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Any luck with Fuji lens repair for off centering?

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fcracer

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I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
 
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I'm very impressed with Fujifilm China's service. They fixed the lens in three weeks by replacing some internal part. It only cost me CNY100 or US$14!

Here is the before after, please note the right side (and also that they didn't sacrifice image quality on the left side to achieve it):

Left: Before repair. Right: After repair. Both images are 100% crop from right side.

Left: Before repair. Right: After repair. Both images are 100% crop from right side.

Left: Before repair. Right: After repair. Both images are 100% crop from left side.

Left: Before repair. Right: After repair. Both images are 100% crop from left side.



--
Travel, photography and gear: fcracer.com
I wouldn't hold my breath. If these lenses aren't design with calibration in mind, then it is what it is.

I say this after spending the better part of today trying to get the left side and right side of a lens that I can adjust to be equally good. It's driving me bonkers and I'm still not there. There is no way that a company like Fuji is spending that much time on one lens.
 
fcracer said:
I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
Click to expand...
 
fcracer said:
I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
Click to expand...
From what you have said, I would suspect that this is a tilt issue rather than a decentered lens, but you'd have to conduct testing to detirmine that.
 
dbateman said:
fcracer said:
I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
Click to expand...
How much money do you want to spend to fix it?

You could contact Lensrentals and see if they can adjust it. They are the only ones I know of with the instruments to correct it.
Click to expand...
Are they adjustable though? Can LensRental do more than take it apart, put it back together, and hope that performance improved?

Props to Fuji if they designed their lenses actually to be adjustable. I'd be surprised though because adjusting is a job of work on its own and needs some serious instrumentation.

Back to your question... how much does someone want to spend...? I just spent the day getting one lens into good calibration . I wouldn't wanted to pay someone by the hour to spend the time it took me.
 
Hi Jim, I used your website’s decentred test and it didn’t show any issues so perhaps it’s tilt. How would I go about testing that?
 
fcracer said:
Hi Jim, I used your website’s decentred test and it didn’t show any issues so perhaps it’s tilt. How would I go about testing that?
Click to expand...
This tests for both.

Lens screening testing - the last word

Note: the best way to navigate this set of pages is to use the "Articles" section in the right-hand panel. It has links to all the pages and their titles. For the last few years, I have followed Internet discussions related to lens screening. By screening, I mean the process that a photographer...
blog.kasson.com blog.kasson.com
 
left eye said:
fcracer said:
Hi Jim, I used your website’s decentred test and it didn’t show any issues so perhaps it’s tilt. How would I go about testing that?
Click to expand...
You photographed a horizontal flat plane subject, eg a playing field, then used ‘find edges’ in PS?

My 32-64mm is not sharp on a straight plane of focus, edges out of focus compared to the centre, though the edges do achieve sharp focus toward the foreground. I think I do see some decentering, but mostly this lens has fairly serious field curvature …which I work with rather than against.
Having seen results from other 32-64mm’s some seem to achieve remarkably sharp and flat field results, so there may be sample variation at play. If you send yours into Fuji I’ll be interested to hear back as to what they can do.
Click to expand...
I didn’t photograph a horizontal flat plane subject to test for decentering. I used Jim’s recommendation for an LED light in bokeh to see if it was perfectly circular.

I am ok with the field curvature as I can’t expect perfection from a versatile zoom lens. However, I’d hope both corners would be equally unsharp :)
 
According to this very thorough article, shimming for tilt can be done: https://cacaoeditions.com/your-cameras-and-lenses-are-crooked/

I just ordered shim rings and tweezers, and will start trying on a cheap Nikon zoom. If all goes well, I'll eventually work my way into my GFX lenses.

I've found that if I align the camera with the built in grid lines against the edge of a woven wool rug, I can get excellent information about the tilt. From what I've seen, the results do translate to larger distances.
 
fcracer said:
I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
Click to expand...
The short answer is "it can be" but that doesn't mean it will be. I assume (and these are important assumptions so correct me if I'm wrong) that the softness on the right is at all of the zoom range? And is it there at different focusing distances or just at far distance?

