I don't use, or feel much need, for most of the automation built into my new DSLR, but this is a feature I'd like to see offered.
It already exists in some cameras, where the camera takes bracketing shots with slighltly different points of focus and then saves the "combo" of combined focus in a single image.
It already exists in some cameras, where the camera takes bracketing shots with slighltly different points of focus and then saves the "combo" of combined focus in a single image.
it does? how does the camera know where you want to focus?
Pardon my ignorance but is focus stacking the same as bracketing? Unfamilliar with the term
Focus stacking is when you are taking a long shot - a landscape from close to the ground on a dull or low light day so that the depth of field is shorter than the total scene. you would use a tripod and focus in the forground, then refocus just beyond the first DOF and keep retaking the same shot moving the DOF until the entire scene is covered in focus. Then use software to merge all those shot to give you one totally in focus image.
bobericLoc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander
thg3 wrote:
Focus stacking is when you are taking a long shot - a landscape from close to the ground on a dull or low light day so that the depth of field is shorter than the total scene. you would use a tripod and focus in the forground, then refocus just beyond the first DOF and keep retaking the same shot moving the DOF until the entire scene is covered in focus. Then use software to merge all those shot to give you one totally in focus image.
Google: "Focus Stacking Tutorial"...
Thanks for a concise response. It's focus bracketing as opposed to exposure bracketing. I think I got it
Focus stacking is when you are taking a long shot - a landscape from close to the ground on a dull or low light day so that the depth of field is shorter than the total scene. you would use a tripod and focus in the forground, then refocus just beyond the first DOF and keep retaking the same shot moving the DOF until the entire scene is covered in focus. Then use software to merge all those shot to give you one totally in focus image.
Google: "Focus Stacking Tutorial"...
I'm thinking it would be most useful for macro photography.
While the end result would be the same, I'm thinking that doing it in-camera would be quicker and simpler.
I think all in camera software will be a compromise which can be done better with dedicated software. You will find that dedicated software would always do the job better than fixed in camera software as it has many controls to ensure the best image.
My camera will do HDR in camera - but I much prefer the control I get with Photomatix.
CombineZP is a free program which works well and it has some half dozen different modes for creating the image.
If you have Canon, the free Magic Lantern firmware update may have it.
Though I use Nikons, I have no prejudices. I'd like to set it up on a bellows or microscope, press the release and have an image with an extended depth of field. I sort of threw it out there to see what other's opinions were, and the responses have been interesting. Thanks to all.