Re: Sensor and lens tilt and how to DIY adjust your equipment
Beni wrote:
I do wonder whether they might be room for a niche service doing the testing and adjustment and providing fully tuned camera/lens combinations for a discerning customer.
I've discussed just such a thing with Ilija at Kolari Vision. A few ideas were floated but mainly we wonder if there is a market for such a service (hardly anyone is aware of, let alone complains about this issue), and how much would people be willing to pay for it. It's not a quick job to adjust the camera. Several hours of work at a minimum, but more likely several days total is needed by the method I proposed. I once asked Roger Cicala how much it would cost to measure my lens on OLAF and have them optically adjust it to as perfect as possible, and it was something like over $5000 for a prime, possibly around $10,000 for a zoom. Don't quote me on that, but I seem to recall it was several times the cost of a typical 24-70 2.8 or 70-200 2.8. It should be possible to go digging for that old comment on Disqus.
I've also just learned that all the new Sony cameras with 6-screw bayonets from the a7R III onwards have different shaped front mounts which are not easily removed, and the design most likely prevents shimming because of the way the front panel clamps down on the mount. So those would require full disassembly to reach the sensor and shim there. Just the disassembly and re-assembly can take over an hour each, as compared to 10 minutes with the removable 4-screw mount on the a7/a7R/a7R II/a7 II/a7S/a7S II. It might take anywhere from 3-5 rounds of iterative adjustments to arrive at the optimal position. If there are enough requests, it might make it worthwhile to invest in the confocal setup which automates the measurement of the sensor tilt, so only one measurement is needed, and one adjustment is needed. No more manual visual evaluation needed. It still won't be a cheap service.
I wonder also about the need to adjust the camera, given the bayonet machining issue and that camera tilts are generally small. Maybe the best bet is to select a camera that is quite straight, never adjust the camera and simply shim all of one's lenses to that camera. When you switch cameras, re-shim any lenses that mate differently with the new one. And you don't need to re-shim every lens if you are mostly doing stopped-down landscape photography. Only the special primes for special work, for example. This was actually my plan when I got an a7R IV for a trip that never happened due to the pandemic, before I knew the mount was non-removable.
Sep 10, 2020 at 05:53 AM
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