Jan 02, 2018 how to use focus stacking to get impossibly sharp photos. The closer you get in macro flower photography, the fussier focus gets. I did actually read that already before posting this. Zerene stacker how to install a license key zerene systems. Dec, 2016 using zerene stacker software to create a focus stacked image.
Combinezp, picolay, helicon focus, zerene stacker, affinity photos, and. Depth of field, diffraction and focus stacking reed hoffmann. License key can be located in application root directory. 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. Recently i have been playing around with focus stacking for macro, using a focusssing rack and zerene stacker. Focus stacking comparing photoshop, helicon and zerene by. If your trial has expired, click the install license key button, at the bottom of the welcome to zerene stacker window. Since fussy is not a technical term, let me explain. I was looking at doing this in photoshop, however i found these 2 programs and thats all they do. Zerene stacker does not have any raw support yet which makes me surprised.
Achieve great results and total control over your focus stack see how here. With the 16 bit tif pipeline there is actually no pixel. Mineral photography which is mostly done indoor, benefits from the full format focus bracketing function and the possibility of using the electronic. What software is available for macro focus stacking. Jun 24, 2016 yesterday night was my first attempt at focus stacking. 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. 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. Is there any advantagedisadvantage of using helicon versus zerene. Of course it works great with simpler subjects, closeups, and landscapes also. Substack slabbing focus stacking walkthrough 1 the focus stacking workflow. Zerene stacker software, the discerning software choice for extreme macro focus stacking. 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.
Zerene stacker vs helicon focus comparison arda kutlu. A look at focus stacking with helicon focus duration. Just in passing, both helicon focus and zerene stacker, the two most popular focus stacking software programs, yield much better results that. So i stuck with 16 bit tif export to test zerene stacker.
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. In fact, most likely you wont be focus stacking for the majority of your images. Jan 26, 2016 is there any apps that anyone can recommend to focus stack that is relatively easy to use. Learn zerene stacker to make beautiful sharp images duration. You can also select some of the layers that make up a focus stack and create a stack from that. You can also do focus stacking by manually bracketing your focus points. Focus stacking is an intermediate photography technique that combines the use of a camera and a postprocessing software such as adobe photoshop. Highest quality output images, especially in difficult cases o accurate and robust alignment and interpolation. Focus stacking is commonly used in various forms of photography but is most known within the genres of landscape and macro photography. I routinely do stacks of upwards of 40 images, often with pixel shift engaged on the k1.
If so i would love to hear your approach to this technique. Zerene stacker can handle any modern camera we know of. Congratulations, you have now finished your first stack using zerene stacker. Apr 11, 20 focus stacking also lets the point of transition between in and out of focus to be precisely selected. Zerene stacker and helicon focus are the ones which seem to be mentioned most often. Helicon focus compared to zerene stacker for windy. 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. How to use focus stacking to get impossibly sharp photos.
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. I would prefer not to spend a fortune on an app if possible as i will only use it occasionally. Various methods can then be used to make the final outcome of the focus stack better during the following post processing stage. Set keyboard focus on dmap slider ok button when dialog opened, to allow pressing button from keyboard. 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. Set value to small by pressing the up or down buttons of the four way selector switch. However, for many uses, the focus stacking capabilities of photoshop are. 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. Navigate to step size using the left and right buttons of the four way selector switch. We tested our final stacked picture with a picture. 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. Zerene stacker has several advantages over other commonly used stacking programs. 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. I have not used slabberjockey, nor do i use zerene stacker s plugin for lightroom.
Zerene stacker, the leader in extreme macro software, has a deep workflow. Focus stacking is a powerful technique for extending a photos apparent depth of field. Zerene vs photoshop a stacking experiment microbehunter. Select the images you want to stack and drag them into the input files area on the left hand side of the window. The ultimate focus stacking guide for landscape photographers.
