ksmmike wrote:
Hello,
I'm thinking of purchasing a Nikon D850 and one of the reasons if for focus stacking landscapes.
From what I understand of focus stacking, it takes several images that the user determines and adjusts the focus to different points in the image so you can later stack the images and have the entire image in focus. Am I correct?
My other question is would that be possible with a manual focus lens with an aperture of say F16? Or does the camera use the AF in the lens to adjust the focus points in the image? I would assume you need an autofocus lens but I'm not sure how the D850 uses the technique in the camera body.
I'm only interested in how the Nikon D850 handles focus stacking since that's the camera body I would be using it on. I have a Nikon 20mm F1.8 AF lens I could use but I also have a few manual focus lenses I could use if it were possible, but I'm assuming not.
thanks
Mike
Hello, br br I'm thinking of purchasing a Nikon D... (
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The answers to your question is simple.
Yes - it takes several images at different focus distances.
Yes - you can use a manual focus lens to do focus stacking
No - the camera won't control a manual focus lens.
No - regardless of what lens you use, F16 would not be your best choice.
Yes - camera uses AF in and AF lens to stack
More detail:
Automatic focus stacking requires an autofocus lens that can be controlled by the camera. More than likely all AF-S and AF-P Nikkor lenses will work, and third party lenses from Sigma and Tamron will work. Some older third party AF lenses may not work due to older firmware. I have two lenses - a Sigma 150 F2.8 macro that cannot be used for camera-controlled AF stacking, and a Tamron 180 F3.5 macro (which does not have an internal focus motor) that works fine with AF stacking.
You don't "need" a D850 or an AF lens to do focus stacking. Any camera and lens will work. You just have to manually advance the focus.
There is third party software that does this as well. qDSLR Dashboard is tethering software that has a stacking feature, and will work with many Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. It does have a wireless function, but I have had inconsistent results with it. I use it tethered with my D700, D800, D810
Helicon Soft, Zerene Stacker, On1 Raw 2019 or later, or Photoshop have good stacking capability, though my favorite is Helicon.
Generally speaking, if you are using a 20mm lens at smaller apertures, you are less likely to need to do focus stacking, or you will take far fewer images than if you use a longer lens. A very wide lens will negate the need for focus stacking on wide sweeping landscapes, since the far distant objects will be softened by atmospheric haze and heat rippling, and focusing at those distances will not make things any sharper. I would suggest not using F16, which will soften the finest details due to diffraction. You likely to get a better image if you shoot between F5.6 and F8, which are typically the apertures that most lenses are sharpest at.
These two links contain all the information you'll need to decide if you "need" a D850, or if you are better off trying your current gear and saving the money.
https://nps.nikonimaging.com/technical_solutions/d850_tips/useful/focus_stacking/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFo87czSdEM