When I look at the Lensalign I just keep thinking of the gizmos you see at kitchen shows or advertised on late night cable 'infomercials'.
Hi Keith,
I am the creator of LensAlign. I have always thought that your less than kind references to LensAlign were unfair. You are certainly entitled to like it or not, but the question is have you used one, or even seen one. The look and feel in person is quite different than a web JPEG. But yes, it is not a mass produced product stamped out in a foreign country, so it has some "rough edges" on it (pun intended).
Regarding price...simply costs a lot to build. $15+ in die costs alone, and a lot of hand labor and each one is precision tested on a Laser based test bench to assure the accuracy of the sighting system. (I laugh when people in the forums say that there are $5 worth of parts in LensAlign. The packing material alone is about $5. Ever try to purchase a custom made precision stainless steel ruler?)
I agree that Bart's Moire system is very clever, and told Bart so when he created it and then proceeded to get his input on LensAlign, as I did with many photographers, Pros, inventors, etc.
Back to the DataColor unit. As Bart said, appears to have no ability to ensure that the image plane is parallel to the focus target. You cannot do that with levels. Even if the camera and test unit are both level that is no indication that the target and sensor are parallel. The ruler appears to be small, and they demo the devise without regard to proper distance between camera and test device. The pop up mechanism appears to be very slick, but it remains to be seen whether it provides the proper precision (it very well may).
I will not make any comments on potential patent infringements (except this one). :>)
There are many ways to adjust the AF adjust on the cameras. Some are just not right (flat charts), and others (DIY) are technically good but beyond the means of many people to build or assemble them properly, not to mention that most pro photographers barely have the time to adjust the AF, let alone set up a jig that is non-repeatable or lacks in precision.
I would guess that the DataColor will meet many peoples needs, but it appears to lack much of what is needed for many other people. As long as DataColor plays fair, I welcome them into the marketplace. I DO resent them saying in their promotional material that before their product there was no way to correct back/front other than sending the camera/lens back to the mfg. That is simply a lie for so many reasons. If they cheat like that, then I have no respect for them.
And BTW, the timing is interesting as we will be introducing a new lower cost version of LensAlign shortly to replace our previous LITE version.
Thanks for letting me comment within this discussion. I tried to be factual, but if my marketing hat slipped on in a few places, I will be happy to remove the post if the moderator suggests it.
Michael Tapes
Creator: LensAlign, WhiBal