Just adding some observations for those that are interested.
I've had my 58G for close to 2 years now, shooting almost exclusively with it in that time and I had settled on a +14 AF fine tuning which worked for me for the majority of my common shooting situations, including landscapes at infinity.
Recently I took an opportunity to shoot some fireworks at infinity on a tripod, not wide open but stopped down to around f4 or more. I found the results to be less than what I was used to getting but chalked it down to motion blur since I was using long shutter speeds and the setup was hastily done, and shot without mirror lock up or remote shutter releases etc.
I also shot some photos of the kids playing in less than ideal light (ISO 3200, f1.4, 1/60s, tungsten light) and again my hit rates were lower than usual but due to the poor shooting conditions and fast moving kids I couldn't make any conclusions from that shooting session.
Anyways, with an upcoming trip and noticing some pretty nasty dust bunnies in some of my recent pics I took the opportunity to bring my aging D700 and 58G into Nikon for a service and sensor clean.
I mentioned the recent AF inconsistencies and queried whether they could tune my 58G to my D700 since I'm using that lens exclusively atm. The technician had a quick look but because the assessment was going to take longer than I had anticipated, I decided to skip on the AF tuning and just get my sensor cleaned on the spot.
After receiving my camera and lens back, I've noticed quite a different pattern to the AF tuning required and they are as follow:
In daylight and generally good natural light, I now need '0' AF fine tuning. The focus is spot on from infinity down to around 2m which is my usual shooting distance.
When I shoot closer than that it tends to be indoors and at night time with artificial lighting. Here I need an AF fine tune setting around +10. I haven't finalised my results yet but these are just preliminary findings.
I'm don't know if they touched any AF settings but the front reception lady did ask whether I was ok if they updated my camera to the latest firmware if available and I said yes. But since I don't recall what firmware I had previously I don't know whether the firmware had been updated.
So just wondering whether any others have noticed AF fine tuning settings changing over time, or a significant change after camera servicing.
Furthermore, whether anyone's noticed a different AF fine tune setting required between natural light and artificial light?
I've had camera AF fine tune settings needing change after camera firmware updates... not sure what they are called but it's the firmware for lens and distortion and compatibility. So far, the only lens where I noticed an obvious change was the AF-S 28/1.8G. My 58/1.4G was always at 0.
hey swifty168, i always bring any new lens i have to nikon to get the best AF possible. I also did this with my 58mm which needed a -13 fine tune before. Nikon did calibrate the AF-S and it was perfect after that. Short after i took the lens to greece and i was really suprised. After checking my first few shots i recognized that the AF did not hit anymore. After fine tuning the lens again i am now at +13 and all is perfect again.
I dont understand why the AF did change after the calibration at nikon, i never had that with any lens before.
My D750 needs service soon, so i will take the 58mm also and let do nikon check the AF again.
This lens is a blast to shoot with. Once it's honed in on the AF fine tune it'll nail focus. I always hear that you can't count individual eyelashes with this lens wide open but in this shot you most definitely can.
Thanks for the feedback hmzimelka and Tanari.
I checked the invoice and it did say firmware was updated. I'm not sure whether this is for the camera or lens or both.
Just shot with it last night indoors and +10 AF fine tuning was hitting the mark. I've just added a shortcut to turn the AF fine tune on and off depending on the lighting condition.
xgrewellx wrote:
This lens is a blast to shoot with. Once it's honed in on the AF fine tune it'll nail focus. I always hear that you can't count individual eyelashes with this lens wide open but in this shot you most definitely can.
Did you add sharpening to compensate for the lens being soft? looks like there is some noise in the photo.
used a combination of the 35, 85, 58 and ART 50 for this session but here are the 58 specific ones. I really only bring the 58 out now once the sun has gone down. There is something the way this lens renders late evening light so well.
nextelbuddy wrote:
used a combination of the 35, 85, 58 and ART 50 for this session but here are the 58 specific ones. I really only bring the 58 out now once the sun has gone down. There is something the way this lens renders late evening light so well.
Dj R wrote:
@elijah@ are you using LR exclusively for post?
97% of my editing is from LR.
I paired this lens with the 28G (once again) for this engagement session.
It is such a great combo, it will be 100% complete with 105E when it comes in, for sure!!
@Elijah, you really outdid yourself with that last set (engagement): not only selective DOF but also chromatic isolation. I like the wind dynamics in #3.
I paired this lens with the 28G (once again) for this engagement session.
It is such a great combo, it will be 100% complete with 105E when it comes in, for sure!!
Just curious, how much clarity and sharpening are you adding in LR? Also what's your technique for ensuring sharpness? E.g. taking a shot, and then refocusing and taking another redundant shot? Chimping and zooming 1:1?
I've AF fine-tuned my 58mm 3 times to each body, and I'm still not comfortable judging sharpness at f/1.4 when I actually out on the shoot. So I tend to stop down at f/2.0 for engagement sessions. If not shoot one at f/1.4 and another at f/2.0 for insurance. It's either that or I just have a bad copy of the 58. Ugh, your photos just prove that it's possible to get the result I'm after wide open!!
I love that there are diving shots from a D800 with a 58 wide open. Really the last gear you'd want for shooting any kind of "action" in many ways, but you made it happen!
