TOP's longtime patron and sponsor Michael Tapes of Michael Tapes Design (he and Fabio Riccardi of Lightcrafts kept TOP alive and kicking in its rocky early days with their sponsorship, just so you know), has recently launched his new lower cost LensAlign MkII ($79.95).
The clever, well-designed LensAlign has become the dedicated photographer's standard for testing and adjusting camera body/lens combinations for AF inaccuracies resulting in front and back focus problems, something I'm exploring for the first time myself with the adjustable Pentax K-5. Michael tells me that although the new MkII replaces the previous LITE model in terms of price, it is actually equal to their to the Pro model in terms of performance and accuracy. Like the Pro model, the MkII features proprietary True Parallel Alignment, which allows the camera imaging plane to be set precisely parallel to the focus target of LensAlign. Mark Dubavoy highlights the new LensAlign MkII in his article "Are Your Pictures out of Focus?" over at The Luminous Landscape (L-L was another early TOP supporter, as long as we're on that topic).
The LensAlign MkII can be purchased from B&H Photo, from Amazon
, or directly from Michael.
Mike
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
A clever product design, I just received delivery of mine a couple weeks ago. In use, I'm finding that it can be difficult to judge where the focus plane is falling on the ruler when testing wide angle lenses. This is especially true if testing lenses that are not fast, like the 17-40 f/4. Maybe there are some tricks to this that I am not aware of.
For fast lenses, esp. ones over 50mm, the focus plane is much easier to see.
Posted by: Shaun O'Boyle | Tuesday, 08 February 2011 at 10:07 AM
Could someone explain the "long ruler" and under what circumstances this is useful/necessary. I'm a D700 user with lots of lenses. Thanks for your help.
Posted by: Barry Myers | Tuesday, 08 February 2011 at 11:51 AM
Mike - do you have a link for it on Amazon UK?
Posted by: Julian | Tuesday, 08 February 2011 at 02:14 PM
"do you have a link for it on Amazon UK?"
Julian,
It doesn't appear to be available on Amazon UK.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Tuesday, 08 February 2011 at 06:07 PM