Focus Stacking Tutorial From Start To Finish. 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. Focus stacking as a photography technique is especially useful for macro photography of small objects, because regardless of the f/stop used, the unavoidably small depth of field shooting small objects means that much of your subject will actually be unsharp and out of focus. Stacking overcomes this by combining the sharpest parts of several images focused at different points and combining them into one very sharp composite image. Starting out with focus stacking isn't hard, can be done at any time and doesn't need to be expensive. All you need to start focus stacking is a digital camera, a stage, a flash, your tripod, the right software for stacking and a good sprinkling of patience. Focus stacking is done by amateurs, professionals and part- timers, has applications in entomology, science and astronomy and there's even a camera that focus stacks on the Mars Rover. Focus stacking, also known as macro stacking, focal plane merging, z- stacking and focus blending, can be done inside on the kitchen table during winter and is fun to learn, opening new worlds and opportunities for photography. Like anything, there's a workflow and certain amount of preparation that's done before shooting a focus stack. Focus Stacking Tips. Regardless of the software or hardware you're using to create a focus stack, there are certain standout factors that will affect the quality of your final focus stack. One thing to observe is that for many not so great stacks, all the factors need to be explored and relying just on buying a more expensive lens is no guarantee of success if all the other factors are not in good shape. Sharpness - Focus stacking is not a magic bullet that converts 1. For a successful stack, you need sharp images to begin with. So combining shots made with flash freezing the images sharply are more likely to be successful than shots which use handheld long exposures creating pixel blurry shots. Obviously handheld exposures are perfectly capable of creating sharp images if there is enough light, but do be aware that doing everything you can to maximise initial sharpness can influence the quality of the final focus stack greatly. That said, stacked images can be surprisingly unsharp and some moderate high pass sharpening is usually required. Lens - The less abberation and distortion your lens has, the better the chance you give to your stacking software to align the images correctly. But what is of particular importance to focus stackers is not only the absolute quality and resolution of the lens for the single image to be stacked, but also its properties and how it performs throughout the stack, which manifest itself as perspective and magnification changes between frames as the camera focuses at different focus points to create a stack sequence. Topend stackers look for lenses that minimise such changes in perspective between frames, as a complete undistorted field of view over the target without any perspective or magnification changes between frames will make it easier for stacking software to render a good stack. On DSLRs and full frame cameras, reversed enlarger lenses and microscope objectives make for a good value for money lens to stack with. Subject - Some subjects simply stack better than others because of the complexity that you are asking the stack to merge into one. Free image processing software. The 1st update of RegiStax 6 is available for download from the. Focus stacking software. Helicon Focus is a fantastic program from Helicon Soft that was originally designed for macro photography. Focus Stacking : Which Software is the best??? Could anyone advice me a good 'focus stacking' software? Download Astronomy software. Free software downloads. Astronomy software; Astronomy software (20 programs). Questions and answers Astronomy. Astronomy Deep Sky Stacking Software . If you know of programs which are suitable for DSLR. ARCHIVES 'Free image stacking software' best photo. Zerene Stacker is “focus stacking” software. Zerene Stacker has several advantages over other commonly used stacking programs. You download Zerene Stacker. Stacking software: Finding what's right for. Basically, when looking at software. Objects with many thin low contrast overlapping elements such as hairs or branches are high complexity subjects that are often tricky to stack on a first pass and benefit from extra focus stack retouching or substack slabbing, whereas smoother, planar objects such as small pebbles, shells and electronics components do tend to be easier to stack successfully. Overlap - Focus stacking is all about overlapping shots with sharp sections to create an all- in- one sharp image. Whilst there maybe a temptation to maximise the band of sharpness on each shot to be stacked by using a small aperture such as f/6. I tend to use a lens at the lens' best performing f/stop and adjust increments to suit that, rather than adjusting increments to minimise exposures needed. Light - There is no law saying that you have to use diffused lighting for focus stacking but in my experience diffused lighting that comes from a variety of angles will give your stack a bigger chance of succeeding as intended. To simplify matters - if you can keep the dynamic range of your shot down a bit rather than playing right at the peripheries with harsh, contrasty lighting, you'll give your stacking software a better chance to find common