I’ll fiddle around with it some more tonight before I send it in. Thanks, I’ll let you know.
Looks slightly off, no?
Agreed.
When I have it on the lens, it looks a little bit off. However, moving the spirit just a tiny bit puts it right in the center. We’re talking mm’s here.
The one in which I have the spirit set on the lens, shows that it’s way off.
Guess I should take it in for repair huh…?
a) Is the table/floor level?
b) Have you found a Siemens Stern to focus on?
- Absolutely
- No, I have no idea how to operate/use it. I’m not a professional photographer. I read the article, I understand what it says but I don’t have the ability to test all that.
Now, relax. it is NOT complicated at all.
Pick the best Siemens Stern from here: siemens stern at DuckDuckGo
Focus according to the instructions given above.
Quote myself:
If the lens is in proper alignment and pointed directly (lineup isn’t critical, you can eyeball it) at the star, the white and black circles remain circular as they blur. But if the lens is decentered or significantly tilted the center blur will ‘flare’ out in one direction or another as you defocus .
So I need to setup my camera on a tripod, focus on that stern
and then manually defocus? If it’s going out of focus equally, the lens is fine and if it goes out of focus while flaring out, something is wrong?
Sounds correct.
I just recorded a video for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Ml9JC7mv4&feature=youtu.be
Hope you can see it.
What are your thoughts?
1 Like
Avonds, Rico!
Here is an example which I just shot using a “bad” lens.
Actually, it is a tilt-shift lens, pointing downwards (to simulate your dropped lens).
There are two things one immediately notices:
- the bottom “beams” are sharp, while the top beams are fuzzy.
- the distance from the center to the top “fuzzy circle” is 180 px,
while the distance from the center to the bottom “fuzzy circle” is 120 px.
Verdict: this lens is not aligned!
Do you have a nice, even brick wall available for a test shot?
MvG
Claes in Lund, Zweden
1 Like
Goedenavond 
,
I can try in the morning. It’s dark now. Which distance should I use?
Uitstekend!
I believe that a large aperture would be the best
(giving you a shallow DOF).
MvG
Claes in Lund, Zweden
Kommer att bli bra!
How did the film look though?
Sorry, I could not draw any conclusions at all from it 
You are assuming that the back and side of the camera are at right angles with the theoretical axis of the lens. AFAIK this is only true for 1) the sensor (but it’s out of reach) and 2) hopefully, the bottom of the camera.
For a proper measure I would:
- find an horizontal surface
- Put the camera in an L bracket (Arca-swiss, the kind you use to set the camera for portrait mode on a tripod), but mount the camera so that the side of the L is behind the camera, not on the side.
- Camera set on the bottom of the L check that the vertical diameter of the lens is indeed vertical
- Camera set on the side of the L, check that the diameter of the lens which is parallel to the axis of the L is indeed horizontal.
(also contributing to the “pixls.us members’ kitchen stand-off”) (L-bracket dangerously on the edge of the counter due to the safety pin at one end)
3 Likes
Thanks a bunch, unfortunately I do not own an L bracket. I do have a smallrig cage. I could try with that I guess
Hi again, @Rico.
Which lens did you drop?
Could it be the 12mm AND does it look like that lens points upwards (in your opinion)?
Because the 12mm shot is the only one that I spot
a difference in focusing from top to bottom…
MvG
Claes in Lund, Zweden
Hello Claes,
I used the Leica 12-60mm F2.8/F4.0 lens. Focus was set in the middle (with multiple AF points).
Would you like me to shoot the same picture with a single focus point?