patio and pointed the camera and 400 at the fence. I used the level in the 7D and then pinned the target on the fence wher I thought it should go after leveling the camera.
It was pretty close, but i adjusted the camera until the center point was on the center of the camera. I then plugged it in to my laptop and checked using the target alignment tool in the software. It happened to be dead on so no further alignment was needed.
I used the fully auto mode and I was about 52' away. The program worked went through its steps and a couple of minutes later it was done.
mco_970 wrote:
Interestingly, I tried my 50 1.4 that I thought needs sent into Canon and the software was able to tell me the behavior of the lens was very unpredictable. I wish I had back the hours of my life that I spent trying to MFA that blasted lens.
Yeah this is the one lens I've never been to decide what MFA to use. Even at a given distance to target I haven't ever been sure it just has so much variation shot to shot.
And it breaks on top of that.
They should have recalled this unique clutched micro USM design years ago and re-made it with proper, working USM.
Cool, thanks for providing details (even though I'm not the one who asked ). I was planning on taping it to the tailgate of my truck so I can drive it farther out for the 500mm test.
Kafn8td wrote:
Sure. I stepped off about 50 feet from my fence and set up my tripod on my patio and pointed the camera and 400 at the fence. I used the level in the 7D and then pinned the target on the fence wher I thought it should go after leveling the camera.
It was pretty close, but i adjusted the camera until the center point was on the center of the camera. I then plugged it in to my laptop and checked using the target alignment tool in the software. It happened to be dead on so no further alignment was needed.
I used the fully auto mode and I was about 52' away. The program worked went through its steps and a couple of minutes later it was done....Show more →
Richard Nye wrote:
This takes MA to a whole new level.
One question. Since the target is flat (unlike the Lens Align which has a sloped scale, or staggered batteries, etc.) won't there be a fairly wide range of MA adjustments that the lens appears in focus? Particularly lenses with smaller (f/4 and above) apertures with greater DOF?
With a sloped target, you can visually see if the depth of field is centered around the target. With a flat target, you can't.
I'm going to ask this question again because I think it is relevant and no one has responded. I'm having difficulty seeing the screenshots, so maybe the answer to this question is in the graph the software displays. Can anyone answer this question?
After mine goes to Canon and is fixed, it had better be very good or I'm eating it for breakfast. Friggin' thing. I really liked it for the month or so that it worked...
skibum5 wrote:
Yeah this is the one lens I've never been to decide what MFA to use. Even at a given distance to target I haven't ever been sure it just has so much variation shot to shot.
And it breaks on top of that.
They should have recalled this unique clutched micro USM design years ago and re-made it with proper, working USM.
Not sure what you mean, Richard, but SoCal doesn't save any shots to the card or computer that I have found. It appears to shoot, analyze the file, then discard it when you close the window. While the AFMA Test window is open, if you click on Analysis and click on the blue diamonds on the graph, it will show you the image for that particular test shot.
If this isn't what you mean, please explain a bit more what you are looking for.
What I mean is this...this method uses a flat target (unlike LensAlign which uses a target with depth, i.e. a sloped scale). It seems like with some lenses, particularly if they have smallish apertures (f/4 or f/5.6), the target could appear in focus at several MA adjustments. How does the software pick the optimum MA setting?
With a sloped scale you can visually see the range of depth of field and how it is centered around the target.
I do like the graph it produces to see if the AF system in a particular lens is accurate or all messed up. I had a lens one time that had a problem with AF and it was a frustrating exercise to try to calibrate it.
Richard, I don't know the technical answer, but definitely the software should make fine tuning much faster as you'd have the starting point and the point you'd pick through manual MA should be within a point or two.
Well, the Lens Align actual target is flat with the sloped ruler to one side showing the front and back of the DOF. FocCal appears to take shots to locate the front and back of the DOF, and then, using that data, locate the middle. The FoCal graph will show you that process and the +- number it chose.
I noticed with the 85L at f/1.2 with its very thin DOF it was a longer process deciding between two MA points, whereas the 100-400L @ 400mm f/5.6, plus or minus 1 MA point was less critical.
How do you create MA software? This is my guess/speculation. I may be totally wrong.
1. The target is similar to a square barcode used by iphone/ipad app, which means it has some data embedded in it. When the target is perfectly in focus, maximum amount of data can be read and interpreted from an image. When the target is closer to focus, more data can be read than when it is out of focus. The software knows what data the target has.
2. Canon provides an SDK (software development kit) that has API (application programming interface) functions that you can call from a program written in C/C++ to perform various functions, such as change the MA value by a specified value, take a picture etc.
3. The software systematically takes a series of pictures for various MA values, say from +10 to -10. The software reads the data from each image and compares which image provides the maximum data and notes the corresponding MA value. Probably it will take a few more pictures to reconfirm and narrow down to the most accurate MA value.
A quick note:
I purchased the "plus" 1.2.1.71 version yesterday and ran all my Canon glass (except 500mm) through my 5dMKll and MklV.
It took over 6 hours to receive the program install link following purchase..not certain why,,,maybe time zone issue but anyways I installed it on my MacPro via Parallels and all went fine.
Initial start involves a fair amount of reading but once I went though the manual things cleared up..
Windows7 must have the camera drivers since I had never loaded the Canon Untility software but it was found and installed without incident.
The program provides varying degrees of intensity for ajustment and I opted for normal...for now anyways.
I have spent many hours tweaking my glass manually with off the cuff paper/angle/tripod..etc proceedures and this simply blows that nonsense away.
Nearly all my glass resulted in changed values, some substantially. The program shows a target file of the current MA settings in the camera and when finished (usually about 1-2 minutes) displays the proposed MA and all but 2 I opted to allow the proposed MA to change the settings I has set.
I have been struggling with my 50 1.2 and 24 1.4 from day one and thought I would have to send them in as the 50 was pushed to the end of the scale ( which made me very suspicious). It finished at -9 and after many test files I must say I've never seen images of this degree from this piece...it used to gather dust but will certainly see more camera time now.
The last lens I did was my 300 2.8 and it was late like 1 am and I could only give it the width of my house at 35 feet ( 50x focal length as Canon states is not mandatory according to FoCal but suggested) and a very steady mount is absolute as engaging the target properly is a task.
The glass I did MA on:
24L ll 1.4 / 35L 1.4 / 50L 1.2 / 85L ll 1.2 / 100L lS 2.8 / 135L 2.0 / 200L 2.0 / 70-200L ll 2.8 / 300L IS 2.8 /
and not yet done...500L IS 4.0 / 100-400L IS / 16-35L l / Samyang 8mm / Bower 14mm
(not certain if the latter 2 are capable)
I have not yet scrutinized actual files to comment on the practical results nor gotten into the fine tuning or technical aspects of the software.
Good old windows did lock several times..not sure if this is a bug or windows thing but since this SW is very new I suspect updates will follow shortly. I look forward to the MAC ver and apparently the same license will work on either o/s.
I hope people who are trying it will post back with their results.
