Thank you for the clear explanation 😎

As a videographer switching to hobbiest wildlife photography, I really appreciate this tutorial! Thx. Subbed

Thanks Will. Very informative. Never miss a video.

The best video I have seen regarding calibration 💛👍👍👍💛

thankyou - thankyou - thankyou. your are the first to explain the basics when using a DSLR focus via the viewfinder vs live view. this answers why the micro adjustment is only effecting the focus when using the view finder, when using live view the mirror is not in effect.

Hello Will,, keen learner photographer here in rainy Sheffield UK. Loving your stuff, so clear and easy to understand. I will be setting abut checking all 11 of my lenses on my D7500 and D3400. Thanks for your help !

Great video. I knew nothing about that feature.

Thanks Will! You break it down nice and simple. Appreciate your channel.

Excellent reminder to get this done! I have a DataColor Spyder LensCal sitting on my shelf unused.

Hi Will. Found your channel a few days ago and saw this clip. Whilst I have done micro adjustment before, I found your take on it very interesting, especially with regard to the distance between the camera and the target (cereal box!) Most guides suggest anything from 5 to 50x focal length of the lens without any explanation as to "why" ! 50x is a long way when calibrating a 400 or 600mm lens (20mts + 30mts respectively! Canon's guide actually suggests 50x focal length). Your method of 5x is so much more practical and indeed logical as you explain how the greater depth of field at the long end of a large telephoto, when focused on a distant subject, tends to mislead, or at least makes it difficult to see the difference in the sharpness of your test shot. Added to this, if calibrated at 5x distance, then when you do focus on a subject at a greater distance, then that perceived sharpness, due to the greater DOF, is a real winner, thanks to the greater accuracy of the calibration. I have, today, just finished micro adjustment on both a Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS II zoom and a Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 Contemporary zoom, both paired with a Canon 90D, (same body for each lens) and the results, using your method and logic, were quite amazing. My lenses weren't so much amiss, but the ability to more clearly see, and subsequently correct the error was quite astonishing. I'm now looking forward to testing in the field. Many thanks for your channel. I am now a subscriber. All the very best from England, UK.

Excellent, clear description of the process Will. I try to check the focus before and after a trip.

This video came at the perfect time, recently have been experiencing issues with my Canon 750d back focusing a bit. This has really helped, thanks for sharing.

Thanks again for your usual excellent presentation...I love your channel.

Thanks Will for a very good tutorial on this process.

It will save at least €100 if sent to a shop. Thanks for sharing and showing so clearly

Excellent video, easy to understand. Thank you so much.

Excellent video! i was also not aware that the Live View and Optical viewfinder could have different focus. It is such a good idea to do the Live View first so that one can directly compare, I am sure it will make one's decision making a lot easier when the focus is slightly out. Thanks for this, I know what to do in future.

Good one ‘ a man that knows what he is about

Excellent explanation Will. I never knew that the live view and optical viewfinder could have different focus. I use a program called FoCal on all my body/lens combinations which can set microadjustment automatically on most Canon bodies. Can't remember if the 7D is one that is automated but I know the 6D is. If it is not automated the program tells you exactly what settings are needed. Also measures the 'sweet spot' on all your lenses.

Good and well presented info, thanks.

Hi Will . a great Video, not sure why it only got suggested to me today 😁, but I wish I had seen this 5 years ago. Shooting Mirrorless now, so no longer relevant. I will share to the camera club though. So easy to follow and do. Thank you

Excellent - I shall give it a go as soon as its stops raining :D

Great tutorial!

Brilliant! Thank you.

Great, thanks for the info!

Awesome video. 👌🏾

Very interesting!

Well done and thank you.

that vid made me suscribe / amazing teaching vid

I took mine to Nikon .. They set my D500 and 200-500 bang on

Hi Will. Your comments to the neccesary distance for a Sigma 150-600 lens that should be 3-5m, made my day. No need for me to expand my house for doing micro adjustment now during winter. 🤣🤣. I have such heavy problems with blury images on my 90d that I changed it and bought a 5dm4. Unfortunately with the same result - blury images. No sharpness. 1% is sharp. No idea what can be wrong. No the last what I can try is to micro adjust direct at the camera (both). The adjustemt via the USB Dock doesn‘t solve the problem. Perhaps you have magic tick?

