Focus Stacking
Dec 14, 2020 20:14:26 #
bohleber
Loc: southern Indiana
I have never done focus stacking and was wondering which software is best and user friendly. Helicon Focus keeps showing up. What do you other hogs think?
Don
Don
Dec 14, 2020 20:21:24 #
bohleber wrote:
I have never done focus stacking and was wondering which software is best and user friendly. Helicon Focus keeps showing up. What do you other hogs think?
Don
Don
Helicon is the granddaddy of focus stacking, but Photoshop CC does a really good job too.
Dec 15, 2020 05:39:10 #
Dec 15, 2020 06:45:30 #
bohleber wrote:
I have never done focus stacking and was wondering which software is best and user friendly. Helicon Focus keeps showing up. What do you other hogs think?
Don
Don
I used several but ended up with Helicon. Easy peasy.
For fun I shot this the other night. Its a pendant going on my daughter's wedding bouquet in May, on a beach in Hawaii... if... if...we can go...darn Covid. 🤬
Dec 15, 2020 07:41:02 #
We all have our favorites: Zerene was the one that I found easy to learn, with good support. I believe they have a trial or free to use version.
http://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker
http://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker
Dec 15, 2020 10:38:21 #
I’ve never used Helicon or Zerene. I’ve heard good things but Photoshop does great and I’m already paying for it anyway, so unless I find a compelling reason to switch I’ll just use it.
Dec 15, 2020 12:18:54 #
OaxacaRaul
Loc: Oaxaca
I started using focus stacking a couple of months ago and tried both Helicon and Photoshop. Helicon for my work was much faster (focus stacking uses a lot of computer resources) and produced sharper results. Helicon also has edit features useful with stacking which PS does not. In any case, focus most of your efforts on shooting a good stack since neither software is very good at correcting misalighnments.
Dec 15, 2020 12:38:55 #
Gene51 wrote:
Helicon is the granddaddy of focus stacking, but Photoshop CC does a really good job too.
I am very happy with the results and ease of PS CC -
Dec 15, 2020 13:25:04 #
Dec 15, 2020 13:31:55 #
OaxacaRaul wrote:
I started using focus stacking a couple of months ago and tried both Helicon and Photoshop. Helicon for my work was much faster (focus stacking uses a lot of computer resources) and produced sharper results. Helicon also has edit features useful with stacking which PS does not. In any case, focus most of your efforts on shooting a good stack since neither software is very good at correcting misalighnments.
I’ve found Photoshop to do an excellent job with alignment. As for speed, having the right hardware is key, a fast processor and at least 32gb RAM.
Dec 15, 2020 13:47:52 #
Having done a lot of close up work over the years, I was seduced into upgrading to the D850 by its automatic focus stack shooting feature, as I lack the patience to shoot stacks manually. I did a little reading and settled on Helicon, a "lifetime license." Early results were extremely frustrating, with very few triples and even fewer home runs, and lots of artifacts to clear up. The solution I've hit upon was to ask the camera to take a very large number of shots at a very short interval - 1 to 2 of ten, shooting at less than one to five feet - and then pick the images that seemed to cover the desired range. The result has been much more satisfying. So I can tell you that, once you get your technique down, Helicon works pretty darn well. My suspicion, however, based on a little exploration of their website, is that Zerene provides better support. The attached example came from a 15 image stack processed in Helicon.
Dec 15, 2020 13:56:17 #
Ok, I see the difference in technique . I generally have 20 to 50 layers, and Photoshop was unbelievably sluggish. 3-5 layers was ok. And I greatly appreciate the support from Zerene. Plus their tutorials online.
Dec 15, 2020 14:04:04 #
OaxacaRaul
Loc: Oaxaca
The best software might have to do with the kind of stacks. I am shooting cacti buds and flowers (see attached) using a method similar to yours. The attached had 20 frames. I usually shoot excess frames, then select those with something in focus + a few more on either end. Sometimes I render them using A, B & C then rerender the A B & C. So as you can guess, processing speed is important to me.
Dec 15, 2020 14:14:15 #
Dec 15, 2020 14:16:05 #
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