I plan on playing more with the ap stacker focus merge when i get some time. 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. I couldve fixed the background issue very simply using this. Depth of field, diffraction and focus stacking reed hoffmann. Focus stacking is commonly used in various forms of photography but is most known within the genres of landscape and macro photography. May 26, 2017 this video is a simple explanation on what is focus stacking and how to focus stack macro photos. How to use focus stacking to get impossibly sharp photos. The ultimate focus stacking guide capturelandscapes. The sheer existence of these utilities alone sets zerene stacker above its competitor, helicon focus. Helicon focus supports raw pipeline with dng input and output. Zerene stacker software, the discerning software choice for extreme macro focus stacking. Textures of a butterfly wing using a stack of 25 slices captured with a canon mpe 65mm f2. Photoshop is not the only software tool available for focus stacking.
Jan 26, 2016 is there any apps that anyone can recommend to focus stack that is relatively easy to use. 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 stack retouching is pretty easy but a fair few stackers seem to overlook this aspect of stacking with zerene stacker. The closer you get in macro flower photography, the fussier focus gets. Focus stacking is a process of using multiple images of the same. Zerene stacker is a focus stacking program designed specifically for challenging macro subjects and discerning photographers. In this article i will compare three popular programs used for focus stacking. Another highquality software is zerene stacker, which many claim performs even better than the others. Zerene stacker vs helicon focus comparison arda kutlu.
I want to try focus stacking but im just not getting that great results i see from others yet. It moves the camera on a rail in very precise increments. Stack in zerene, retouch if needed more on this below. Zerene stacker does not have any raw support yet which makes me surprised. Precision automated focus stacking with stack shot fstoppers. A lot of landscape photographers are interested in focus stacking combining multiple images of the same scene, each focused at different distances, into a single photo. Because focus is inherently shallower as you get closer to your subject, slight variations of distance between camera and subject throw you out of focus very quickly, and even fullystopped down you may not have enough depthoffield for your entire photo to be in. To understand this, start at the focus stacking overview of. Focus stacking in outdoor and landscape photography.
If you run zerene stacker on a different computer from where you receive email, than you can transfer the license key by using any text editor notepad on windows, textedit on mac, etc to write it to an ordinary text file. How to focus stack macro images in zerene stacker youtube. Focus stacking images using macro or stereomicro photography. The first is a pine cone, about 7cm toptobottom and 5cm across. Zerene systems uses a company named fastspring to provide secure ordering facilities. For me, the biggest problem id have in using a k1 to shoot a focus stack is slow burst shooting 4. Neben mehreren kommerziell vertriebenen losungen wie aphelion, helicon, zerene stacker oder focus projects stehen als freie. Of course it works great with simpler subjects, closeups, and landscapes also. With a deep stack, this approach can be much faster and less tedious than retouching from. I am considering using one of these, but the pricing is very different, with helicon offering a lowcost annual subscription and zerene selling according to intended use. That long string of hex digits is very difficult to type correctly by hand.
Just in passing, both helicon focus and zerene stacker, the two most popular focus stacking software programs, yield much better results that. Changed default memory allocation to use up to 12 of physical memory. Sep 20, 2016 focus stacking with zerene stacker macro tutorial. The ultimate focus stacking guide for landscape photographers. Navigate to step size using the left and right buttons of the four way selector switch. Focus stacking is an interesting technique to learn if you want to present a sharper macro image. Highest quality output images, especially in difficult cases o accurate and robust alignment and interpolation. If you are doing really close macro, then a focusing rail would be a good accessory to have, but for run of the mill stuff where the reproduction ratio isnt approaching life size, just turning the focus ring a little bit between shots is fine.