The other critical question is can you manually focus it to get a sharp right side and soft left? These questions help determine where the problem is within the lens itself. If my assumption is correct, that the right side is never sharp then the problem is likely one of the fixed elements is misaligned and if the element is adjustable it can be corrected. Big if.

If my assumptions are wrong, then it could be the focusing group (almost always fixable) or a tilt at the lens mount (also fixable).

As to getting it done I'd go with Fuji factory service. Otherwise you're going to pay well over $100 an hour for repair and equipment use during repair for what could be at least a several hours repair charge.
 
jvanatta said:
According to this very thorough article, shimming for tilt can be done: https://cacaoeditions.com/your-cameras-and-lenses-are-crooked/

I just ordered shim rings and tweezers, and will start trying on a cheap Nikon zoom. If all goes well, I'll eventually work my way into my GFX lenses.

I've found that if I align the camera with the built in grid lines against the edge of a woven wool rug, I can get excellent information about the tilt. From what I've seen, the results do translate to larger distances.
Click to expand...
Where are you getting your shim rings? I use Misumi, which does semi-custom work. I'm always on the lookout for suppliers that can make closer to what I need.
 
You can always take a photo using the lens with good left and then switch to the other lens with good right and combine them in photoshop to make 1 good image.
 
Last edited:
xtm said:
You can always take a photo using the lens with good left and then switch to the other lens with good right and combine them in photoshop to make 1 good image.
Click to expand...
If the problem is tilt, refocusing is simpler and faster.
 
Misumi. I just bought a bunch of ring shim 10 packs--2mm inner, 4mm outer, of different thicknesses.

In an earlier attempt I bought shim stock and cut it into crescent shapes to fit inside an adapter, and that approach is not one I'd recommend. I'm optimistic that the around-the-screw rings will be simpler and better.
 
Last edited:
jvanatta said:
Misumi. I just bought a bunch of ring shim 10 packs--2mm inner, 4mm outer, of different thicknesses.

In an earlier attempt I bought shim stock and cut it into crescent shapes to fit inside an adapter, and that approach is not one I'd recommend. I'm optimistic that the around-the-screw rings will be simpler and better.
Click to expand...
I haven't found anything better than Misumi. They're fast and the quality is excellent.

Did you get some 0.02mm shims? I've calibrated eight lenses to correct field curvature so they work properly with GFX sensors, and I'm finding that 10 microns (0.01mm) can be the difference between OK and excellent. In the sizes I need Misumi doesn't have 0.01mm shims. But I am working with lenses where I generally need 0.1mm as the base, so by combining 0.01mm, 0.02mm and 0.05mm I can shim from 0.04mm up in 0.01mm increments. I'm out of luck if all I need is 0.01mm or 0.03mm (but that won't happen in my situation).
 
Thank you all for the helpful replies. Please know that I’m not ignoring you, I’m celebrating Chinese New Year in Harbin, a mind numbing cold place famous for the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. I’ll reply when I get back home and have some time to do a few more tests to confirm your suspicions.

btw, the GFX 100S II has been stellar in the -20C temps. The rear lcd slows down a bit and has motion blur, but the camera itself has done better than my friend’s A7R5 which refused to turn on a few times and rapidly depleted its battery. To be fair to the A7R5, it could be the Sony Tough cards which are now under recall for cold temp issues.
 
fcracer said:
Thank you all for the helpful replies. Please know that I’m not ignoring you, I’m celebrating Chinese New Year in Harbin, a mind numbing cold place famous for the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. I’ll reply when I get back home and have some time to do a few more tests to confirm your suspicions.

btw, the GFX 100S II has been stellar in the -20C temps. The rear lcd slows down a bit and has motion blur, but the camera itself has done better than my friend’s A7R5 which refused to turn on a few times and rapidly depleted its battery. To be fair to the A7R5, it could be the Sony Tough cards which are now under recall for cold temp issues.