Fabulous thanks

My Canon 77D does not have the adjustment but did compare anyway it was fine between live view and AF with mirror.

Thanks Will, this is clearest explanation and tutorial on this subject that I've seen to date. I might have missed it (apologies if so), but what aperture should I do this exercise, presumably widest aperture possible so that front/back focus is most easily identifiable?

The micro-focus adjustment in the camera “moves” the focus plane closer to, or further away from, the camera. The negative entry in the video means the focus plane distance was reduced by -20 increments, which is useful for lenses that back focus, or focus in front of the desired target.. The positive entry part of the scale adds distance between the focus plane and the camera, which is useful for lenses that front focus, or focus in front of the desired target.

You explain nice It’s very complicated if some one do service than I can adjust my various lens for canon 7D

Hey Will hope all is well with you and the family. , Great video, very informative. Will check my 300mm 2.8 to see if I can fine tune it. Stay safe!!

Hi Will, Thank you for another great and well explained tutorial ! Today I ran this process on my EF 24-105 f4.0 L USM II and my EF 400 f5.6 L USM whilst hooked up to my 7DII. After setting up de cereal box and my camera on a tripod, the fist shot I’ve made was in Live View followed by a series of shots starting from a -20 setting all the up to a +20 setting with a 5 point increment and what I found was that when reviewing the photos on my PC on both lenses I wasn’t able to match the sharpness of the Live View photo over the entire range from -20 to +20 that took. Is that common or is there any explanation maybe as to why that is or might have occurred …. ? Maybe I should ran the process again with a lager aperture setting i.e. f5.0 of f5.6 for my 24-105mm and f6.3 or maybe even f7.1 for the 400mm prime ? Looking at your video review of the EF 100-400 f4.5/f5.6 MKII again I noticed you mentioned your copy of that lens is sharpest at an aperture of f6.3, that got me wondering if my 400mm prime might be sharper on a lager aperture setting .... just curious I give it another go and see what I come with :) Here's some settings from the experiment I ran: EF 24-105 f4.0 L USM II Distance to subject 1500mm giving me a DoF of 600mm at 24mm and 300mm at 105mm focal length at an aperture setting on my 7DII of f4.0 600mm at 24mm FL might be a bit too large DoF for the wide end of this lens. I might need to run it again with a shorter DoF like 200mm by reducing the distance to the subject) EF 400 f5.6 L USM Distance to subject 4000mm giving me a DoF of 200mm at an aperture setting on my 7DII of f5.6 That being said, I found the default setting of “0” on both lenses to be best matching photo hence I didn’t change anything. Looking forward to your feedback .... Thanks in advance ! BR Anthony

Hey man, Absolutely love that you're still replying to comments, however i have just 1 question and would really appreciate an answer. Does the microfocus adjustment only apply to canon lenses? Or can it also adjust other lenses such as sigma? Thank you so much and have a wonderful day! Definitely subbed after this.

IMO 3rd party lenses tend to need micro adjustments, ie sigma big zooms. I did not know about using Iive View as the base shot, very useful information to on my eos 7Dii ! What advice do have for this technique on sigma 150-600 contemporary ie which focusing distance should I use as yhere is switch for under and over 10meters ? Great videos BTW

Thanks Will for your video on Micro Adjusting for sharper DSLR images for my Canon 90D and my question to you is, do you need to lock down your mirror whilst going through the process and also what distance did you use with your 100-400mm lens, I took a guess at 33ft ?

Best video I’ve seen on this subject buddy! 👍👌 it’s something I’ve wanted to do for sometime but always bottled out lol, I don’t get how far the cereal box\target (yes I bought a target tool to do this 🙄😂) has to be away from the lens 🤔 I’ll be doing it to a 100-400 zoom so is that 2000mm away? and a 600mm prime is that 3000mm away? And on 5d mk4 and a 90D bodies..... I’ll watch it a few times and give it a bash! 🤓

Hi Will this video is a real help for me. May I ask at what kind of a distance should I be doing this test using a canon 500mm F4. Regards Chris

Thanks for this video Will. Just one question , will this process work if you use back button focus rather than shutter button focusing?