Congratulations, you have now finished your first stack using zerene stacker. Stackshot is an automated macro focusing rail that makes it quick and easy to capture stacks for small subjects. In addition to better image quality, another benefit to using moderate apertures is that the depth of field is simply narrow and with several images, the exact point of transition can be chosen. Zerene stacker is a focus stacking program designed specifically for challenging macro subjects and. Many of our users routinely go over 100 images per stack. How to focus stack macro images in zerene stacker duration. The system is inexpensive compared to highend commercial focus stacking solutions. Most stacking software including zerene stacker works from tiffs the exception i know of is helicon focus. Achieve great results and total control over your focus stack see how here. Because there are, by definition, artifacts gaps, usually some will have to be addressed and retouched, and others ignored. If so i would love to hear your approach to this technique. Jan 02, 2018 how to use focus stacking to get impossibly sharp photos. Once i begin making series of focus bracketed images nikon calls it focus shifting, i plan on licensing either helicon focus or zerene stacker to stack the images when photoshop ccs stacking capability isnt sufficient. The leading hardware for this is the stackshot, available from cognisys.
Beginners guide to focus stacking for macro photography. How to focus stack with zerene stacker macro photography. Zerene stacker is available as a free trial and can be downloaded here. Zerene stacker and helicon focus are the ones which seem to be mentioned most often. If focus stacking is your bag, zerene stacker needs to be in it.
You can also do focus stacking by manually bracketing your focus points. Zerene stacker, the leader in extreme macro software, has a deep workflow. In this manuscript we present a focus stacking system, composed of commercial photographic equipment. Jun 24, 2016 yesterday night was my first attempt at focus stacking. We tested our final stacked picture with a picture obtained. Zerene stacker has several advantages over other commonly used stacking programs. Volker betz focusstacking in the camera using a macrolens. A beginners guide to focus stacking digital photography school. Aug 19, 2016 first of all, helicon focus has a big advantage over zerene stacker in terms of pipeline. With focus stacking software you can make your usual camera render results that could not be achieved even with a classic tiltshift lens. Installing a license key unlocks features for unlimited use. It didnt do a great job with because i had out of focus areas that i didnt notice before stacking, but other than that, it did okay. Focus stacking might be an incredibly powerful technique but its not always necessary.
However, zerene stacker has a retouching option, where you can retouch any area on your image, telling it to use a specific source images detail. Focus stacking in the field has become a practical reality for me thanks to what panasonic calls 4k post focus, avaiilable in the gh4 and several other models the very first time i saw the remarkable images that a scanning electron microscope could generate i was completely hooked. Focus stack processing is the act of taking your separate images and combining them into one unified whole final image. Learn zerene stacker to make beautiful sharp images duration. Jan 18, 2016 precision automated focus stacking with stack shot. Free or affordable focus stacking software macro and still life. I am pretty impressed with the 30 day trial of zerene stacker, which i downloaded because i had heard it was one of the best. Zerene stacker for me is a relatively recent piece of software.
Choosing software for focus stacking step two basic retouching. So i stuck with 16 bit tif export to test zerene stacker. You tell fastspring what zerene stacker license you want, and give them your contact and payment information. Its perhaps most useful in closeup and macro photography, since the camera lenss highest fstop is often insufficient to render everything in focus. Focus stacking is an intermediate photography technique that combines the use of a camera and a postprocessing software such as adobe photoshop. Fwiw, i have one shot of an assassin but that i stacked in zerene. Is it better to use a focus rail or the ring on my lens. Comparing commercial topend setups with a semiautomatic low budget approach. Combinezp, picolay, helicon focus, zerene stacker, affinity photos, and. I have not used slabberjockey, nor do i use zerene stacker s plugin for lightroom. Quick guide to focus stacking with lightroom and photoshop. I stacked the images in zerene stacker and blended them using the pmax method.
Lens focusing or rail focusing i have been wondering which technique would be best for focus stacking, so i thought i would set up a trial with a couple of objects. What software is available for macro focus stacking. Use your large screen on a tablet to check and change critical focus, and magnify live view for extreme detail touch the live view image to focus on that spot or fine tune with precise adjustments perform automatic focus continue reading macro focus. Fastspring validates the payment, then sends your contact information to an automated server at zerene systems to generate a personalized license key. It is easy to get tricked by the viewfinder, and if you miss just one shot. Photoshop does the job well, but there are also other specialized programs for doing focus stacked images. Focus stacking app recommendations retouching forum. Using hugin for focus stacking nature photography with. For example, if elements of your photo are very close to your camera, focus stacking may be the. Using zerene stacker retouching to clone your focus stacked.
