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Mitigating Focus Shift In the Field, Nikon 14-24/2.8G (Cottonwood Canyon Cabin)
This case study shows focus shift in the field with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G, and shows just how much compensation might be needed for an optimal result. See Detecting and Mitigating Focus Shift as well as the other studies of focus shift.
This study uses three different focus points to demonstrate just how pronounced a difference in sharpness can result depending on the point of focus and the aperture used. A blurred image at f/2.8 might well be optimal for f/5.6, and vice versa!
Test scene
Show below is the entire frame as shot.
The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G was set for 15.0mm zoom.
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Diglloyd Making Sharp Images articulates years of best practices and how-to, painstakingly learned over a decade of camera and lens evaluation.
Save yourself those years of trial and error by jump-starting your photographic technical execution when making the image. The best lens or camera is handicapped if the photographer fails to master perfect shot discipline. High-resolution digital cameras are unforgiving of errors, at least if one wants the best possible results.
- Eases into photographic challenges with an introductory section.
- Covers aspects of digital sensor technology that relate to getting the best image quality.
- Technique section discusses every aspect of making a sharp image handheld or on a tripod.
- Depth of field and how to bypass depth of field limitations via focus stacking.
- Optical aberrations: what they are, what they look like, and what to do about them.
- MTF, field curvature, focus shift: insight into the limitations of lab tests and why imaging performance is far more complex than it appears.
- Optical aberrations: what they are, what they look like, and what to do about them.
- How to test a lens for a “bad sample”.
Intrigued? See Focusing Zeiss DSLR Lenses For Peak Performance, PART ONE: The Challenges, or (one topic of many) field curvature.
