Welcome to our blog where we hope to provide a thorough understanding of the products and services we offer, as well as providing interesting and helpful information, links and tips regarding photography in general.

Canon & Simga Lens Calibrations

March 21, 2020  •  Leave a Comment

I do not consider myself a photography techie, but I went through a process this past week that I found interesting.

I ordered a Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art Lens, and after I received it, I found a good number of articles and reviews suggesting that the lens’ autofocus needed to be calibrated using their special USB hub tool and special procedures for various distances.  After I began the process, I discovered I did not have the proper distance target for doing the calibrations.  So, since I was geared up for calibrating, I decided to calibrate it and all of my other lenses using Reikan Focal software (that had been sitting in my cabinet unopened) using the microadjustment function on my primary camera body. 

All of my lenses, except for the new Sigma, are Canon, some L and some standard.  Test results Focal reported included Lens Profile (showing the curves and locations of the sharpest microadjustment points), Focus Consistency, Astigmatism Factor and Front/Back Focus in which the Canon L lenses performed the best of the Canon as expected.  All of the Canon lenses required some autofocus adjustment, although none seemed very far out of whack.  The two standard prime lenses were the worst obtaining Result Confidences of “Poor”, and their curves were generally all over the place for the various attributes.  The generation III of 70-200 L was quite good from low to high focal lengths.  But, the most interesting result was that the Sigma lens required 0 autofocus adjustment at 99.9% Consistency of Focus.

Following is a summary of the autofocus microadjustments:

Camera

Lens

Focal Length

Fixed

Wide Angle

Telephoto

5D Miv

Canon

50mm

-2

N/A

N/A

5D Miv

Canon

100mm

-2

N/A

N/A

5D Miv

Canon

16-35

N/A

2

3

5D Miv

Canon

24-70 L

N/A

-2

-6

5D Miv

Canon

70-200 L iii

N/A

5

2

5D Miv

Sigma

50mm

0

N/A

N/A

Darn the luck!  My go to 24-70 L V1 died on me this week, so I will have to recalibrate it after repair.  I discovered the failure was a known defect in the lens and unfortunately Canon factory no longer supported the older model.  I could have purchased the latest version but opted to send it to Royal Camera Service (www.royalcameras.com) for repair.  Their service was prompt and professional.  I have not yet given it a test run or calibrated it but am looking forward to it.  

I hope you photographers found this useful.

Bruce


Stanko Abadžić

February 21, 2016  •  Leave a Comment

Just wanted to share a recent discovery I made of Croation photographer Stanko Abadžić.  What amazing photographs!  His website is http://sabadzic.net.amis.hr/index.html and one of the US galleries representing him is http://www.catherinecouturier.com .  You will not be disappointed.


Photoshop & Lightroom JPEG Export Settings

February 20, 2016  •  Leave a Comment

JPEG quality export settings and anticipated results can be darn confusing.  The following two articles shed some light on the considerations involved.  The second from the blog of Jeffrey Friedl is especially interesting and helpful with regard to Lightroom.  

http://petapixel.com/2011/08/26/a-higher-quality-setting-in-photoshop-sometimes-reduces-jpeg-quality/

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/jpeg-quality

 

Enjoy and happy photo trails!


Order Review & Custom Services

February 19, 2016  •  Leave a Comment

We are notified each time an order is placed for prints, and we review the order to make sure it can be properly filled given the print sizes and other considerations involved.  Image pixel size adjustments may be necessary to properly fill an order, along with cropping and other image editing.  If a client is interested in special products, such as fine art prints, print borders or specialty papers, it will be necessary to email me at [email protected] providing an email address and/or phone number so we can review the details of the order and make sure we completely understand the customer's wishes.  

Our goal is to provide first class services satisfying all of our clients' needs each and every time.


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