Focus fine tuning

[armand]

Do you do it for all your lenses or only if you feel there is a problem?

I did try the quick method of "dot focus" for a Nikon 50mm 1.8G.
Eventually a came out with a tiny adjustment (-2) but what surprised me (negatively) was that the camera thought its focus is acceptable (green dot of focus) between -17 to +14 which is quite a lot; I already accepted my 50 F1.8G is soft wide open but it seems the focus has a lot of variability also.

[spidermike]

Were you able to look at what the range -17 to +14 was equivalent to in terms of DOF?
What were you trying to focus on?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Do you do it for all your lenses or only if you feel there is a problem?

Hi,

I do it for all my lenses. It helps with getting more accurate automatic focusing, and I do get good in-focus feedback also when using manual focus.

Cheers,
Bart

[Jack Hogan]

Do you do it for all your lenses or only if you feel there is a problem?

I did try the quick method of "dot focus" for a Nikon 50mm 1.8G.
Eventually a came out with a tiny adjustment (-2) but what surprised me (negatively) was that the camera thought its focus is acceptable (green dot of focus) between -17 to +14 which is quite a lot; I already accepted my 50 F1.8G is soft wide open but it seems the focus has a lot of variability also.

Were you in manual focus?  Manual focus mode in Nikon cameras increases the green dot sweet spot substantially.  Otherwise -17 to +14 would be an indication of something wrong on a recent camera.

[dwswager]

Do you do it for all your lenses or only if you feel there is a problem?

I did try the quick method of "dot focus" for a Nikon 50mm 1.8G.
Eventually a came out with a tiny adjustment (-2) but what surprised me (negatively) was that the camera thought its focus is acceptable (green dot of focus) between -17 to +14 which is quite a lot; I already accepted my 50 F1.8G is soft wide open but it seems the focus has a lot of variability also.

Set the camera to only turn metering on with shutter button half press and not AF.  Try using Contrast Detection with Live View to focus.  Then go into Phase Detection mode with the mirror down and see what values give a green dot focus confirmation by half pressing the shutter button.  Only a solid green dot, not flicker.

[armand]

Were you in manual focus?  Manual focus mode in Nikon cameras increases the green dot sweet spot substantially.  Otherwise -17 to +14 would be an indication of something wrong on a recent camera.

That might be the reason.

I just followed this method: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7zE50jCUPhM
When I can I'll try the Nikon recommended method also.

[Jack Hogan]

That might be the reason.

I just followed this method: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7zE50jCUPhM

That's a pretty good first try, and for most people it's all that's needed.  Just don't set your camera to manual focus mode.