Most of my lenses hardly needed fine tuning with the D810 body! Logic says that should not be the case, because my lenses have not changed. I am sure many of you have gone through with your Auto focus fine tuning process with your new D810. I would like to know your thoughts. Nov 16, 2017 Yesterday I did Auto AF fine tune for the two main lenses. 24-70mm and 70-200 +/- TC 14E III on Nikon D850. It took me a good 2 hours. I had to buy a collar for the 70-200 f4 to put on tripod safely. I did each lens, at each focal end, 10 times.
Here’s a 12-minute video in which photographer Steve Perry shows how to use the relatively new “Auto AF Fine Tune” feature from Nikon.
If your camera is back or forward focusing, then it’s likely you need to fine tune the autofocus. Often this would involve buying a commercial kit, or doing a bit of guess work, and in more extreme cases even sending your DSLR back to Nikon itself.
However, that is set to change with the Auto AF Fine Tune feature that is present on cameras like the Nikon D5, D500, D7500, and most likely any future mid-to-pro level cameras. (Here’s looking at you, D850.)
“The typical way Auto AF Fine Tune is performed by most users leaves a LOT of room for errors, inconsistency, and can even make things worse,” Perry tells PetaPixel. “In this video, I outline what AF Fine Tune is, proper setup, and a technique that gets me VERY similar results to what I see with commercial products.”
By using a target that is full of information for the autofocus system to lock onto, as well as ensuring it is properly lit, you can properly fine tune your camera’s focus for different lenses.
Unfortunately, you can only set a single fine tune preference for each lens. So for zoom lenses that have a varying AF compensation value across their range, you’ll need to compromise and go for a mid-point.
D850 Auto Af Fine Tune
Check out the full video above to learn how you can utilize this feature and properly calibrate your camera and lenses.