If youre using a camera that doesnt have liveview, start stacking before the zone of focus and finish beyond it. Focus stacking in the field becomes a reality with the. Select the images you want to stack and drag them into the input files area on the left hand side of the window. 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. Helicon focus compared to zerene stacker for windy. One option to get stacks that you can combine using a software like helicon or zerene stacker would be a hardware solution for the focus shift. Zerene stacker is a great package if focus stacking is your bag. Couple of questions since it only takes jpgs or tiffs, should i shoot in jpg or should i shoot in raw and then postprocess all the shots before importing them into zs.
I shoot for focus stacking mostly using a featureless white or black background, but it is also possible to do it in the wild. I spent a few years using and getting to know helicon focus, until early in 20 i found myself struggling with a few difficult specimens. I want to do a test of a landscape shot with using multiple focus points rather than trying a hyperfocal shot and see how the two compare, but for the macro shots, i think ill stick with zerene stacker. We tested this system and compared the results with several different software packages combinezp, automontage, helicon focus and zerene stacker. If your trial has expired, click the install license key button, at the bottom of the welcome to zerene stacker window. Heres a short guide to shooting several photographs to make an ultra sharp close focus shot.
A possible solution for mass digitization of type specimens. Slabbing seemed such an obvious benefit that i adopted it very early on in my workflow, and it has helped a lot in gaining encouraging stacking results. Is there any advantagedisadvantage of using helicon versus zerene. Using zerene stacker software to create a focus stacked image. Zerene stacker did a better job with cleaning up the doubleimaged ocotillo due to the way it nicely handled the clouds in the background, while helicon focus also pulled in the sky from the source image which due to being a little brighter left some halos that needed to be cloned out earlier. Focus stacking with zerene stacker macro tutorial youtube. Navigate to the promote control focus stacking screen by pressing the mode button. Process and stack your images using your stacking software, bring in the substacks and perform any necessary retouching. It is caused by a special highprecision mode of operation that is used by the zerene stacker interface to provide reliable movement even down to 1 or 2 microsteps per focus step roughly 1 micron, using the stackshot rail. In the zerene stacker interface, selection of high precision mode depends on step size and a usersettable threshold in. Focus stacking of live subjects the smaller majority. How to focus stack with zerene stacker extreme macro.
If you already have photoshop, then you might as well start with it. Stacking is also used in product photography like jewellery or any place where it is essential that the entire subject be sharp and in focus. Mjkzz also puts out snapfuse, windows focus stacking software to make a stack out of a series of focus stepped images, software along the lines of the marketleading zerene stacker or helicon focus. I was looking at doing this in photoshop, however i found these 2 programs and thats all they do. Mineral photography which is mostly done indoor, benefits from the full format focus bracketing function and the possibility of using the electronic. Set keyboard focus on dmap slider ok button when dialog opened, to allow pressing button from keyboard. Aug 12, 2017 in this article i will compare three popular programs used for focus stacking. I know older adobe programs didnt have stacking, but i have the full adobe cs5 extended program, and it has a focus stacking script that allows me to stack images just using photoshop. Various methods can then be used to make the final outcome of the focus stack better during the following post processing stage. Take several shots at different focus distances instead of just one, and helicon focus will quickly and smartly combine the stack into a fully focused image. I sometimes use a 180mm macro lens to get a series of shallow focus images of an insect or a plant in windfree, overcast conditions, and stack them later. Snapfuse focus stacking software has four parameters that can be controlled. Since fussy is not a technical term, let me explain.
