Beginners guide to focus stacking for macro photography. Though i actually recommend a lower iso combined with brightening the photo later, as youll see in. Beginners guide to focus stacking for macro photography petapixel. Focus stacking also known as focal plane merging and zstacking or focus blending is a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of field dof than any of the individual source images. A very popular addon for this software is stack focuser. In my earlier description of the landscape focus stacking, i outlined the stacking process that these software packages execute. It is designed specifically for stacking images and frames from video files and is the program of choice for many astronomers and astrophotographers thanks to its simplicity of use. Some years ago i experimented with macro stacking with an old version of photoshop, but i had to do every step by hand. You want every tiny leg and the details of the wings to all be sharp. On small subjects, even at high fstops, depth of field is very apparent. An introduction to focus stacking digital photography school.
Or to remove unwanted distractions, simulate long exposures or produce various special effects. Here is a list of best free focus stacking software for windows. True macro lenses have the ability to recreate lifesize images 1. Focus stacking as a photography technique is especially useful for macro photography of small objects, because regardless of the fstop used, the unavoidably. It is an open source software that has multiple platforms to work on with your images. Zerene is my preferred software cheaper and better. Learn how to use focus stacking to extend the depth of field of an image. Helicon focus and focus stacking helicon soft helicon. In this article gold member dhroberts applies it to closeup photography. If you need 10 seconds of exposure in order to eliminate star trails, use 10 seconds. This required so much time that i finally gave up this then extremely timeconsuming technique and returned to classic macro, also because in the field you dont find often so steady objects if they are alive. Which is why this article is all about learning how to use focus stacking in macro photography. The hardest part of focus staking photography, taking the series of incrementally focused images, can be easily accomplished if you own a nikon, canon, or sony camera and a smartphone, ipad, android or laptop, using the free hardwired software, digicam, or the more sophisticated helicon software. The result is a sharp image that has a depth of field greater than that in the individual images.
Extreme macro software focus stacking and post processing. In almost all of the software mentioned, the process to focus stack photos is carried out by loading multiple images, then running the stack tool. Using software, to me, seems like it would distort the image to an. Start with small stacks, say between 710 images, and then try for bigger stacks. Focus stacking is a great trick to tease more detail out of the thing youre photographing. Software like helicon focus and zerene stacker can focus stack images, and do offer more control and tweaks for the image blending process that may provide better results. Ive been using a new program called affinity photo.
All images of a stack need to be aligned and resized before stacking. I will present a separate article on stacking of macro 110x subjects in the. Years ago, i was asked by the folks at canon what features id like to see in future cameras, and one of my suggestions was an automated focusstacking capabilitydramatically increasing an images depth of field by combining multiple captures taken at different focus points. Many of our users routinely go over 100 images per stack. Focus stacking is a popular photography technique that gives ultra sharp images. I understand that the best stacking happens when the camera is on a support. You will now hopefully have a stunning macro image with the subject sharp and in focus, front to back. Focus stacking is a technique that will give your macro shots much sharper focus. Well, focus stacking simply means taking multiple photos of the same subject, each with a different focused spot. Its perhaps most useful in closeup and macro photography, since the camera lenss highest fstop is often insufficient to render everything in focus. Stacking software needs images to be acquired in a logical sequence, i. Wemacros automatic focus stacking rail has total travel length of 100 mm. This is especially easy to do using nikon d850, z7 or z6, but can be done using any nikon camera and lens.
Free or affordable focus stacking software macro and still life. How to get sharp macro shots with focus stacking cnet. This is followed by the use postprocessing software like adobe photoshop cs4 to align the focused portion of each image into one finalandfocused image. However, with focus stacking, images are captured with different focus points, and later combined in photoshop, to create an image with. Focus stacking is a powerful technique for achieving supersharp details throughout the image. How to focus stack macro photos in the field nature ttl. Combinezp, picolay, helicon focus, zerene stacker, affinity photos, and photoshop are our. Focus stacking is a photography term used to describe the process of combining photographs to obtain images with a much larger depth of field that would be possible in a single photo. It is often used to reduce noise for example in astrophotography. Combining or stacking a group of similar images is a common photography technique. Check visually that the size of focus step you have chosen is appropriate to the subject and magnification. Now that we have collected our focus slices, we need to combine them into a final stacked image using some specialized stacking software.
In other areas photoshop, lightroom, aperture, etc are kind of industry standard options. The helicon tube is a specialized extension tube that enables your camera to perform automated and softwarecontrolled stacks. How to use focus stacking to get impossibly sharp photos. Focus stacking in macro photography has never been so simple. The best thing about them is that you dont need to touch the camera to take the shots or adjust. However, for many uses, the focus stacking capabilities of photoshop are quite powerful and useful.