Thank you for this. Should this be done at the widest aperture of the lens?

Hi Will, I'm a newish subscriber and I'm really enjoying your videos, thank you. I wish I had seen this one before I bought a Focus Calibration Tool (as yet unused) when all I needed was a cereal box and tape measure! I do have a question about the distance between the camera and the cereal box though. You say 5x the focal length so when I am calibrating the wide end of my 100-400mm zoom that would be a distance of 0.5m but the minimum focusing distance for this lens is 0.98m. Any advice? Thanks again, Sheryl

Hi Will, I've had a go at this with my Canon 7D Mark II last year, but recently bought me an R6 II. Having said that, did I get it right, that the Micro Focus Adjustment exercise is not applicable for mirrorless bodies like the Canon R6 MARK II in combination with EF lenses ? If so, I deffo got some user error to focus on 😅 Thanks again for this great tutorial ! BR Anthony

Great video and very easy to understand. Do you find this method better than using say a Tamron Tap-in console to adjust the lens?

Thank you Will for the video. I have one clarification as I have a 7D2 and a Sigma 60 600 sport lens...where one can calibrate the auto focus using the Sigma Dock. To address focus issues should I micro adjust either the camera or the lens or will both of them need to be adjusted. Kind Regards Murali

Hi Will, thanks for this. How accurate does your 45-degree angle need to be on the ruler?

Hello Will, owning a 100-400 II what distance to the ruler do you advice. (5x400 would be 2 meters but some people would advice 30-40 times the focal lenght). Should I change the distance to the ruler when measuring the 100 wide and again both 100/400 mm with a 1.4 extender attached ?

Great video; so simple, thank you! I found it after buying a used 6d MK ii that was front focusing on all my lenses. They are perfect on my old 60D which has no adjustability at all. So I went through the process and had to go 20 clicks to the rear to either get them right or in the case of my 24-70, almost... but not quite. So I am returning that unit and will try another. I do have a question though. In the event that 5x focal length cannot be attained (some of my shorter lenses it just wasn't feasible, it wouldn't focus that close) I went with minimum focal distance. In fact, that was what I went with even on my longer lenses (up to 200) as it seems like that minimum focal distance at the widest aperture is going to give you your smallest focal plane and the highest degree of accuracy. I think. Would you agree with that?

Will Goodlet, do we need the micro calibration with the mirrorless camera when using the F mount lens in the Nikon bodies. I have read and heard that it is not required for the Mirrorless. Then that option is given in the my Z6II.

I like how simple you made this. Thank you. But, I have one question... On DLSR cameras, is the lens being calibrated? ... or is the viewfinder being calibrated to match the LCD focusing when in live view with the mirror up? If the lens is being calibrated, then that would change the focusing on the LCD screen in live view too?

Will, thanks for the video. It was very informative and very upsetting :-) After making some adjustments to my Canon 50mm prime, on a 7d mkii, I just happened to point the camera towards the computer screen, maybe 12 feet away. Took a liveview pic of the back of YOUR camera, tack sharp when fully zoomed in. Turned off liveview and the next photo was absolutely awful when fully zoomed in, and with every adjustment afterwards. Nice to know but does this mean I need to be shooting with liveview all the time to get better shots? I would be kind of old school and never use live view, it just doesn't seem right :-) Cheers, Gerry.

After watching this video, I don't see any mention of mirrorless cameras being mentioned. Am I correct? thanks

I'm having the same problem with the same camera, but with a Tamron 150-600 . lens g1

Glad I don't have to do this as I've moved forward with technology on mirrrorless.

Will does this mean that there's no need to micro focus with the new R5 mirrorless and RF lenses?

I discover your channel today. Great content! I have to do this test with my Canon 7D and the lens i have because i think one is not well "calibrated". You Canon 7D MK II is so clean. Do you clean it with some kind of product?

