Collimating lensvs focusinglens

Final note: This works best when you have a bright light source. I almost always do this during the day with the back of the target camera facing an open window.

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With tape, it's so thin that you can make your mark on the back side. With the thicker plastic, the marks I've made are on the "emulsion" side.

Collimating your lens is one of the simpler things you can do. That means, ensuring the lens is dead-on at infinity. Here's what you'll need:

Collimating lensThorlabs

Use the ground glass, rather than the split-image. Out of focus is on the left, in focus is on the right. Once infinity focus is set, you can reassemble the lens. Obviously, do not rotate the lens within its mount or the front cell until it's reassembled. You should make a final check after reassembly.

This is where the waist-level finder comes in handy, because you can peer into the finder while manipulating the lens on the target camera. This finder also has a pop-up magnifying glass, which is a big help when doing this.Use the ground glass, rather than the split-image. Out of focus is on the left, in focus is on the right. Once infinity focus is set, you can reassemble the lens. Obviously, do not rotate the lens within its mount or the front cell until it's reassembled. You should make a final check after reassembly.