Focus stacking can be used in a number of different types of images, but the trick is most common for macro photography because getting up close creates a shallower depth of field i. Zerene stacker can handle any modern camera we know of. Zerene stacker is focus stacking software designed specifically for challenging macro subjects and discerning photographers. On the left is a single focus image, next is a stacked picture of the diatom from images using helicon a weighted average stacking method, next is helicon b method where the software uses a depth map to stack, and finally c where the images are stacked using a pyramid stacking method. Some of our users regularly process 200 megapixels per frame, from highend hasselblad cameras. Star trail photography where the relative motion of the stars in consecutive images creates structures looking like star trails. The main way that extreme macro differentiates itself in software terms is the use of focus stacking software, in which various stacking vendors compete for the limited number of stackers. Focusing and depth of field are critical on macro images like this and although modern digital cameras have very good screens they cannot compete with the camrangeripad combination for zooming right in to check focus and dof, even with a manually focused image like this. We have developed a plugin for our shutter stream product photography. Im planning to buy an image stacking software for macro photography. The resulting photos, however, can be striking and unique. Focus stacking is a powerful technique for extending a photos apparent depth of field. The rail is fully controlled by a computer, or an android phone using bluetooth or otg functionality.
Free or affordable focus stacking software macro and. Starstax is a fast multiplatform image stacking and blending software, which allows to merge a series of photos into a single image using different blending modes. It comes in mind that as soon as lightfield cameras can deliver higher image resolutions all this stacking fuzz and the need to limit to shoot only objects that behaves if they are already dead will be passed forever. Focus stacking is a technique that can be beneficial when a photographer wants to extend the apparent depthoffield of an image, and also wants to avoid the loss of image sharpness that can result from the effects of diffraction when using an increased fstop. Which is why this article is all about learning how to use focus stacking in m acro photography.
As mentioned earlier, zerene stacker is a premium product and comes in four versions. Astronomy deep sky stacking software rogers website. Is it high time to buy a tripod or there are softwares that can help me for handheld shots. The shots are later processed using software to display only the sharpest parts of the image. Intelligent software for photographers helicon soft. It can even overcome the otherwise unavoidable sharpness loss. These focus stacking walkthroughs will help you take your. Focus stacking can be used in any situation where individual images have a very shallow depth of field. Preinstallation of features takes place in the software. I have macbook pro, and i am pretty stumped on how to stack my deep sky photos. Quick guide to focus stacking with lightroom and photoshop.
Stacking works best with a series of approximately equal focus steps between top and bottom settings. Today its hard to imagine macro or micro photography without focus stacking. Yes, helicon focus allows you to touch up the image, but this would be hard with the raspberry image note the blurriness at the end of many of the little stems. To use this technique, you take several images of the same scene, focusing your lens on a different part of the object for each shot. Focus stacking comparing photoshop, helicon and zerene by. An image made with a canon eos 6d, a carl zeiss 50mm f1. Zerene stacker is a premium focus stacking software designed for macro photography to create richindetail images using the focus stacking technique. What software is available and widely used for macro focus stacking.
Most photographers use stacking programs with macrophotography. A later image 12 images, focused with helicon remote of some raspberries note both have areas that are blurred. Its minimum step can be set as 1 micron in precise mode. And if so should i just let rc sort the raws straight from camera, or use focus stacking software. With focus stacking software you can make your usual camera render results. Most notable of these are zerene stacker and helicon focus. By combining many images of the same subject, taken at different focal lengths, you can create extremely. Merge all layers together and then edit the final image as you see fit. Originally written for use with microscopes but seems to work fine at lower magnifications too.
Theres a table of focus stacking software, some of it free, at wikipedia. Macro focus stackingimage stacking tutorialhow to do. Focus stacking is an advanced technique and requires plenty of practice to get right. Focus stacking tachinid fly by muhammad mahdi karim and laboulbeniales on harmonia axyridis by gilles san martin tags. Zerene stacker and helicon focus are two of the big players in focus stacking. These software come in handy for photographers, especially while post processing macro photos or microscopic photos. Then you can use helicon focus to blend all the sharp areas together and produce a completely sharp image. The ultimate focus stacking guide capturelandscapes. Adobe photoshop is the most used software for advanced image processing. Focus stacking software for macro photography youtube. Registax 6 is a powerful and mature stacking program containing sophisticated and great image enhancement features. Whichever method you choose, bear in mind that the more focal points you shoot, and the more images with differing focal points you. What software is available for macro focus stacking.
1206 504 996 96 1190 1599 269 1468 567 1375 631 585 1554 739 1028 1472 425 1580 1152 921 1376 1288 998 1489 1125 1351 1163 443 612 1076 949 362 66 866 1262 765 742