![]() ![]() In your own images you're shooting from angles that are difficult to pull off in a single frame just due to the angle between the sensor and the subject.Īrgh, I was hoping that using hardware would somehow help the software. Plenty of depth, plenty of detail, one frame. I think that stacking is useful when shooting at angles that put the depth of field at a disadvantage, but to say that it's almost essential above 1x isn't true. I have that tube as well, but haven't gotten around to using it. I will post an update about the tube when I have taken more images. Whether the effort taken to learn and use stacking software is worthwhile depends on how much you value the final images. Next we stack these in Zerene and save the results as JPGs. We always start with RAW images which we edit and convert to 16 bit TIFFS in Capture One. We end up discarding some images because it is not worth the effort required. As to the difficulties of getting stacked images without unpleasant artefacts, it can take time and practice with stacking software. We always use it for bellows and microscope photography. In my opinion, many macro shots could be improved by the extra depth of field given by stacking, and the process is almost essential with most shots having magnification beyond 1:1. I would say that the various methods we use to take the images – manual focus steps, Stackshot or Helicon FB Tube – all end with the same results. We use Zerene Stacker rather than Helicon software to stack our images. Have you found that you are getting better stacking results (i.e., less OOF artifacts) when using their hardware? ![]() I assume that you are using Helicon software for the stacking process. Something like this might just convince me to try focus stacking again. Thanks for sharing this! I'll be very interested in what else you can do with the tube and your general feelings about it as you continue to use it. ![]() In addition, of course, the tube should make it possible to cover the whole depth of subjects when a single shot could not.Īll images taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mk4 and EF 180mm macro lens. I hope that the extra depth of field provided by stacking will permit a wider range of positions from which to photograph macro subjects such as damselflies. Choosing such a viewpoint without disturbing the subject can be difficult, especially when trying to position a tripod. My normal method of making the most of the limited depth of field at macro distances is to try to get the subject parallel to the sensor in both horizontal and vertical planes. Although I only ended up with a few shots, the tube worked well enough for me to experiment further in the future. There were very few about, however, and there was a fairly strong breeze which made macro photography difficult. On my latest trip to test the Helicon FB Tube, I visited a place where I expected to see many mating pairs of damselflies at this time of year. I was satisfied with a couple of shots but the butterflies had a tendency to move their wings while I was taking the stacks, making stacking impossible. First I tried photographing butterflies at an angle (rather than parallel to the wings). When photographing simple, stationary subjects such as lichen on tree bark, the tube worked fine but the true test for me was whether I could use it to take sharp-all-over insects on photo trips. The way I use the tube is to focus on the nearest part of the subject that I want in focus and then fire the shutter until the furthest part of the subject is in focus. Once set up, the tube allows a burst of shots to be taken when the shutter is set to that mode. I did a few experiments with angled, printed paper to check the step length was about right. This distance should be small enough to ensure that the whole subject is in focus when the images are stacked, but not so small that the number of images is unnecessarily large. The tube can be preset to give a focusing increment between shots that suits the particular lens being used. I bought the tube because it is more convenient to use ‘in the field’ than our Stackshot. For taking images for stacking when using a microscope or extension bellows, we use Cognisys Stackshot equipment. I have recently been trying out a Helicon FB Tube that I bought some time ago. ![]()
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