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Focus Shift Over the Frame, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G (Cabin)
This Nikon D800E + Nikon 14-24/2.8G example should be of considerable interest to anyone shooting interior or exterior architecture or landscape. Or anyone who might want to optimize the autofocus adjustment to put the 14-24 more into its proper place when focused at f/2.8 but shot at f/5.6 - f/11.
See Detecting and Mitigating Focus Shift.
Background
Users of the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G continue writing me over time— some claiming they see no issue, others with relief that they finally understand why the 14-24 is “soft”. Some even go so far as to ask “do you have a bad sample, since mine does not focus shift”. Which is an absurd idea since the optical design does not change from lens to lens; focus shift is not a function of sample variation.
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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.
