We are extremely gratified (and thrilled!) that LensAlign has been received with such fanfare and success. A big thank you to all of you who have ordered so soon in the life of this new and exciting product. While some people just seen a focus chart with $$ attached to it, you have "gotten it", and realize that LensAlign is so much more than a way to set the AF micro-adjustment on the 10 DSLRs that now have that feature. I will elaborate on this over the next days and weeks. But very simply, LA is a mechanism that allows you to evaluate the perforce of your lenses such that you will be better able to harness that each lens has to offer. This may be through AFMA, sending back to the mfg, or simply understanding the performance parameters of your lenses on your specific camera bodies, and working through and around any Auto or manual focus issues. Of course the faster your lenses, the more that LA can help to sort out their performance parameters on your bodies.

PRO Shipping Status:

The divisions between 1st and 2nd production runs are blurred as parts are coming in for the 2nd as we finish up the 1st and we expedite and expand  the third. So I think the best thing to say about all back orders, is that our aim is to have all back orders cleared by the week of Jan 12. I cannot promise that, but that is our goal and we have a clear shot at it as of today. Mirrors and DVDs, both not needed to fully use LA Pro are not in the box at this time. The mirrors will be introduced into the production run as soon as they arrive and are tested, and will be shipped at that time to all existing owners. The DVD will be shipped to all who request it at a later date. Since all Video Tutorials will be posted on line and be subjected to continual update and additions, to most the DVD will serve no purpose. But once the body of work (the video content) is substantial, we will also add that to the production run. I would not expect that to be until sometime in February.

LITE Shipping Status:

Like what I said above we are aiming to begin shipments of LITE the week of Jan 12, and hope to fulfill all existing back orders during that same week.

Here is a new hands-on report from Adam Jay, along with box opening photos and all. Thanks Adam!

When I conceived LensAlign, there were several "test charts" available on the web. They all were useful in that they were free of charge, but they all suffered from one or more issues when it came to testing for AF back/front focus issues. Late in my design process, when all of the strategic design goals had been met, I came across Jeffrey’s Autofocus Test Chart.

Clearly Jeffrey had done his homework, and bested all of the previous charts and techniques that I had come across. And better yet, he was honest and scientific about the shortcomings of his own design and open to a better mousetrap. But he was out of time for his home-brew project.

Who better than Jeffrey, then, to poke holes in my design if they existed. Although I had not heard of Jeffrey, it turned out that we had more then lens testing methods in common. I had been helping the Adobe design team with Adobe Lightroom 1.0, and managing the transition of RawShooter from Pixmantec to Adobe. and it turns out that Jeffrey had just signed on with Adobe to do Lightroom software project in a consulting capacity. Also, I had used Regular Expressions in a software product I designed a few years back for the Pro Audio market, and it turns out that Jeffrey literally wrote the book! And of course we are both enthusiast photographers, and tech geeks, and love our families.

Jeffrey explains what happened from there in today's post on his blog [link].

Thanks, Jeffrey!

In other LensAlign news:

• Pro shipments begin today.
• 2nd production run on schedule (so far) for next week (complicated a bit by Xmas)
• Lite shipping still slated for Jan 10 or so
• Lite may gain a tripod socket (no promises)

Thanks to all who have ordered so far.

Thanks for your orders and support for LA. New Pro orders placed will be queued for next week.

Thanks to all of you who have ordered the LensAlign. For those who have not the good and bad news is that the first production run of the Pro version looks like it will be sold out today or tomorrow. So if you are anxious to get your LensAlign Pro shipped this week, I would suggest that you order today. We have a second production run coming in right behind it (pending one vendor delivering as promised), so shipments will resume Dec 22/23 for the second production run.

Regarding LensAlign Lite. We now have the first production sample in house, and pending a few very minor changes, we appear to be on schedule for shipping Lite on schedule around Jan 12 give or take. BTW, Lite is a killer. Even better than expected. More on this coming..

We are running around a little crazy with testing units for shipment this week, finishing up the production run, answering emails from editors demanding review samples (we like that, but want to ship to you first), and trying hard to get more documentation up on the web. I am confident that we will move along on all fronts.

I thank the early supporters of LA who have already ordered. While there are the expected "hey there is a free version here", and the "kinda pricey" comments floating on the web, I can see that so many of you understand and "get" what LA is all about:

• Getting the most from your fast glass™
• Saving time (and time is money)
• Having a reference standard to check your equipment, for your ongoing re-tests, and to compare with others who use the same body/lens combinations.
• A very quick and accurate setup
• Repeatable test platform whether done by you or someone else halfway around the world
• Saving the frustration of using other solutions that might not yield repeatable results, thereby wasting your time.
• More

I will be providing much more specific information about LA and its use over the next days/weeks/months. In the meantime if you have a question, please post it on the discussion page.

Thanks again. I am very gratified at the reception to LA. It has consumed the better part of the last year for me, so this is a good time. Huge workload, but I have a big glow of satisfaction within me. And that is thanks to you. Please keep asking questions and supplying feedback and other ideas.

Oh, by the way. I have neglected to mention the optional "Long Ruler" that will be available for Pro. It is an optional accessory and will extend the readout by doubling the length of the ruler along with a modification of the graphics. Now that we have the production flowing I can go back and finish up the design of the long ruler option. It is great for tele and wide angle lenses, both of which have special requirements.

Thanks again..

A lot more to say in the coming hours and days. Sorry for the 2 day delay. We were able to finalize the last details on LensAlign Lite and announce it at the same time. We thought that the wait was worth it.

 I will be creating the FAQs and posting more videos through this weekend and into next week. So keep coming back. Happy to answer questions in the meantime until we get all the info up and posted. Thanks in advance for your support.

The main LensAlign page [link] has links to hands on reviews and the video tutorials that have been completed with the production units so far.

Update on Fri, December 12, 2008 at 12:56 PM by Michael Tapes

Click for LensAlign Discussion Page

This is the first time that I am using this feature of the site. So let's give it a try for discussing LensAlign.

Can't say much about this until the official announcement on Dec 12.

[update Dec 8]

We have moved the launch from the 10th to the 12th because we will have more to say than we thought. Thanks for your patience.

Orange County Convention Center D700 - 20mm ƒ2.8 - Instant JPEG from RAWHad a great time yesterday at the LightRoom 2 Tour at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. As the norm of Kelby training seminars they are top quality to learn and have fun at. This has been true since I attended my first Kelby Photoshop training session in NYC at Javitts many years ago to, present day as witnessed yesterday. I was able to say hello to the NAPP team and many of the local Florida people that I have come to know through my site, WhiBal, Raw without FUD, and the big (free!) hit utility Instant JPEG from Raw (thanks to Scott for helping to spread the word!). And of course I always learn a thing or 2 from Scott and the NAPP team.

If any NAPP seminars pass through your area, be sure to check them out, and if you are not a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Photoshop Professionals) you should be.

BTW...NAPP memebers get a 15% discount on WhiBal products, free shipping at B&H and many other discounts.