How to calibrate lens autofocus with Nikon AF Fine Tune

[@jinkarl0203]

Very useful, thank you! For those who don't know, AF fine tune only works when you use viewfinder to auto focus. If you use live view to auto focus, it won't do anything. When I fine tuned my 85mm 1.4G, it went from -3 to +19 on saved value, probably because I did it at night without enough light. So, I fine tuned it manually, by changing the saved value. To do this, you first use live view, I use AF-S, AF area normal, 1/100 shutter speed, f/1.4 and ISO enough to get normal exposure (2000-3000 I can't remember), use delay exposure set to 3s and self timer set to 5s to eliminate some of the camera shock, then focus on the target and take a picture (your camera on tripod always). This should be the optimal focus, your goal is to get a picture with viewfinder auto focus close to or match this picture. For viewfinder settings, I use the same settings as live view. I went from +1 to +6, and +5 was the best when I took a pic with viewfinder. The reason why viewfinder and live view auto focus are different, is because they use different auto focus systems, Phase Detection for viewfinder and Contrast Detection for live view. You can google this for more info. I was frustrating before fine tuning the lens, thinking if I wanted the best auto focus, I would have to stick with the slower but more accurate live view auto focus. Now after fine tuning, the viewfinder auto focus is just as good, if not sometimes better than live view, and with faster speed as always.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Excellent points. Thank you for sharing!

[@KevinTalbot2009]

The D850 (like all DSLRs with "live view") use a separate focus module in the light path when using the optical viewfinder (the pentaprism splits the light for your eye and this focus module.) When using "live view" it's using dedicated "focusing pixels" on the actual sensor. So there is inherently some mismatch between these two systems from assembly tolerances and other factors I'm sure. But it works great! I fine-tuned a rental 800mm nikor prime and was amazed at the improvement. Unfortunately the camera stores only one fine tune value per lens so with a zoom, you have to pick one"target" focal length.

[@goockie8999]

Thank you for the input and thank you for the video. so you recommend one to shoot photos from viewfinder and not live view? if there is a back focus, does one move + or - ? it gets confusing on the scale. However my main question is, what is better: lens calibration for sigma, or AF fine tune on the camera?

[@a-mb9373]

I watched so many of these videos and u covered everything including the error message I was getting and didn't know how to resolve. Thank u so much!

[@MatthewRaifman]

Awesome. So glad it was helpful.

[@glenjones7708]

Hi Matthew. I used Tamron lens(15-30 G2, 24-70 G2 and 70-200 G2) with my D850. What I happened, after several attemps of calibration and failing, I sent it to a Nikon/Tamron service agent to be calibrated. There was a problem in the nikon auto-focus system which was covered under warranty. They calibrated the lens as well under Warranty. I now normally check my calibration once a year or if I have a big trip coming up. On the my zoom lens I use the same method as you but with a little extra. I start at the longest range if the Autofocus returns say +1 then I go through all the setting using the "Dot-tune" method to find the range that the zoom is in focus say( -3 to +3). I do this for all zoom lengths to find a common auto-focus settings. I have been lucky and have always found a common auto-focus setting to suit all zoom lengths on the lens. I have had excellent results.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Thanks for sharing! How long does it take you to do the calibration? I can see that being a more accurate approach for sure. Wow, haven’t heard of autofocus issues on the Nikon. Glad they took care of you and sorted it out.

[@glenjones7708]

@@MatthewRaifman, last time I was able to do my 3 Tamron G2 lens (15-30, 24-70 & 70-200) in about 3 hrs. However the first time took all day to do.

[@sasi0263]

@@glenjones7708 I have D750 + Tamaron 24-70 G2. Is the calibration procedure is similar to D850?

[@glenjones7708]

@@sasi0263 Yes the calibration procedure is similar

[@michaelsmith697]

Well explained Matt! Thanks for this important video. Now I know why my photos have never been tack sharp

[@MatthewRaifman]

Glad it was helpful!

[@oboeviolin]

I use a D500 and have some of the same lenses that you have. My Sigma 150 - 600 has never been as sharp as I'd hoped when I bought it. My other go to birding lens is a 500PF which is quite good but I noticed that if I carefully focus manually on a distant fixed object I get a very slight improvement. I'll try your calibration procedure on both lenses. Thanks.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Any luck?

