Now I have it! Now I don't! BACK FOCUS!

[Philip119299]

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus. My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm, but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

 

[Petra B.]

Hello,

If your camera appears to be spot on with one of the test charts, it's quite likely that you have no focusing errors. A backfocus problem is consistent and won't change from shot to shot. A 3 cm backfocus would also have been evident in your "real-world" photos by now.

Regards
Thomas

 

[Philip119299]

Hello,

If your camera appears to be spot on with one of the test charts,
it's quite likely that you have no focusing errors. A backfocus
problem is consistent and won't change from shot to shot. A 3 cm
backfocus would also have been evident in your "real-world" photos
by now.

Regards
Thomas

Thomas,

Thanks for the reply.

Any opinion of as to why the difference in results?

Both tests were done several times with the same results.

Philip

 

[Tim Jackson]

Hi Philip,

Thanks very much for brigning this to our attention.

I'm going to grab a copy of the chart Leon Goodman uses and do some tests to see if I can duplicate your results.

I'll post my results here.

Tim
--

=============================
At the time of posting this message, the latest
focus test chart is V2.0 (Dated 12 June 2004)
Get it here: http://md.co.za/d70
=============================

 

[Philip119299]

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts
that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus.
My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations
that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than
the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with
occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm,
but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

Bump,

Anyone else have any comments?

Philip

 

[Jola233979]

I have also had conflicting results using different tests and would like to see some other feedback.

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts
that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus.
My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations
that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than
the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with
occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm,
but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

Bump,

Anyone else have any comments?

Philip

 

[msport]

I've been saying this for some time....

 

[Philip119299]

I have also had conflicting results using different tests and would
like to see some other feedback.

Taliz,

How is your camera in real life situations?

Philip

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts
that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus.
My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations
that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than
the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with
occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm,
but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

Bump,

Anyone else have any comments?

Philip

 

[tfultz]

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Are there any focus problems in your photos?

 

[Philip119299]

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Are there any focus problems in your photos?

Read the third paragraph from the bottom of my thread.

Philip

 

[Jola233979]

My results are not great, the camera isn't sharp. And I can't really pin it down. My P&S digital delivers far sharper pictures.

I have also had conflicting results using different tests and would
like to see some other feedback.

Taliz,

How is your camera in real life situations?

Philip

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts
that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus.
My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations
that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than
the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with
occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm,
but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

Bump,

Anyone else have any comments?

Philip

 

[Jola233979]

My results are not great, the camera isn't sharp. And I can't
really pin it down. My P&S digital delivers far sharper pictures.

Maybe I just need better lenses. But I don't want to spend big cash unless I know that that is the problem.

Suspect Lenses :

Nikon 18-70mm DX F3.5-F4.5 (in with Nikon for checking)
Nikon 35-135mm F3.5-F4.5 (worst lens for sharpness in Photodo tests)
Nikon 28mm F2.8 (in with Nikon for checking)
Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-F5.5

I don't have much confidence in any of the above. They're all junk. The 28mm maybe because it had a bad bump some time ago.

My only good lens is a Nikon 50mm F1.8, but even that hasn't been sharp.

 

[Team Critter]

Forget about the charts...

Real world photos and subjects will give you a good enough indication if your camera BF's. That's how I realized that something wasn't right in the very very early days of owning the camera.

If you haven't noticed BF in your real world photos, your camera is fine.

No, I did not send my camera to Nikon for service.

No, I did not turn any screws in my D70.

I have found that when using both the two different focusing charts
that Tim Jackson uses, that I have approximately 30mm backfocus.

Here is the link:

http://md.co.za/d70/focus.pdf

When I use the chart that Leon Goodman uses, I have no back focus.
My camer is dead on.

Here is the link:

http://www.leongoodman.com/d70focus.html

Why do the two different focusing charts give different results?

Page 73 of the English manual demonstrates different situations
that lead to poor focus.

Is one of two above mentioned charts more prone to backfocus than
the other?

In real life situations, my camera gives good results with
occasional out of focus pictures. Also the lens is soft at 17mm,
but beyond that it is sharp.

I am not here to criticize anyones' work or results, I am only
looking for discussion and possibly an answer to my confusing
results when using both the above focusing charts.

