Helicon FB tube-HELP
Sep 30, 2020 07:40:23 #
fetzler wrote:
The number of steps that you need will depend on t... (show quote)
Fetzer, I'm not a spider fan but that is a cool shot. Thanks for the information, it helps to clarify some things. I tried the tube in the field with poor results because it was windy. I think I will set up a still shot to learn to use it better
Fran
Sep 30, 2020 11:09:12 #
I suspect the '53' in the program does not mean 53 steps. That is a likely kind of measure of the size of the steps. The Fb ring does not know how large your subject is.
People often wonder what the number means, quantitatively, in terms of step size, and the answer is we don't really know. The actual size of the steps will change with the lens and whether the camera is full frame or crop sensor. That is how my Helicon Fb works on my Canon. A bigger number means bigger steps for a given body and lens. With smaller apertures you aim to do bigger steps per picture since the depth of field is deeper. But of course, one should favor shooting at the aperture that is sharpest for the lens.
The recommendation I've seen is that you run a few calibrations to see what step sizes work well for a given aperture, camera, and lens. Set up the camera on a tripod in a well controlled setting, aim it at a steep angle at a flat surface that has detailed and contrast high pattern (a dollar bill, maybe), and take a bunch of pictures, starting at the default step size. Then review those to see if the bits in focus have good overlap from picture to picture. The default step size probably does have good overlap. But the idea here is to see if there is so much overlap that you could increase the step size so that you don't need to take as many pictures to get a good stack.
In my case I found the default values were way too small. I could easily multiply them by a factor of 10 (!) and still have good overlap. I've written my preferred step sizes on a card and I keep it with the Fb ring.
Have fun with your toy! The device is very cool. I believe the tube holds the last program you put into it. Even with the camera turned off, and even if the tube is detached and stored away.
People often wonder what the number means, quantitatively, in terms of step size, and the answer is we don't really know. The actual size of the steps will change with the lens and whether the camera is full frame or crop sensor. That is how my Helicon Fb works on my Canon. A bigger number means bigger steps for a given body and lens. With smaller apertures you aim to do bigger steps per picture since the depth of field is deeper. But of course, one should favor shooting at the aperture that is sharpest for the lens.
The recommendation I've seen is that you run a few calibrations to see what step sizes work well for a given aperture, camera, and lens. Set up the camera on a tripod in a well controlled setting, aim it at a steep angle at a flat surface that has detailed and contrast high pattern (a dollar bill, maybe), and take a bunch of pictures, starting at the default step size. Then review those to see if the bits in focus have good overlap from picture to picture. The default step size probably does have good overlap. But the idea here is to see if there is so much overlap that you could increase the step size so that you don't need to take as many pictures to get a good stack.
In my case I found the default values were way too small. I could easily multiply them by a factor of 10 (!) and still have good overlap. I've written my preferred step sizes on a card and I keep it with the Fb ring.
Have fun with your toy! The device is very cool. I believe the tube holds the last program you put into it. Even with the camera turned off, and even if the tube is detached and stored away.
Sep 30, 2020 16:55:52 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
I suspect the '53' in the program does not mean 53... (show quote)
Thank you Mark. It see a that most new tech comes with a steep learning curve. I will just have to play
Fran
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