[@louispasdeprenom9950]

I test that and with my 3 lens i am at +12 average on fine tune. seem to be more accurate. Thank you for the video

[@TommyT_6982]

Great video and seems simple enough. Will do mine tomorrow and hopefully get as much of an improvement as you. I updated the firmware lastnight and focus is out on all my lenses so this video helps massively. Great work and thank you

[@MatthewRaifman]

Awesome! Hope it helps and that you see an improvement! Hopefully you don’t need much of an adjustment!

[@dansonnjuguna4516]

i have nikon D5300 and it doesn't autofocus on photography, which settings should i adjust?

[@TommyT_6982]

@@dansonnjuguna4516 you may need to reassign the focus button for your camera. Lots of people use the back button focus as I do so have a look at changing this to suit your preferences

[@dansonnjuguna4516]

@@TommyT_6982 How can i do it kindly?

[@TommyT_6982]

@@dansonnjuguna4516 you're best looking at your user manual as I don't have the same camera as you so is probably different. Failing that, a quick search on KZbin will sort you out

[@louispasdeprenom9950]

look so nice too good to be thru. i will test with sigma art lens

[@MrPercursor]

Thanks mate 😊

[@thetinmansheart]

Hey Matthew, thanks for the tut, especially on a d850 as that's what I'll be using as well. Question: when's you do this for say 5 lenses and save the results, do these get applied automatically when you use said lens? Or do you have to go find saved x and apply it when using lens x?

[@MatthewRaifman]

Yes, they should be applied automatically to each lens when you connect it. However, you can only save one value for each lens. This is a limitation for zooms as you must pick a focal length to calibrate.

[@yolinejoseph-hoskin1222]

Thank you very much Matthew for this very comprehensive and useful video! I followed your instructions very closely and I was able to calibrate a few lenses; 50 mm, 105 mm, and the shorter focal length of my 24-120 mm yesterday. However, today, I wanted to continue the process by calibrating the longer focal length of my 24-120 mm and continue with my other zoom lenses. Despite my well celebrated success with the process yesterday, I was not able to continue the exercise, as I consistently received the error message “ Auto AF Fine Tune is not available at the current settings” even for the lenses done yesterday (troubleshooting). Do you have any idea about other key elements to consider when calibrating lenses using this method? Other questions: 1. For Zoom lenses, do you recommend doing only one focal length if one does not have a go-to one? If yes, the shortest of longest focal length? 2. Do you recommend a series of tests (12) per focal length that is later averaged and manually entered as fine tune value. 3. While the Aperture is kept wide open for each lens, should I also keep the ISO to the lowest setting (64 or 100)? Thank you in advance for your help with this!

[@mahdirahman1198]

I test that and with my 3 lens i am at +12 average on fine tune. seem to be more accurate. Thank you for the video

[@MatthewRaifman]

Glad the video was helpful. That’s odd, especially given your success before. I wonder if your lighting conditions were different on the second day. Or perhaps the AF switch was accidentally toggled? I don’t know what it could have been otherwise given you figured it out the day before. 1. For zoom lenses, I recommend calibrating for the focal length you use the most rather than the extreme. For aftermarket options like sigma and tamron, they do allow you to do basically the same exercise but for multiple focal lengths to create a custom calibration. This requires their dock but only works for those third party lenses (and not all models either). If you really use all focal lengths of range, you could consider calibrating for the middle of the range (ie 50mm for a 24-70) however the calibration may not be linear so that might affect the wide focal length more than the zoom for example. It’ll depend on your specific lens-camera combo so you might need to do a bit of trial and error. 2. I think this strategy will be very successful at precision but might not be worth the extra effort to be honest. If you like it, why not though because it will only help. 3. I don’t think ISO will matter much here. It’s good to keep the lens wide open (IE f/4) both for focusing requirements and because the focal plane is smallest. If you shoot at the other extreme, ie f/22, and everything is in focus I would think it would be more challenging to assess focal calibration needs. All best, Matt

[@fariswaleed3811]

Is the distance you mean between the sensor and the target or between the face of the lens and the target?

[@MatthewRaifman]

Excellent question. Sensor!

[@fariswaleed3811]

@@MatthewRaifman thank you so much !

[@thegreeklife2854]

Great video I’ll be doing the 105, 24-70, 70-200/1.7x Tele tomorrow, I’ll let you know the results and Thx

[@MatthewRaifman]

Awesome! Looking forward to hearing about how it works with the tele. I haven't tried calibrating with a tele before but it makes sense to do that especially if you shoot often with it attached.

