Originally, when Michael Tapes developed LensAlign, determining the sharpest point of adjustment had to be done manually, using the target & ruler setup he offered at the time. This method still works; but is very tedious. He did a video on how to do it here
. If you only purchased the LensAlign product, and not his later, Focus Tune software, you can still calibrate your lenses this old way. What you were attempting to do with this method was to tune your lens to a point where the ")" that appears on his ruler is the sharpest it can be. First you set up you lens and camera at the proper distance from each other (Tapes, I believe, still has an on-line automated distance tool to figure this out for you. Otherwise, you must use his formula; and figure it out yourself). Using his actual formula, for the 105mm lens, that distance is set at 8feet, 7.35inches from sensor mark on your camera body to the Tapes' target. Then, you performed these steps:
- Set the camera to shoot monochrome images
- Set the camera to either Manual Mode or Aperture Priority Mode
- Set the camera to use only a single auto focus point in the center of the viewfinder
- Set the camera to shoot only a single image when the shutter is pressed
- Turn the camera’s Fine Tune setting to “Off” for your test shot
- Set the aperture to F/8 for your test shot and in order to see if the LensAlign target is centered
- Set the camera to shoot Large, Fine, JPEG images
- Use a tripod and a cable release
- Set the "sensor plane" (which is usually marked on top of the camera body. The D800 has it in white, next to the top LCD window as an oblong circle with a line through it); and not the front of the lens, at the correct distance from the front of the LensAlign target.
- Make sure the LensAlign target is perfectly centered (view a test shot on your computer screen to make sure-see 12, below)
- Make sure the background, behind the LensAlign is black, or dark
- Shoot a test shot to determine if the LensAlign target is correctly centered
- If satisfied the LensAlign target is perfectly centered, change your aperture to its lowest number (i.e.; F/1.8 or 2.8, etc.- as long as your highlights are visible in the image; and not blown out)
- Turn the camera’s Fine Tune setting back to “On” for your Fine Tune adjustment shots
- Defocus the lens by manually moving the lens focus all the way to one side. Half-press the shutter to reacquire autofocus. Shoot an image; and look at it on the computer screen for accuracy of the “O” being in focus. The smaller numbers on the ruler give a better evaluation.
- If necessary, go into the camera’s Fine Tune menu and adjust the focus point at various “+” or “-“settings. Defocus the lens, again; and re-shoot at those various new settings. After each test shot, re-evaluate the sharpness of the “O” on the LensAlign ruler. Keep adjusting your Fine Tune settings until the “O” on the LensAlign ruler is its sharpest.
- Once properly adjusted, leave the camera’s Fine Tune setting “On”.
- Go out; and take a few "field" shots; and evaluate them accuracy on your computer.
Later, Tapes offered software to save you the tedious process of having to repeatedly shoot and evaluate the "O" mark on the ruler. That software is called Focus Tune. If you bought that, as well as the LensAlign device, you still followed steps 1 through 15, above; but can plug your shots in unison into his software. The computer, then, evaluates the sharpest point of ")" on the ruler. Unfortunately, you also had to buy a newer ruler & different target from him to use it. If I'm not mistaken, Tapes demonstrates that system here:
--
truview