We tested this system and compared the results with several different software packages combinezp, automontage, helicon focus and zerene. Individual image on the left, stacked result on the right. Some of those include adobe photoshop, helicon focus and zerene stacker. Ken, do you find zerene stacker worth the extra cost over helicon focus. I would prefer not to spend a fortune on an app if possible as i will only use it occasionally. The first step is to develop the raw files to tiffs. This tutorial explains how to control the stackshot from within zerene stacker, using a graphical interface rather than the stackshot controllers own physical buttons. Some focus stacking photographers prefer to physically move the camera during stacking, rather than have the focus motor adjust the focus. Focus stacking is a powerful technique for extending a photos apparent depth of field. Zerene stacker substack slabbing, the best way to improve. This shows how straightforward it is to stack images from the telecentric computar 552. Focus stacking works best where there is a smooth transition of the subject you want sharp in the final composite image. This subject is a common fruit fly, as seen through a 100x microscope. A look at focus stacking with helicon focus duration.
I use zerene stacker when i need to do sub stacks to handle overlapping subjects like insect legs, antennas, bristles and so on. Since i do hope to occasionally sell my images, that means. Zerene stacker how to install a license key zerene systems. Focus stacking a macro photography technique youtube. We tested our final stacked picture with a picture. Apr 11, 20 focus stacking also lets the point of transition between in and out of focus to be precisely selected. Instead of using external software to move the focus point of the camera, you move the camera at a fixed focus using a setup like. Set value to small by pressing the up or down buttons of the four way selector switch. I did actually read that already before posting this. Zerene stacker retouching lets you bring in the detail from the sharpest individual frame to eliminate the fuzzyness caused by out of focus backgrounds or foregrounds.
Id like my next camera body to shoot at least 9fps. This is photographed using a 10x macro setup, roughly the same as what youd see through a 100x microscope. A huge benefit of both helicon focus and zerene stacker is that they can control a stackshot through their own interface. Like hdr imaging, if you end up doing a lot of focus stacking, youll probably invest in specialized software for its added features i now use helicon focus. Substack slabbing focus stacking walkthrough 1 the focus stacking workflow. This is a useful tool to have at your disposal, since it lets you take pictures in more situations than you otherwise could. Zerene vs photoshop a stacking experiment microbehunter.
Diatoms photoshop stack of 12 images, negative phase contrast microscopy, 200x. Copy the license key to clipboard using controlc or commandc. I spent several hours today trying all three for the first time and got. Helicon focus and focus stacking helicon soft helicon. Recently i have been playing around with focus stacking for macro, using a focusssing rack and zerene stacker. This technique is beneficial only in very specific scenarios, most of which already mentioned above. Focus stacking is a useful technique for many photographers. License key can be located in application root directory. With the 16 bit tif pipeline there is actually no pixel.
Heres a tutorial on how to do focus stacking by using fujifilms new focus bracketing feature, which is found on the xt2, xh1 and gfx cameras. However, for many uses, the focus stacking capabilities of photoshop are. With no license key installed, it runs in timelimited trial mode. You can work through the image, taking photographs which are focused on different points, then combine those photographs with software. Dec 16, 2014 besides depth maps, zerene stacker can make stereo and rocking pictures gifs which give the impression of 3d when viewed crosseyed for the stereo option. Jul 12, 2011 this shows how straightforward it is to stack images from the telecentric computar 552. Some of our users regularly process 200 megapixels per frame, from highend hasselblad cameras. I routinely do stacks of upwards of 40 images, often with pixel shift engaged on the k1.
Then you can use helicon focus to blend all the sharp areas together and produce a completely sharp image. Zerene stacker helicon focus combine zp windows only the first two offer free trials, the last is free, though it does not appear its being updated anymore. Focus stacking does not work if you try to use photomerge from bridge instead. Focus stacking comparing photoshop, helicon and zerene by. Perhaps photomerge and load files to photoshop layers need to be combined as one command because their functions overlap somewhat already but i am sure that having. Zerene allows you to combine a large number of images at different focus points and stitch them together, compensating for the minutely small focus planes that any individual extreme macro shots have. In fact, most likely you wont be focus stacking for the majority of your images. You can also select some of the layers that make up a focus stack and create a stack from that. Lightroom and zerene there have been a number of threads recently in which people asked about focus stacking. With this retouching ability, the auto alignment of images and its ease of use ive convinced myself that zerene stacker is the better. Zerene stacker can handle any modern camera we know of. Focus stacking in macro photography focus stacking the first steps. Launch zerene stacker, then get to the registration window as follows.