will47 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

What are the best f stops to use to start practicing photostacking? I use a Canon 7D Mark ll and a 6D mark ll, processed in PS CC 2019. Thanks.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Stacking for noise (small aperture) or for focus (large aperture)?

bleirer

For focus stacking use your lens' sharpest aperture if you don't mind stacking a bunch . Usually about 1 stop in from wide open. Otherwise check a dof calculator to match the number of pics you want to mess with to the aperture.

https://www.photopills.com/calculators/dof-table

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I usually use a large aperture for focus stacking. In my opinion, the purpose of focus stacking is to control DOF. By taking a set of photos with narrow DOF, you can stack them and get a region in which all the subject is in focus and all the background (and possibly foregroud) is out of focus.

If your purpose in focus stacking is to get EVERYTHING in focus, then yes, a small aperture is what you should be using.

bleirer

Not sure if you were disagreeing or just confirming what I said, but wide open is the narrowest DOF. But most lenses aren't at their sharpest totally wide open, though some are, it doesn't take long to find tests. On lenses I can afford sharpness doesn't drop off too badly until smaller than f8 to f11.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I was proposing two different scenarios.
My usual scenario is to create an image with a subject in good focus and the back/foreground out of focus. I use focus stacking to get the subject in focus and I use a large aperture to keep the fore/background out of focus.

The other scenario is to get everything in focus. In that case a small aperture will give you a wide DOF and minimize the number of shots needed to get everything in focus.

I interpreted what you were saying as fitting my second scenario.

bleirer

Now i get it. I can do it in camera with the help of Canon's DPP software, but I imagined a scenario where one is getting sick of cranking the focus manually, and straining computer memory trying to Photoshop so many images, so that's where a dof table like the one i linked would help figure out how many shots are needed.

I've heard of other software to automate the process but have not tried any.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

DirtFarmer, you are spot-on. I shoot focus stacked sessions nearly everyday and I post my images in the True Macro Photography forum.

I often use microscope objectives as the camera lens and they are wide open. As such, the depth of field is literally a spec in focus with all else in a heavy blur. I use a digital motorized focus rail and when using objectives as lenses the step per shot is as fine as 5-microns each for my 10X power objective. When I use my Laowa 2X macro I shoot it at f/2.8 so that each shot is isolated in its sharp area and each shot is progressively a thin slice of view of the subject.

When using microscope objectives the distance per step of the camera is related to the objective's "NA" value. Working distances are within 1/2-inch or less from the tip of the microscope objective and the total distance for a session that the camera travels is very, very small. If I try to get too much subject in from front to back the shot is ruined with line blurs because the software doesn't know how to stitch it all effectively.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Before anything it really depends of your end purpose.

In all cases for best results, use a tripod (and disable VR).

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Its preference and also depends on image, I myself like to do that at f/2, 2.8 or similar, that way I can have the subject/object in focus from front to back, but still have a nice background blur!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Are you focus stacking in the range of closeup/macro? The best practice is to use the sharpest aperture - which is anywhere from F4 on a fast lens to F8 on a slower one. It's good to use the smaller apertures if they are sharp, for to primary reasons - to ensure that when you advance the camera or focus you build in enough overlap, and to ensure that you have good sharpness across the field. I would never use a lens wide open unless it is actually sharp at maximum aperture. Outside of long telephotos, (300mm and longer) I don't know of too many lenses that are sharpest wide open.

In any case, the DOF is so shallow at 1:1 to 1:4 magnification that even if you used a small aperture, your depth of field is not going to have anything in the background in focus.

You'll have to look at MTF data and do some testing with your gear to figure out what works for you.

bleirer

Also keep in mind that the OP wants to do this in Photoshop, so there will be some limit in practice for how many images it can handle before it runs out of memory and maybe how much time he wants to spend. So sharpest aperture is ideal but you can see from the mtf graphs that there isn't much falloff from the sharpest to the near neighbors to the right, so if he wanted to do it in fewer images using the dof tables tells how much overlap is needed.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

With regard to whether my images are close ups or macro, they are actually more in the realm of micro. This is a 10X magnification view of a tiny stink bug that I processed this afternoon and posted this evening on UHH. I used a 10X PLAN achromatic Infinity microscope objective placed on a reverse mounted Raynox DCR-150 placed on 160mm of extension tubes.

The camera, although any interchangeable lens DSLR or mirrorless camera will do, is a Nikon D810 shot in full frame. This is a 585 image stack processed in Zerene Stacker Pro.

(Download)

Collhar Loc: New York City.

Why not post a few pictures on this site???

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Here's a focus stacked image of a black ant that I processed. I used a $35 enlarger lens coupled onto a $65 Raynox lens mounted on extension tubes that were $25 so you need not make a large investment to do this.

Mounting the camera on a rock-solid base is extremely important. I used a piece of 3/4-inch plywood 12-inches wide by 30-inches long with weights on both end setting flat on a countertop. My initial focus rail was a 'screw type' manually turned rail that I attached to the plywood so the camera would be securely still mounted.

I'd place the specimen in front of the camera and while in "Live View" move the subject forward and back until the closest point of the specimen was in sharp view. I shoot in the Mirror Up mode and I close the eye viewfinder to keep unwanted light from entering the camera. I use a remote shutter release and I move the focus rail ever so slightly, stop, and take a shot, wait a second, move forward, and repeat, repeat, repeat until I've reached the farthest point in focus of the subject.

My lighting setup is two IKEA LED desk work lamps that are $12 each and I use translucent drink cups with white paper towel to diffuse the light.

Eventually I purchased a motorized focus rail so I no longer turn a crank.

(Download)