FoCal Unveils an Online Tool for Camera and Lens Performance Comparisons

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Reikan Technology, the company behind the FoCal automatic lens calibration tool, tells us that it has released a new web-based tool for researching the performance of camera and lens combinations.

It’s a simple graph that presents photographers with two drop-down menus. The first is a list of cameras — there’s currently only a number of Canon and Nikon models to choose from — and the second is a list of compatible lenses.

Once you select a combination, the tool digs into the company’s pool of calibration data uploaded by thousands of FoCal users, and presents its findings in a simple visual way.

The resulting charts show how sharp the camera/lens combination is across the aperture range, what the focus consistency of the pair is like on average, and the typical autofocus microadjustment needed for that pair.

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If you haven’t seen a chart like these before, here’s a tutorial page that provides a primer on interpreting them.

The tool provides a pretty interesting look at how popular DSLR gear is performing for photographers around the world. It’s just a shame that there aren’t too many camera/lens combos to choose from yet (FoCal currently only supports a similarly exclusive list of Canon and Nikon DSLRs).

Lens/Camera Information Online Tool [FoCal]

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