[@thegreeklife2854]

@@MatthewRaifman i have the 200 -500 as well but not with me unfortunately or the 35 & 50, did the Tamron 15-30 Nik 24-70 70-200 tomorrow the 70-200 x 1.7 tele min & max lengths so or onlynthe 24-70 needed +2 adjustment as it fell 1.5-2 ft cracked the hood but that’s it

[@thegreeklife2854]

@@MatthewRaifman I’m also going to set up a ruler at 35 degrees to do it it all over again, your tips and others will bring my lens to its sharpest point guaranteed

[@nofilmehmood-t7p]

Thank you very much Matthew for very informative video. Just a small query. After completing the calibration procedure, should I leave AF Fine Tune on or may it be switched off. Best regards.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Yes, I believe you was to leave it on in the menu bank. But you don’t need to recalibrate, those settings will be stored.

[@nofilmehmood-t7p]

Thank you very much.

[@socksonfeet8125]

Do you know if this only applies to Live View focus? Cause Viewfinder focus is separate, and I shoot through viewfinder 100% of the time.

[@MatthewRaifman]

@@socksonfeet8125 I think it is an overall adjustment to how the camera and lens focus together. So it would apply to both viewfinder and live view, but you must set the tuning with live view.

[@jamesspicewilliams8835]

Great video. Should u do this with AFD lenses?

[@valeriedepeel7195]

This is great. Any suggestions on calibrating a canon camera? All steps you described seem transferable to canon until the 6 minute mark. Thanks.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Thanks! I don't have a Canon camera with fine tuning to show you, but this video does a great job walking through it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3LMeKyiaqh-orM

[@tpzid]

What distance from the camera to the target would you recommend for the Nikon 28-120mm f/4 lens???

[@MatthewRaifman]

I would pick your most common focal length. You can only pick one. You might check three focal lengths: 24, 75, 120 and see if they are wildly different. That is another approach.

[@markberry5542]

Hi Matthew, Thanks for the informative video. My question: i have the Nikon D7200 is the process the same as I don't get the menus up when pushing the two buttons to commence the process.

[@MatthewRaifman]

Hi Mark: unfortunately, I don’t have the D7200 to directly compare but the manual suggests it should work. Is it possible that your focus point is not centered?

[@jz1643ify]

Do we need to do every lens that I use them?

[@MatthewRaifman]

Probably worth doing it for every lens, yes. Only have to do it once per lens though…

[@MissEdvic]

followed everything step by step , till pushing focus button and REC , nothing pops up . Anyone else here with the same issue. Would love to know how to fix

[@ΣπύροςΧατζησταυράκης]

not every camera have auto fine tune...do the process manual...focus in live view..then go to viewfinder and use back button focus...not use it...when half press the top button you see in the viewfinder the focus dot and the triangles,..change fine tune values until you see only the green dot (for nikon)..you are ready...no need to take any photo

[@mastipeww2607]

Is it good to calibrated on zoom lens? cause i use a lot of focal lens usually 50 70 and 105 sometime 200mm 18 35 usually but not much so its good on fixed lenses with 1 focal lense but could it affect the quality on zoom lenses when i change to the different focal length? Like setting the best fine tune on 50 then change to 200 maybe so could i affect a lot?

[@MatthewRaifman]

Hi! Thanks for the question and it's a good one. For zoom lenses, if you use one focal length more than the rest (for example, 50mm on a 24-70mm lens) then I would suggest that you try to calibrate to that focal length. If you feel that you use all focal lengths equally, then it is a little more complicated. It really depends on your particular lens+camera combination and I would suggest you run the tests at three points: widest focal length, midway, and longest focal length. So again, if you have the 24-70mm, then see what values you get for calibration at 24mm, 50mm, and 70mm. If all of the values are similar (e.g. -10) then I would just set the calibration to that value and be done. If the values vary widely, then you have to either pick one or just not calibrate at all. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have other questions.

[@krimbos1]

@@MatthewRaifman Does it make sense to calibrate several times at different focal lengths, average the readings and then manually set with avg?

