Reikan focal chart upgrade#
Reikan focal chart pro#
Reikan focal chart software#
Reikan focal chart series#

Reikan focal chart software#

I've been watching this software for a while, since I found it on a Canon forum a while back and it struck me as one of them bits of 'cool' software that would make a dedicated photographer's life a lot easier. At least with my gear, it was a big waste of money.This is a test review of Reikan Software's FoCal lens calibration software.

Reikan focal chart series#

The target was setup according to specifications, and I use a Gitzo series V tripod with an Arca B1 head. This was all done in a studio with a concrete floor. With the 180, the calibrated results were worse. With the 50 and 105 the results were a tiny bit better. Each time, the 'after' image was noticeably fuzzier than the before image.Īfter going through all of this, I switched to shooting tethered with Capture One, taking images of the target with AF Fine Tune on and off. I did the process about 10 times, getting anywhere from a -7 to a -11 reading. After an interminable wait, I'd get the option to retry, whereupon everything would immediate work.for a little while. With the 180, though, the process would regularly hang, sometimes continuing ok, but then it would stop at the 'acquiring image' stage. The process went fairly smoothly with the 50mm and the 105, and in both cases the after image was a tiny bit better.

Reikan focal chart pro#

I used the Pro version along with an official target to calibrate my D600 and a 180f/2.8, 105f/2.5, and 50f/1.4 lenses. Some results were surprising (like how brilliantly constant are the performances of the 100/2.8L and 400/5.6, and how disapointing the 50/1.8 was below f/5).Īll in all, the software was well worth the investment, especially considering it improved the results of a lens set so many times more expensive. It's much more useful information than an MTF chart, and I even printed a cheat sheet for all my lenses and carry it with the gear. You can consciously make compromises in sharpness if you have to, but in most cases you just use your lenses better. It takes the guess work out the equation. Second, and most importantly, having the sharpness by f-stop chart for each lens made me utilize my set better and get sharper pictures overall. One could argue that a couple of MF points won't make a world of difference, but if you pixel peep you can notice it (out of a 7D). I initially bought it as a time saver as I had manually MF'ed some lenses before, but the software delivered other benefits that made a lot of difference in my shooting.įirst, I found it produced more precise calibration than I could achieve manually. I also bought the software a couple months ago and I was impressed with the results.

So if you are looking for a good way to get your MA adjustments taken care of, especially if you have a Canon body that supports the automatic calibration mode - I agree with the OP - you should buy this software. The customer service was very good and they were able to help me get everything straightened out in very short order.

Reikan focal chart upgrade#

One other thing - I originally had an issue with the license when I bought the upgrade (due to a computer problem I was having). Once Nikon makes the necessary function calls available to third party software developers, I expect this program can add the automatic functionality that is already supported for many of the Canon bodies. There is not quite as good support for some of the functions on Nikon bodies, but that is the fault of the lack of support for remote controlling some of the functions of the cameras that Nikon makes available to developers, not any fault of the program itself. I now want to go back and run some of the other statistics and tests (like sharpest aperture) that the Pro version gives you. After seeing how excellent and easy it was to use I upgraded to the Pro version. I originally had the middle version (that allows for the automatic calibration) but not the Pro version. I have calibrated both my 70-200 f/4 L IS and my 24-105 f/4 L IS with it and I am pleased with the values of MA that it came up with, which was much easier than the original testing I did without the software trying to set my MA adjustment values myself. I bought the system about 2 months ago - and I agree - it is a very cool piece of software and I think it gives accurate repeatable results.