This shows how straightforward it is to stack images from the telecentric computar 552. Focus stacking is a useful technique for many photographers. Some focus stacking photographers prefer to physically move the camera during stacking, rather than have the focus motor adjust the focus. Neben mehreren kommerziell vertriebenen losungen wie aphelion, helicon, zerene stacker oder focus projects stehen als freie. The first is a pine cone, about 7cm toptobottom and 5cm across. Helicon focus and focus stacking helicon soft helicon.
I couldve fixed the background issue very simply using this. 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. Sep 20, 2016 focus stacking with zerene stacker macro tutorial. 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.
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. Another highquality software is zerene stacker, which many claim performs even better than the others. Zerene stacker is available as a free trial and can be downloaded here. This tutorial explains how to control the stackshot from within zerene stacker, using a graphical interface rather than the stackshot controllers own physical buttons. If youre using a camera that doesnt have liveview, start stacking before the zone of focus and finish beyond it. Aug 19, 2016 first of all, helicon focus has a big advantage over zerene stacker in terms of pipeline. Peter bargh explains how to shoot, and then what software will combine the shots to. The system is inexpensive compared to highend commercial focus stacking solutions. Quick guide to focus stacking with lightroom and photoshop. The sheer existence of these utilities alone sets zerene stacker above its competitor, helicon focus. Focus stacking in the field becomes a reality with the.
In this manuscript we present a focus stacking system, composed of commercial photographic equipment. Most stacking software including zerene stacker works from tiffs the exception i know of is helicon focus. Focus stacking images using macro or stereomicro photography. Stackshot is an automated macro focusing rail that makes it quick and easy to capture stacks for small subjects. 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. Textures of a butterfly wing using a stack of 25 slices captured with a canon mpe 65mm f2.
Zerene stacker substack slabbing, the best way to improve. The ultimate focus stacking guide capturelandscapes. Id like my next camera body to shoot at least 9fps. That long string of hex digits is very difficult to type correctly by hand. How to focus stack with zerene stacker extreme macro. For example, if elements of your photo are very close to your camera, focus stacking may be the. Alternatively, start at focus stack preparation, work your way through shooting the stack, stack your images and finally perform the necessary focus stack post processing. 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. The leading hardware for this is the stackshot, available from cognisys. Installing a license key unlocks features for unlimited use.
I use zerene stacker when i need to do sub stacks to handle overlapping subjects like insect legs, antennas, bristles and so on. To understand this, start at the focus stacking overview of. 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. How to focus stack macro images in zerene stacker youtube. 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. Copy the license key to clipboard using controlc or commandc. In the future, ill probably lean more towards the zerene stacker for doing composite shots such as this. Helicon focus supports raw pipeline with dng input and output. This is a useful tool to have at your disposal, since it lets you take pictures in more situations than you otherwise could. 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. This subject is a common fruit fly, as seen through a 100x microscope.
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. A beginners guide to focus stacking digital photography school. Focus stack retouching is pretty easy but a fair few stackers seem to overlook this aspect of stacking with zerene stacker. How to focus stack with zerene stacker macro photography. I stacked the images in zerene stacker and blended them using the pmax method.
In the zerene stacker interface, selection of high precision mode depends on step size and a usersettable threshold in. I spent several hours today trying all three for the first time and got. Diatoms photoshop stack of 12 images, negative phase contrast microscopy, 200x. Changed default memory allocation to use up to 12 of physical memory. This technique is beneficial only in very specific scenarios, most of which already mentioned above. 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. Lightroom and zerene there have been a number of threads recently in which people asked about focus stacking. 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. 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. It moves the camera on a rail in very precise increments. Its perhaps most useful in closeup and macro photography, since the camera lenss highest fstop is often insufficient to render everything in focus. 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.
We tested this system and compared the results with several different software packages combinezp, automontage, helicon focus and zerene. Is it better to use a focus rail or the ring on my lens. 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. Process and stack your images using your stacking software, bring in the substacks and perform any necessary retouching.
