Canon just announced a new firmware upgrade to deal with some possible AF issues with the non-central AF points on the 1D3 and 1Ds III and some other stuff. Here's the link: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-9884-9946
Also, if you're 1D3 user and haven't tried the microfocus adjustment here's the process I've used to do the adjustment. It's a bit time consuming but I found the results worthwhile.
The adjustment is C.Fn III-7 AF MICROADJUSTMENT and is on
page 169 of the manual. What it does is let you do a micro adjustment of exactly
where the focus point of each combination of your camera & lens is. The
1DIII will treat your 500, 500 with 1.4 TC and 500 with 2X TC as separate lenses
and will automatically adjust the focus point each time you use that
'lens'.
To do the test I set up a metal ruler on a second tripod about 20 feet from my
camera. The ruler was taped on to the head of the tripod, set up at about the
same height as my camera and pointed toward me at maybe a 30º angle (with the
near end of the ruler down). The angle isn't critical as long as you can see
the numbers and markings.
To do the test I set the camera up with the lens (first the 500) wide open at
f4 and the 1DIII set on one shot and auto focus with just the centre focus point
selected. I set up on a hard surface to eliminate as many sources of vibration
as possible and locked down everything I could on my tripod, head and mounting
ring. Then I carefully focussed on the number (ie 6) and took several shots,
popped out the card without changing the setup of my camera and took it to my
computer.
I used Canon's DPP to check my images which I shot in RAW. I'm sure
photoshop or whatever would work fine too. Because I did them in the house with
less than perfect lighting I adjusted the exposure, sharpness and contrast to
make the engraved marks on the ruler really stand out. Then I zoomed in to 100%.
What I saw, and you'll see, is the number I focussed on (in
DPP>Tools>Quick Check Tool you can activate the focus point so you can see
exactly where you focussed) and then the marks for fractions of an inch (or
millimeters) in front of and behind your selected number. These marks will get
progressively more out of focus as you get away from your number/focus point.
Traditionally depth of field is set up to be 1/3 in front of the focus point
and 2/3 behind. As an example this would mean that you would see the ruler in
focus from 5 3/4" to 6 1/2" if you focussed on the 6 and had 3/4"
DOF. When you do your test you'll probably find that the DOF is not in that
location so then you can follow the instructions in the manual to adjust the
microfocus.
I was surprised that my 500 was front focussing as much as it was. I ended up
with an adjustment of about +18 for the 500 alone, about +13 with the 1.4 and
about +8 with the doubler.
After I did the calibrations at f4 I did some shots stopped down to f8 with the
500, f11 with the 500+1.4 and f13 with the 500+doubler. Those are more typical
apertures I use out in the field when shooting birds.
With the adjustments made I was happy with the results. Specifically, now when
I photograph birds and focus on the eye I'm usually getting the beak to the
back of the head and beyond in focus.
Ed, thanks for your detailed instructions on your setup.
I'm about to receive the D700 and that too provides settings for different lenses. Did you have a specific reason for selecting f/4? I've not had a chance to read any HOW TO's yet.
I went with f4 because that's wide open for my 500. I decided wide open would give the least DOF so I'd start there because that would be the least forgiving. Really can't say if that was a 'right ' decision or not but it worked for me. Hope you'll post how you make out.
Good luck and enjoy your new camera!
Ed
Posted by Scott Fricke on March 4, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Ed,
Thanks for the post. I downloaded the firmware upgrade for the 1DS III and it doesn't say anything about the autofocus issue. Looked at the 1D III as well and was the same. The link you provided goes to a Canon page that is a service announcement about the autofocus issue, but says you need to call Canon to send it in for service. Did I miss something?
Here's link to Rob Galbraith's site where he has links to the various announcements from Canon http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-9884-9946
Discussion
4 repliesCanon just announced a new firmware upgrade to deal with some possible AF issues with the non-central AF points on the 1D3 and 1Ds III and some other stuff. Here's the link: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-9884-9946
Also, if you're 1D3 user and haven't tried the microfocus adjustment here's the process I've used to do the adjustment. It's a bit time consuming but I found the results worthwhile.
The adjustment is C.Fn III-7 AF MICROADJUSTMENT and is on
page 169 of the manual. What it does is let you do a micro adjustment of exactly
where the focus point of each combination of your camera & lens is. The
1DIII will treat your 500, 500 with 1.4 TC and 500 with 2X TC as separate lenses
and will automatically adjust the focus point each time you use that
'lens'.
To do the test I set up a metal ruler on a second tripod about 20 feet from my
camera. The ruler was taped on to the head of the tripod, set up at about the
same height as my camera and pointed toward me at maybe a 30º angle (with the
near end of the ruler down). The angle isn't critical as long as you can see
the numbers and markings.
To do the test I set the camera up with the lens (first the 500) wide open at
f4 and the 1DIII set on one shot and auto focus with just the centre focus point
selected. I set up on a hard surface to eliminate as many sources of vibration
as possible and locked down everything I could on my tripod, head and mounting
ring. Then I carefully focussed on the number (ie 6) and took several shots,
popped out the card without changing the setup of my camera and took it to my
computer.
I used Canon's DPP to check my images which I shot in RAW. I'm sure
photoshop or whatever would work fine too. Because I did them in the house with
less than perfect lighting I adjusted the exposure, sharpness and contrast to
make the engraved marks on the ruler really stand out. Then I zoomed in to 100%.
What I saw, and you'll see, is the number I focussed on (in
DPP>Tools>Quick Check Tool you can activate the focus point so you can see
exactly where you focussed) and then the marks for fractions of an inch (or
millimeters) in front of and behind your selected number. These marks will get
progressively more out of focus as you get away from your number/focus point.
Traditionally depth of field is set up to be 1/3 in front of the focus point
and 2/3 behind. As an example this would mean that you would see the ruler in
focus from 5 3/4" to 6 1/2" if you focussed on the 6 and had 3/4"
DOF. When you do your test you'll probably find that the DOF is not in that
location so then you can follow the instructions in the manual to adjust the
microfocus.
I was surprised that my 500 was front focussing as much as it was. I ended up
with an adjustment of about +18 for the 500 alone, about +13 with the 1.4 and
about +8 with the doubler.
After I did the calibrations at f4 I did some shots stopped down to f8 with the
500, f11 with the 500+1.4 and f13 with the 500+doubler. Those are more typical
apertures I use out in the field when shooting birds.
With the adjustments made I was happy with the results. Specifically, now when
I photograph birds and focus on the eye I'm usually getting the beak to the
back of the head and beyond in focus.
I'm about to receive the D700 and that too provides settings for different lenses. Did you have a specific reason for selecting f/4? I've not had a chance to read any HOW TO's yet.
Thanks,
Carol
I went with f4 because that's wide open for my 500. I decided wide open would give the least DOF so I'd start there because that would be the least forgiving. Really can't say if that was a 'right ' decision or not but it worked for me. Hope you'll post how you make out.
Good luck and enjoy your new camera!
Ed
Thanks for the post. I downloaded the firmware upgrade for the 1DS III and it doesn't say anything about the autofocus issue. Looked at the 1D III as well and was the same. The link you provided goes to a Canon page that is a service announcement about the autofocus issue, but says you need to call Canon to send it in for service. Did I miss something?
Here's link to Rob Galbraith's site where he has links to the various announcements from Canon http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-9884-9946
Hope this answers your question.