information out of each frame to construct a decent stack. Focus Stacking Software. There are two main commercial vendors of focus stacking software: Zerene Stacker and Helicon Focus. Both work for PC and Mac and give superb results in the right hands, although the best focus stacking software does tend to be Zerene Stacker for photographers interested in quality rather than quantity. Zerene has the edge because of third party advanced retouching (slabbing) utilities available, and also seems to construct marginally superior 'out of the box' stacks. Photoshop can also be used for stacking using its merge functionality but the results are in a class below Zerene and Helicon; it also does not have such things as depth map modifiers. Free focus stacking software is also available: Image. J is used by many science institutions, Hugin tools (with enfuse) is also used and there is also Picolay. There is also the older Combine. ZP and variants. Focus stack studio shot of a sawfly using the Componon 3. This is a stack of 2. CS4, Noise. Ninja & Topaz Detail. Focus Stack Workflow. Good focus stack preparation prevents a lot of work in post. Before starting your studio speciment stack, clean, spread, card and pin the subject and have it ready to be moved into position. Automatic image registration for astrophotography. ASTRONOMY - FREE SOFTWARE. Simple post-stacking processes to quickly view the final result. Download freeware astronomy software programs. Switch on any equipment that needs to be on for a while before settling at the correct colour temperature. Read more. Shooting The Focus Stack. Use the focus stack step calculator below to set a safe step size, and make sure that your batteries are fresh. Set up your lighting and diffusion, work the stage to the ends and as a very last step, actually mount the specimen that you actually wish to photograph. Read more. Focus Stacking Step Size Calculator. Processing Your Focus Stack. Zerene Stacker software, the discerning software choice for extreme macro focus stacking. Zerene Stacker is available as a free trial and can be downloaded here. Process and stack your images using your stacking software, bring in the substacks and perform any necessary retouching. Focus Stack Post Processing. Adjust levels if necessary, enhance detail, remove noise, remove dirt by cloning, carefully sharpen and fix for presentation. Focus stacks are rarely supremely sharp or beautiful before postprocessing work is done and this stage is usually an important part of the overall macro focus stack process. Focus Stacking on a Budget. For a low- cost focus stacking setup that gets you up to 5: 1 or so, you really don't need expensive equipment. It is better to start with flash rather than continuous lighting because you'll avoid the unsharpness that long exposures and continuous lighting can give you. Flash freezes the subject. If you already have a camera, all you need to diffuse the on- board flash is a sheet of tissue paper which makes a fine diffusion material. To move the camera use a Velbon Super Mag Slider and make your own dial for greater sensitivity. As a specimen holder, either use a helping hand or an old lens (which can be twisted to make an up/down platform), blu tack and a pin. Then stack using Image. J, which is free! Allow Time for Stacking. Allow plenty of time for stacking. Focus stacking is not a speedy process, and most stacks tend to take several hours from start to finish. There are two especially time- consuming stages: shooting the stack itself (ie 1. Regardless of your stacking software, making a stack is a very slow, memory- intensive task, and your computer will more than likely have most of its process memory consumed by your stacking software when running, so there is not much scope to run other memory intensive applications such as Photoshop at the same time. It will help to switch the optional preview of the stack as it is being made off, and also to limit the amount of perspective and rotation correction you make your stacking software do. My preferred workflow is to take the pictures for an actual stack in the evening, and then make the stacking software do its thing overnight whilst I'm sleeping. Focus Stacking Method. There are two methods that can be used to focus stack: vary the plane of focus by moving camera (or subject) backwards and forwards, or vary the plane of focus by refocusing a lens at different focus planes. The latter is no good for lenses without electronic focus, and cannot be used by all brands or cameras; it is limited to the brands and lenses that Helicon Focus can adjust the focus for; this excludes for example mpe. JML2. 1 and microscope objectives. The former method, moving either the camera or object, also has the added benefit that it can do much more magnification, down to 1. Common Focus Stacking Problems. Your first stacks will be your worst. They may very well exhibit one of these very common stacking problems, which we have all had at some point. There is nothing to be alarmed about if you get these and it is always best to concentrate on getting your equipment train and workflow in good order first before expecting excellent results. Stacking is a slow process and learning to avoid issues is just a small part of this. Astro- Snapeasy popular webcam astronomy software ccd capture. Last site update: 1. Astro- Snap. allows you to take astronomical pictures at low cost with a WEBCAM.
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