All constructive criticism input is welcome.

Philip

 

[Jola233979]

Sorry to disappoint you, but my other tests show much more BF than Tim Jackson's tests.

So the problem could be even worse .....

I've been saying this for some time....

 

[OldSkoOL]

Im suprised at how many base back focus problems on charts. Did they not read the manual's chapter on AF performance. And even with MF on tests how hard is it to realistically focus down to 1mm.

When it comes to real life subjects i will be suprised if a lot of people knew about depth of field, depth of focus, focus areas and focus modes, enough to realise that all these affect or can emulate back focus. I think a lot of it is user error.

I'd like to know how many camera have been sent in for calibration only to find its on AF-C or someone left the right focus area selected by mistake, or someone was shooting wide open and used dynamic area focusing.

I think being being a entry level dSLR we have seen loads of people that are new to SLR cameras and aren't educated to understand exactly what the camera does. The number of backfocus posts is overwhelming and even for the more advanced users its still a new concept which they may not understand. The biggest help is to read and fully understand the manual. Learn about focus points, what they are and what they do. Learn about the differences in depth of field and depth of focus (2 completely different things). Learn where to focus in landscape shots to avoid soft looking images. Most importantly, learn how to use the EL/FL function, the exposure/focus lock is one incredibly useful feature to ensure sharp photos.

Stop testing on these charts, has anybody realised how difficult it is for the cameras AF drive to focus on lines a few mm's apart.

Learn these things and see if it still happens. Hopefully i may save some first timers 2 weeks of sadness because they are waiting for their camera to return from Nikon Service.

Strong statement, may annoy some, but these are my oppinions.

HF!

--
D70 Knowledge Base, curve downloads, my galleries
http://nikond70.tk

 

[Jola233979]

My real life results are worse than the tests.

I refuse to use film in this day and age, so may have to mothball the D70 with all the old Nikon film SLR's and go back to the digital P & S.

At least it can focus.

 

[knpjdad]

I being one of the newbies out here... I really don't know why it's wrong to shoot wide open and use dynamic area focusing? Is there a website, book, or manual that would explain the focus technology of DSLR? Me being a P&S guy before... I'm just not getting the results that I thought I would with this camera... But I don't really think it's the camera I think its me!! I would love to be pointed in the right direction.

Thanks!
RC

When it comes to real life subjects i will be suprised if a lot of
people knew about depth of field, depth of focus, focus areas and
focus modes, enough to realise that all these affect or can emulate
back focus. I think a lot of it is user error.

I'd like to know how many camera have been sent in for calibration
only to find its on AF-C or someone left the right focus area
selected by mistake, or someone was shooting wide open and used
dynamic area focusing.

D70 Knowledge Base, curve downloads, my galleries
http://nikond70.tk

 

[montydog]

Hi knpjdad,

Thom Hogan has a good article explaining aspects of the Nikon autofocus quicks here
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/nikon-focus.shtml

He has also said (here, on this forum) that he believes most focus problems are caused by the "user" in his experience - either technique or dirty ill-prepared kit.

I being one of the newbies out here... I really don't know why it's
wrong to shoot wide open and use dynamic area focusing? Is there a
website, book, or manual that would explain the focus technology of
DSLR? Me being a P&S guy before... I'm just not getting the results
that I thought I would with this camera... But I don't really think
it's the camera I think its me!! I would love to be pointed in the
right direction.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/nikon-focus.shtml
--
Regards, Paul.

 

[msport]

Crummy tests are unreliable. Various tests have known flaws which have been pointed out by others. False positives and negatives lead to frenzy for some.

 

[msport]

Maybe it would make sense to go over this matter with a kind, experienced soul at a local camera shop or camera instructor? Might help as you seem to be quite exasperated and confused.

Have you tried returning or exchanging your D70? Have you had Nikon look at it? Pretty easy to do.

If you are used to P&S cameras hyped colors, contrast and sharpness you might need to get used to the truer look of DSLP images. You can punch them up to your hearts content in post processing. Lots of folks like the 10-20/50/0 USM trick in Photoshop combined with some simple sharpening, levels fix and so forth. Makes a big difference!