Hello guys! It's Guts from Pangolin Photo Safaris, and today we're going to talk about how to get sharper images - out in
the field - by using micro adjustments on your autofocus. If you like our YouTube content, please don't forget to subscribe. Press the little bell icon at the
bottom, and you will get notified whenever there is some new content online. All right! I just got back from a shoot,
and I realised something...something is off. I was shooting a little Malachite
Kingfisher on my lowest f-stop. I wanted to blur the background completely. The boat drifted quite close to the Malachite Kingfisher, so I got very close. So I realised that my depth of field is becoming shallower and shallower. I was focusing
right on his eye and he was looking towards me. Looking back at my pictures, I pickled up that more of his head is in focus, and less of his beak. That means, my camera is actually back focusing a little bit. You also get the opposite, where
a camera would be focusing a bit more to the front. Guys, please...this has nothing
to do with a bad lens or a bad camera. It's just quite often that the
communication between these two, there is some deviation...and there is a factory
tolerance built-in for it. So, you just need to go and make sure that you are 100% accurate. You need to go and micro adjust your camera. So, how can I test whether I
need back, or front focus, and micro adjustment? Again, this is just a bush trick...there are a lot of amazing programmes out there. I'm thinking of something like
FoCal. You also have very accurate testing methods, like Focus Pyramid Tool works well. The lensalign chart works very well. But this is just
something we use in the bush, and it's helped me a lot, just to get out of
trouble. So, what am I going to need to test for micro adjustment? In all camps and lodges, you will find the following equipment. Number one is a cup of coffee :) Just to calm those nerves for getting
all your images out of focus. The next thing will be a ruler, or a measuring tape...and if you can't find that, a book, a magazine...anything with some
increments on it. I found a measuring tape that I am going
use for this demonstration. I am going to put that on my coffee cup at a very steep angle towards my camera. Then, I am going to set my camera up - as close as possible - that my lens can focus on maximum zoom...and on the lowest possible f-stop. With this I am
going to keep the camera on a tripod and make sure all my image stabilizing,
vibrating reduction, and all that is switched off. I will then focus on a point on this measuring tape...in this case I am going to choose 30cm. It's a nice
contrasting bit that I will remember. I will focus right on 30. Take a picture...and see where my focus is. I am pretty sure after this morning's results, I am going to have a little bit of back focus somewhere over here. Let's give it a try... Alright. I focussed on the 30, and after
reviewing my image, I can see the focus is just behind that. So, my feeling was
correct...it's back focusing! Right, how do we micro adjust the camera? On Canon, you go to menu. Press your Q button. Look for your purple or pink setting,
whichever way you want to see that. Then, you search for 'AF microadjustment'. Click on that, and then make sure you go to 'Adjust by lens'. The
reason for that is, if you adjusted by lens, is that whenever you put this lens
back on your camera, that it will remember your micro adjustment. Press
info, and it will give you these two settings...a 'W' and a 'T'. The W is for
wide, when you zoom your lens completely back. The T is for when you use telephoto - with your lens zoomed in all the way. Click on that, and there can do some micro adjustment. I am going to use four increments
going towards my camera, because my camera was doing a bit of back focusing.
This is going be a trial and error guys. You have to shoot and see whether this
works for you. Let's give it a go! All right...on -4, it's still a little bit
back focusing, but much better! So, let's go over a bit more. Now I am going to -8 maybe...there we go. Oh no, that's a bit too much. You can clearly see now it's front focusing, which means I need to go back a little bit, so maybe
around 6. Let's go to 6. Take another picture. Perfect! Exact! So, as you can see, it's a bit of trial and error... but it's a very easy way to micro adjust
your auto focus. There are a few things that you have to remember guys. This is
only for DSLR cameras. It's NOT for mirrorless cameras. Also use a single
focus point, otherwise it's going to be all over the show...trying to focus on a very
precise point. Make sure that your f-stop is as low as possible. Put your camera tripod. Maybe use your timer, so that there is no influence from you,
whatsoever. To make sure that it's 100% still, when the picture
is taken. Next time when you put this lens back on this camera body, it will
ask you...would you like to go to your micro adjustment settings? ...and obviously, YES! When do you need to do this? After every time your camera has been serviced or cleaned. I do it after every trip, just to make sure my auto focus is spot-on. I hope this helps. A little bush trick... out in the field.