[@MatthewRaifman]

@@krimbos1 thanks for the question. There are two philosophical approaches here for zooms. You can only calibrate to one focal length, so you can average (as you suggest) or you can pick the focal length you use most often. If it were a telephoto and you are a wildlife photographer, I’d say calibrate to the longest focal length because that’s is the most used. If it’s a wide angle, you might also calibrate to the widest angle (ie 14mm or 16mm). The average approach probably makes the most sense for mid-range zooms like 24-105 or 24-70mm. Hope that helps!

[@krimbos1]

If I autotune my Nikkor18-300 at 300MM, would it impact 18MM? Can you autotune at both ?

[@MatthewRaifman]

Great question. Yes, it will affect the entire range of the lens. I would take reading at both extremes and the middle and see how different they are. It’s possible they are all similar. Generally I’d advise making the adjustments at the most used focal length.

[@TheNakedrat]

no matter what i do i still get auto fine tune not available i even did it out side in case the light was a issue and it its not the lens i tried it on my second lens

[@MatthewRaifman]

Hey! Did you try centering the AF point? That was the primary issue for me when I wasn’t able to get it to work.

[@miamiSincar]

wow and sometime you thing is the camera is not that great o the lens are bad

[@newcreationstudiohetauda]

Boss sigma 85mm 1.4 please help

[@Mike-vd2qt]

Clear as pond water...

[@MatthewRaifman]

Sorry you didn’t find it helpful

[@louispasdeprenom9950]

seriously i dont think this work because nikon person say that fin tune is just a small upgrade not a game changer like you show

[@MatthewRaifman]

I'd recommend you try it. There are lots of reasons why a lens doesn't focus and fine tune addresses just one aspect of it (the calibration of the lens to the camera body). I've had other lenses that were blurry due to the de-centering of the elements, for example, that wouldn't be fixed by fine tuning. To be clear, though: what I show in the video is my experience, which is 100% honest and not doctored in any way. I simply calibrated the images, took before and after photos, and showed the photos side by side in lightroom with no sharpening.

[@louispasdeprenom9950]

@@MatthewRaifman i will try this week and resend a message after, thank you. i have sigma art 50 and 35 then nikon 24-70 2.8

[@larrymitchell3502]

@louispasdeprenom9950 I know this is a year later, hope you see it. Have AF tuned several Nikon bodies (D7000, D71-7200, D750 & D610) with multiple lenses, fixed FL & zoom, Nikkor and aftermarket (Tamron & Tokina). My experience has been similar to Matthew's: Focus tuning IS a game changer. Cameras and lenses are mass produced; tolerances are allowed in the process. Even if a given lens is a Nikkor, it may be produced in Japan or Thailand. Having shot Nikon since 1965, I have older AF lenses as well as newer ones. Almost all, from new out of the box to older, well-used glass have shown improved sharpness with focus tuning. Some have required only a small adjustment (15. All the way to 20 on some bodies. Most bodies I've tuned tend to skew all in the same direction - most lenses require a plus correction or most require a minus correction. This tells me that AF sensor adjustment in the camera itself is difficult to get 'perfect' on the production line. I've also seen the same lens require a minus adjustment on one body and plus on another - again, it's the body you're tuning. However, I have a couple of lenses (Nikkor zooms) which require corrections (>15) on every body, always in the same direction. In that case, it's the lens. Regardless tuning usually makes a visible difference in sharpness . My advice would be to carefully follow Matthew's procedures to TEST your camera(s) and lenses. If you don't see a difference return AF tuning to zero, or turn it off. No big deal. However, I'll bet that you see improved sharpness. Manufacturing tolerances are real - every camera, every lens is NOT identical to every other. Some, like cars, are built on a Monday or Friday ;~) or an employee had a tough day. We pay a lot of money for our photo gear. If AF tuning doesn't yield a visible benefit, return it to zero or turn it off. But try tuning - why leave possibly improved sharpness on the table? If you have more than one lens or one body, the odds of benefitting from AF tuning go way up. Don't believe a store clerk or even a Nikon rep if they tell you every body and lens is perfect, zero-tolerance all the time. They're not. I like and appreciate Nikon products. I also realize that if they were hand built, as were Leica's into the 1960's, they would cost three or four times as much. If you see this, pls post a reply if you try AF tuning. I'd like to know!

[@meliemela]

​@@larrymitchell3502Да вы фотоветеран! Почет и уважение.

[@larrymitchell3502]

​@@meliemelaThank you. Somehow, five decades often seem to have passed in the blink of an eye. 😢 I would like to know where they went.... 😂😂😂