--
Travel, photography and gear: fcracer.com
Click to expand...
Just to let you know the user "RCicala" was the founder of Lensrentals and still works there. So his comment might be related to my comment about getting Lensrentals to adjust the lens for you, with estimates on the expected high cost of that repair.
 
RCicala said:
fcracer said:
I’m not sure if this is a recent thing or was always like this, but my GF32-64 at 64MM is very unsharp on the right side and super sharp on the left side at far distances. I purchased another second hand GF32-64 to compare and it’s rather unsharp on the left side and good sharpness on the right side 😩

I’d like to send my original lens into Fujifilm to see if they can adjust it so that the two sides have an equal level of sharpness/unsharpness. Has anyone had luck in doing this? I assume they’ll return the lens and say it’s “within tolerances” given my experience with the second lens.

Any insight is appreciated. I’ll post some comparison pics when I’m home later.
Click to expand...
The short answer is "it can be" but that doesn't mean it will be. I assume (and these are important assumptions so correct me if I'm wrong) that the softness on the right is at all of the zoom range? And is it there at different focusing distances or just at far distance?

The other critical question is can you manually focus it to get a sharp right side and soft left? These questions help determine where the problem is within the lens itself. If my assumption is correct, that the right side is never sharp then the problem is likely one of the fixed elements is misaligned and if the element is adjustable it can be corrected. Big if.
If my assumptions are wrong, then it could be the focusing group (almost always fixable) or a tilt at the lens mount (also fixable).

As to getting it done I'd go with Fuji factory service. Otherwise you're going to pay well over $100 an hour for repair and equipment use during repair for what could be at least a several hours repair charge.
Click to expand...
Hi Roger,

Thank you for your response. Apologies for taking so long to reply, but I wanted to do some testing and provide this group with comparison images so that we have high quality data to work with.

I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Is the softness on the right is at all of the zoom range?

Yes. Based on the testing, I can see softness at both 32mm and 64mm. It's more obvious at 64mm however.

Is it there at different focusing distances or just at far distance?

It appears to be only at far distances. At minimum focus distance and at 64mm, the right and left side appear to be indistinguishable. I didn't provide the images here, but I'm happy to share those test charts if it would be helpful.

Can you manually focus it to get a sharp right side and soft left?

Yes, the lens can be sharp on the right side when focused on the right side. The centre appears to suffer the most and becomes blurry; the left does too but to a much smaller extent.

Test images:

The first pair of test images were taken at 64mm and F4 with focus in the centre. Blurriness is visible on the right side. To confirm the depth of focus is sufficient and not the cause of the issue on the right side, I flipped the camera upside down and took the same shot. This time, the right side is now clear (when the image is flipped right side up), which confirms the blurriness is coming from the lens and not a depth of focus issue.

The second pair of images were to test the impact of where focus was placed. The first set of the pair were taken at 64mm and F8 with focus placed in the centre of the image. The second pair was also taken at F8, but with focus placed on the right side of the image. When the focus is placed on the right side, the right side becomes very clear, however the centre suffers.

The third pair of images were to test whether the issue remains at all focal distances. The images were taken at 32mm and F4. The first of the pair was taken right side up, which shows the right side being blurry, but not as bad as at 64mm. The second pair is upside down, which allows us to compare the opposite sides. It's clear that the issue remains at 32mm.

d428e7f971c248b48dccc8b766aa631c.jpg


Hope the above helps diagnose the issue. I've already purchased another GF32-64 and can will do the same testing on that lens as I did above. From the short time I've used it, I can see the left side is more blurry than the right (oh my!) but is more balanced than my original GF32-64.

--
Travel, photography and gear: fcracer.com
 
Ouch. That's unfortunate. I hope you can find one that is good across the frame.
 
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