Hi Will, I recently stumbled upon your channel and watched a number of your earlier videos. Thoroughly enjoyed them, also as Canon shooter in South Africa. A bit off topic regarding this video, could you please clarify a possible contradiction about your earlier references to 1.4 converter. In one video on the 100-400 mkII (I agree, a great lens) you vouch for the sharp results with the converter attached to the 7Dii. In the Video on the 7Dii itself you are less convinced about the converter. My experience with the 1.4iii+100-400mkII+5DmkIV combo I find sharpness wanting - except, maybe, for near-static birds/animals. As a result the 1.4 is hardly used. At 30 megapixels of the 5Div I can afford to crop in for sharper results. Any comments?

I have noticed a very noticeable difference with my Nikon D500 focus when using both 50mm and 17-50mm for portraiture, in Live view the results are pin sharp, when shot using the viewfinder they are noticeably soft and slightly missing focus. when you use the Auto focus fine tune it uses only the Live view focus, is there a way other than AFFT to do this same technique of micro focus adjustment? The video was very informative and confirmed that i was not going mad and that both live view and Normal focus uses slightly different focus methods to achieve focus.

Will, I have a Canon EF 24-105mm lens that I want to use on my backup 7D mark 2 camera. It seems to be slightly out of focus. Can I use in-camera fine tuning on this problem? or does it only work on "true" telephotos?

Hi Will, I am trying to pinpoint an issue with my 90D. One issue is loss of focus tracking (not related to AFMA), the other issue is that soft images at times. I am currently using a 300mm 2.8 II + 2x TC III. I am assuming I should do AFMA with the TC. If so, should I place the cereal box 3000mm away from the lens end? Thanks.

Thank you for this video. Do I need a tripod to do this or can I micro adjust also holding the camera? I'm asking this with regards to event photography.

There's an even simpler way that I got from Roger N. Clark, clarkvision.com, that's done in the field without any tools or props and works especially well with telephotos: find an approximately vertical subject at a suitable distance (similar to your expected subject distance or more) and keep the viewing angle fairly low to the horizontal. The target should be big enough to fill your small AF sensor point and you must be able to see the focal plane on the flat surface it's resting on. I often use a water plant or a rock on a road or a small fence post or something similar. With optical AF, focus on a point on the object just above the base so that nothing but the vertical object is selected, then, without changing anything, switch to LiveView and examine the base surface at maximum magnification to see where the actual focal plane lies. Make whatever microfocus adjustment is needed and repeat until you're satisfied. I find that with changing temperature conditions that I have to do this a couple of times a year, but, once you figure out how to select a suitable target, it takes a barely a few minutes and you know you're set.'' Of course, you can tell your MFA is off by examining some photos. If you've consistently focused on a bird's head, but the back or something in the foreground is sharp, move the MFA as needed.

Is focus calibration needed for 50mm prime lens?

Hi gang... can you simplify something for me.. If my lens is focusing past the subject, do I adjust the Fine Tuning with a + or a - number... ( eg +7 or -7 ) Thanks

One question if using a 3rd party lens (sigma) will i still need to input the serial number or will it not even register a 3rd party lens? Thanks

How far should the camera be from the object?

Not an option on my 60d unfortunately.

I am happy this nonsense micro focus adjustment is history with mirrorless. I can't believe I bothered myself with this shit for so long time. Happy I made the switch to mirrorless, the Canon R5 rules!

I don't understand this LCD screen vs. optical viewfinder comparison. At the end of the video you say that the focus on the LCD should be same as with viewfinder. But, which were we focusing with the example? the viewfinder or the LCD screen? And how can I focus both when I am only adjusting one? I don't know if that made sense. Look for one thing I have never used Live View with my camera. That is terra incognita. I don't even know how to get there! So basing this microadjustment method on the LCD screen already loses me. Why can't I use the LCD screen to view the result of my microadjustment, by looking at the picture I just took? That is what I thought you meant. Will the viewfinder autofocus always be spot on and we are trying to get photos we take to be in focus? Oh hell! This is not the thing for this medium. I've read the instructions in my Canon 7D Mk 2 manual and it didn't make sense either! This kind of thing is what I am constantly struggling with.

I have a new lens, a canon EF 70-300mm lens f/4-5.6 ISII USM and cant get it to blur, What setting should it be at ? -20 +20?

Thanks Will! You break it down nice and simple. Appreciate your channel.