Focus stacking software: I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going...

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going into great detail, what is the overall experience among the UHH members? Thank you for your recommendations.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Julian wrote:

I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going into great detail, what is the overall experience among the UHH members? Thank you for your recommendations.

I found the Helicon to be more user friendly !!
SippyJug can tell you more about Zerene

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Manglesphoto wrote:

I found the Helicon to be more user friendly !!
SippyJug can tell you more about Zerene

Thank you. Awaiting more feedback.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Julian wrote:

Thank you. Awaiting more feedback.

You are welcome
It really depends on what you want to do!!

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Manglesphoto wrote:

You are welcome
It really depends on what you want to do!!

Primarily macro work using the D850 which seems to have good stacking capabilities. So far the Helicon has good possibilities. Thank you.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Julian wrote:

I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going into great detail, what is the overall experience among the UHH members? Thank you for your recommendations.

I haven't used Helicon Focus in a while, and things may have changed, but I went with Zerene because of the touch up brushes. "Ghosts" and "worms" are inevitable with stacking, but they are nicely handled with Zerene's tools. I took a quick look at the discussion board at Helicon just now and one of the first topics was about Helicon users being frustrated and struggling with halos.

Also, the support from Zerene has been excellent.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Blenheim Orange wrote:

I haven't used Helicon Focus in a while, and things may have changed, but I went with Zerene because of the touch up brushes. "Ghosts" and "worms" are inevitable with stacking, but they are nicely handled with Zerene's tools. I took a quick look at the discussion board at Helicon just now and one of the first topics was about Helicon users being frustrated and struggling with halos.

Also, the support from Zerene has been excellent.

Thank you for your input. Worth considering.

Claude_46

Hello, I tried all possible software, trial version and free software.
The one who gave me the best results is Affinity Photo: speed and precision.
Cordially,

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Claude_46 wrote:

Hello, I tried all possible software, trial version and free software.
The one who gave me the best results is Affinity Photo: speed and precision.
Cordially,

Thank you for your recommendation. I will look for the free trial.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

I have used both Helicon and Zerene trials and ended up buying Helicon. I use it in conjuction with Nikon D850 and Z9. Both have provided excellent results. As AI improves, I am sure the stacking programs will follow suit.

photosfromtexas

I use Zerene and have liked it for 5-6 years. I tried the “trial” version of Helicon about 1-2 years ago. As I see it, Photoshop has one method to do focus stacking. Zerene has 2: “P” and “D” stacking. Helicon has 3 methods. So, I am sure there are some cases in which Helicon could process a series better. But I didn’t think it was enough to warrant buying it. And I would have to process everything 3 instead of 2 ways to determine which method is best for each scene.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Julian wrote:

I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going into great detail, what is the overall experience among the UHH members? Thank you for your recommendations.

Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker both do an equivalent job; however, Focus Merge in Affinity Photo and Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo are just as good and leave you in a postprocessing environment. You can also perform focus stacking in Photoshop with much the same results.

bwa

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Julian, I use them both. Helicon is located in the Ukraine and Zerene is a product of the USA. I use Helicon when I do a large number of images in the stack, by large I mean closer to 1000 images than 500 images. I do this because Helicon process a stack in about 1/3 of the time with my 64-bit Core-7 processor with 16 GB of RAM.

I find Zerene to be better at editing than Helicon based on how I use them. What I like best about Zerene is that Rick Littlefield is the creator and he is accessible for any questions and technical assistance. He is also an accomplished macro photographer and he is a wizard in the field of focus stacking.

spencehg1

Julian wrote:

I am debating between Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker for my work. I have downloaded the Helicon trial version but have not the Zerene version. Without going into great detail, what is the overall experience among the UHH members? Thank you for your recommendations.

Did fairly extensive testing with both programs leading into a major non profit technical project using D850, D810 and D600. Found the test results nearly identical with minor benefits from one or the other depending on the data set. Batch features of both programs also very easy to deal with. Don't need to use the editing features frequently but both worked reasonably well.

Landed up going with Helicon because we needed to have the ability to use the bundled tethering software available to us. This was a cost savings to us as a self funded non profit. Helicon processes large data sets of over 150 to 500+ macro photos faster but does slow down dramatically using RAW files directly. Very happy with Helicon. I think Zyrene would have been just as good using the same remote control software. Use both CamRanger and Helicon remote in very remote forest locations.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Real Nikon Lover wrote:

I have used both Helicon and Zerene trials and ended up buying Helicon. I use it in conjuction with Nikon D850 and Z9. Both have provided excellent results. As AI improves, I am sure the stacking programs will follow suit.

Great example. Thank you.