Good Morning, Howard!
Thanks for sharing your images, though I must confess that, at screen
resolutions, I see virtually no difference in the yellow flowers. But, then,
virtually everything in your shots is more than 30 feet (10 meters) away, so
I'm a little unclear as to what you've gained by using focus stacking. (Do
tell!)
To me, Focus Stacking is a way to gain Depth of Field in close-ups, where DOF
is severely limited.
Back in 2014 I did a test, using my watch.
This first shot is focused on the far edge of the dial...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155735425@N05/49792566578/in/dateposted-family/
and the next, on the near edge...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155735425@N05/49793415532/in/dateposted-family/
In between, I took 5 additional shots (7 in total), all focused on different
bits of the dial. These were then combined using a free bit of software called
Combine ZP, resulting in...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155735425@N05/49793108521/in/dateposted-family/
Like your Nikon, my Oly will do focus stacking automagically. But, if you own
a camera that does not do this (most don't) there are alternatives.
This test was made in 2014, and my shots were made with a Bellows-mount Pentax
100/4 macro lens on a tripod.
Focus stacking can allow you to get DOF that is just not possible at f32 or
even f64.
My favourite, free, Pano program, HugIn, is supposed to be able to do focus
stacking, though I've never figured out how.
I rather like Combine ZP - and it's FREE! You can get it here:
https://combinezp.software.informer.com/
Photoshop will also process stacks. So back in 2014, fellow flexer, Aram
Langhans, borrowed my images and used PS to stack them. PS did a find job, but
in the end I could not tell the difference between PS and Combine ZP.
Near or far, focus stacking is a neat thing to play with, when we're locked
indoors!
David.
Hi Flexers,------
I stepped out on my deck and tried a couple of focus stacking landscape
shots with the Z7 and the kit lens. There is a program in the camera to
do that.
Here's the best one:
http://gallery.leica-
users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Pender/DSC_6395FP.jpg.html
<http://gallery.leica-
users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Pender/DSC_6395FP.jpg.html>
For comparison here is the same scene a few weeks earlier taken with the
M10 as a vertical pano:
http://gallery.leica-
users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Pender/L1007345-Pano.jpg.html
<http://gallery.leica-
users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Pender/L1007345-Pano.jpg.html>
There isn't a lot of difference except in the corners where the FS frame
is sharper - check the
yellow flowers lower right frame.
I think FS has a place in my multi panel panoramas that I like to print
large on canvas. So I need to get
out with the tripod, the Z7 and the Leica R28 and get started.
Too bad all the local parks are closed.
Stay well, wash those hands.
Howard.