If you already have photoshop, then you might as well start with it. Focus stacking is a process of using multiple images of the same. Stack in zerene, retouch if needed more on this below. This is photographed using a 10x macro setup, roughly the same as what youd see through a 100x microscope. Fwiw, i have one shot of an assassin but that i stacked in zerene. Launch zerene stacker, then get to the registration window as follows. 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. May 26, 2017 this video is a simple explanation on what is focus stacking and how to focus stack macro photos. We tested this system and compared the results with several different software packages combinezp, automontage, helicon focus and zerene stacker. Focus stacking in outdoor and landscape photography.
A possible solution for mass digitization of type specimens. Zerene systems uses a company named fastspring to provide secure ordering facilities. 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. Focus stacking a macro photography technique youtube. Free or affordable focus stacking software macro and still life. Jan 18, 2016 precision automated focus stacking with stack shot. Although most use focus stacking in closeup photography, it is incredibly useful in all types of photography anytime it is possible to shoot multiple images of a still object. Zerene stacker is a focus stacking program designed specifically for challenging macro subjects and discerning photographers.
Using zerene stacker retouching to clone your focus stacked. Many of our users routinely go over 100 images per stack. Jul 12, 2011 this shows how straightforward it is to stack images from the telecentric computar 552. Focus stacking does not work if you try to use photomerge from bridge instead.
I shoot for focus stacking mostly using a featureless white or black background, but it is also possible to do it in the wild. Precision automated focus stacking with stack shot fstoppers. Focus stacking works best where there is a smooth transition of the subject you want sharp in the final composite image. Using hugin for focus stacking nature photography with. Photoshop does the job well, but there are also other specialized programs for doing focus stacked images. It is easy to get tricked by the viewfinder, and if you miss just one shot. Zerene stacker is a focus stacking program designed specifically for challenging macro subjects and. Volker betz focusstacking in the camera using a macrolens. 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. Navigate to the promote control focus stacking screen by pressing the mode button. 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. Comparing commercial topend setups with a semiautomatic low budget approach. 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. 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.
Choosing software for focus stacking step two basic retouching. We tested our final stacked picture with a picture obtained. Then you can use helicon focus to blend all the sharp areas together and produce a completely sharp image. Since i do hope to occasionally sell my images, that means. Focus stack processing is the act of taking your separate images and combining them into one unified whole final image. With a deep stack, this approach can be much faster and less tedious than retouching from.
Snapfuse focus stacking software has four parameters that can be controlled. A huge benefit of both helicon focus and zerene stacker is that they can control a stackshot through their own interface. Focus stacking in macro photography focus stacking the first steps. Focus stacking of live subjects the smaller majority. You tell fastspring what zerene stacker license you want, and give them your contact and payment information. You can work through the image, taking photographs which are focused on different points, then combine those photographs with software. Some of our users regularly process 200 megapixels per frame, from highend hasselblad cameras. 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. Some of those include adobe photoshop, helicon focus and zerene stacker. With no license key installed, it runs in timelimited trial mode. 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. Ken, do you find zerene stacker worth the extra cost over helicon focus. I plan on playing more with the ap stacker focus merge when i get some time. In this article i will compare three popular programs used for focus stacking.
Focus stacking with zerene stacker macro tutorial youtube. 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. 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 for me is a relatively recent piece of software. 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. Aug 12, 2017 in this article i will compare three popular programs used for focus stacking. Beginners guide to focus stacking for macro photography. For me, the biggest problem id have in using a k1 to shoot a focus stack is slow burst shooting 4. The first step is to develop the raw files to tiffs. Individual image on the left, stacked result on the right. Because there are, by definition, artifacts gaps, usually some will have to be addressed and retouched, and others ignored. If focus stacking is your bag, zerene stacker needs to be in it.
Heres a short guide to shooting several photographs to make an ultra sharp close focus shot. Using zerene stacker software to create a focus stacked image. Added ability to have dustdefect mask during stacking. Zerene stacker is a great package if focus stacking is your bag. How to focus stack macro images in zerene stacker duration. Focus stacking app recommendations retouching forum. I want to try focus stacking but im just not getting that great results i see from others yet.