# FoCal likes the mk3 AF



## risc32 (Apr 3, 2012)

https://www.facebook.com/ReikanFoCal
It's from friday.


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## PhilDrinkwater (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm liking the look of focal.. I think I'm going to buy it. Critical focussing is incredibly important to me.


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## Bosman (Aug 4, 2012)

God help me they are dragging their heels on the mac version...


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## risc32 (Aug 4, 2012)

i'm right there with you, I've pc desktops and mac laptops. 50x focal length? not with my desktop.


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## neuroanatomist (Aug 4, 2012)

While I'd certainly prefer a native version, I've been running it on my MacBook Pro on a Parallels VM.


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## Bosman (Aug 5, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> While I'd certainly prefer a native version, I've been running it on my MacBook Pro on a Parallels VM.


I have an old version of parallels but i don't feel like updating to a new version. Further, i have no desire to use up my SSD Hd space for Windows xp either. They supposedly are coming out with it but hey...


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## wickidwombat (Aug 5, 2012)

I bought this a few weeks ago just haven't had time to sit down and do it yet I went the parralel route to make it work on mac


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 6, 2012)

Apple keeps coming up with new OS versions that render apps unworkable on the new OS. They stop supporting versions only a few years old. Its a losing proposition to try to support a OS under those conditions. Buyers want their software to keep on working every time a new OS version comes out, and that is expensive for a small company.


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## Wideopen (Aug 6, 2012)

Bosman said:


> God help me they are dragging their heels on the mac version...



Same here...impatiently waiting.


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## Bosman (Aug 24, 2012)

Just read this on the FoCal site
"We are hoping to have something out in August 2012 – as this is written that’s about 3 weeks time, and it doesn’t take much to delay things. We have increased the size of the team working on the Mac development, and really hope to have it available very soon."
http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/index.php/faqs/

Almost at the end of August here...


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## kaihp (Aug 25, 2012)

Bosman said:


> Just read this on the FoCal site
> "We are hoping to have something out in August 2012 – as this is written that’s about 3 weeks time, and it doesn’t take much to delay things. We have increased the size of the team working on the Mac development, and really hope to have it available very soon."
> http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/index.php/faqs/
> 
> Almost at the end of August here...



Bosman, their twitter box in the lower right corner of http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/ says:


> @Pictures4events not yet - the Mac version is coming along and will be released shortly. #, 18 hours ago



YMMV.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 28, 2012)

I just got my 2nd 5D MK III and have started fine tuning the AF with the latest FoCal version. I was careful to cover the eyepiece this time, since I didn't do it with my first camera. That really improved the repeatability from shot to shot, almost no shots were even slightly misfocused.
The first three lenses (16-35mm L, 24-105mmL, and 100mmL) had no more than a +2 correction) I have several more to do, but finding time is a issue. I need to do some more primes to prepare for a Saturday shoot.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 28, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> I bought this a few weeks ago just haven't had time to sit down and do it yet I went the parralel route to make it work on mac



Me too...I bought it few days before my recent trip to Hong Kong. Still have no time to do it YET ) Maybe couple days off from work to calibrate my 16-35 II and the new 24-70 II?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 28, 2012)

I have now managed to get most of my main lenses calibrated, but ran out of time today. I was very pleased in general with the AF consistency.
I've tried to past in a chart of the results. I did not have the inclination to test the 100-400mm L at 50X on the 400mm focal length setting, so 30 ft or so was it.
I also like the comprehensive pdf format test report that can be saved for each lens (Focal Pro). It also records the camera shutter count, which I was not aware of. I had exchanged some info about the possiibility with Reikan a few months back, but haven't had a reason to use the software until now.
I'll try to post a typical report, if I can get it into a format that can be viewed.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 28, 2012)

Here is part of a test report. each AFMA setting has the data and the image of the target which shows the sharpness.

The summary:





A typical AFMA test sheet:


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## Bosman (Oct 1, 2012)

Been using the mac beta check this out.
5dm3 beta 1 with 50L +8, beta 2 -1, with 24L +8 beta 1, -1 beta 2.
So the beta results are very different. Also i wonder if my lenses are right on and my sensor is what is off since the amount of afma is exactly the same on both lenses...The thing i am concerned with is the accuracy of the test since beta 1 results were way diff than beta 2's. Updating a beta shouldn't change the accuracy, according to their site it was a working copy but just didn't have all the features working yet. I realize this is a beta but that one leaves me questioning...


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## helpful (Oct 1, 2012)

Can those of you who use the new beta FoCal answer my most pressing question?

Does the new beta work fully automatically for the 5D3 and 1DX? That's the only thing holding me back from making a decision.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 1, 2012)

helpful said:


> Does the new beta work fully automatically for the 5D3 and 1DX? That's the only thing holding me back from making a decision.



Yes - in fact, full auto is the only mode available for the 5DIII and 1D X (manual and MSC are not supported yet in the Mac version).


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## RLPhoto (Oct 1, 2012)

I Use Windows. :|


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## jhenderson0107 (Oct 29, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> Yes - in fact, full auto is the only mode available for the 5DIII and 1D X (manual and MSC are not supported yet in the Mac version).



Neuro - 

Have you successfully used fully automatic mode using the latest Focal Pro beta under OS X? I tried it today hoping to utilize fully automatic mode on my 5D3, but the restriction remains.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 29, 2012)

jhenderson0107 said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > Yes - in fact, full auto is the only mode available for the 5DIII and 1D X (manual and MSC are not supported yet in the Mac version).
> ...



Nope. Apologies - I think I misread FoCal's post on the Mac beta. Reading the new instructions, you must use MSC for the 1D X and 5DIII. In fact, personally, I couldn't even get the Mac beta to connect to my 1D X (tried on two different Macs running 10.6 and 10.7. I just shot them manually (which is what I'd gotten used to with the 1D X, since I did all my lenses before the 1D X was supported at all). I analyzed the images I shot in FoCal's Manual mode on the Mac, and that worked.


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## robbymack (Oct 29, 2012)

so it looks like FoCal is pretty much a go on the mac as long as you can deal with it not being full auto on the 5diii and 1dx. I was a bit confused by their last post which, at least to me, read that focal running on OSX and the 5diii weren't yet talking to one another. If I'm wrong, as it seems I may be, I'm ordering tomorrow.


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## jhenderson0107 (Oct 29, 2012)

Focal Pro detected my 5D3 running Mac beta 1.7.0.224 - after I rummaged for a decent, long USB cable. I previously calibrated all of my lenses using the latest non-beta Windows version. But, I thought it'd be interesting to compare against the automated results from the OS X version, but apparently that feature is not yet available regardless of platform. 

The OS X beta did crash frequently in my usage yesterday, so I will revert to the last release version until those issues are resolved. By contrast, the last Windows release version crashed only once, when I attempted to generate a report.


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