Erez Marom explains focus stacking in macro photography

Well, I've always said that you are better off with a high-end compact for this kind of work. The deep depth of field pays off in macro. Since everybody thinks you need a $3,000 camera on these forums, I've been pilloried for that point of view. Some people agreed with me. Try macro with something like an Olympus XZ-1, Samsung TL500, Panasonic LX7, etc. Much easier than wrestling with larger formats.

Dear Bobbarber, 15 years ago when I was using a Sony FD97 or more recently a Panny Z20, I would have agreed with you, however these days I use a 7D and a 5DIII, and now have a very different opinion. The quality of an upper end DSLR produces vastly superior images, particularly when enlarging to a metre or more in width (I did this with a recent exhibition of mosquito images). Compacts can not cut it as the images lack the clarity particularly if high ISOs are employed. These images also can not cope with post processing as much. Additionally, I love the small DOF of the 5DIII which can isolate the subject very effectively from the background. Having used both ends of the digital spectrum, the $3K camera wins by a country mile and I will not be going back.

Bobbarber, the trick of compact camera macro is the wide angle rather than DoF. You may be surprised how thin DoF actually is in your shots. The visual difference is due to the weak relative background blur, not DoF. You can achieve the same with a wide DSLR lens on a short extension tube, with the aperture stopped down a lot (DoF equivalence). The remaining advantage of compacts is that in macro the smaller sensor gets by with LESS ambient light; to counter stopping down the aperture, one has to bump ISO much that the sensor advantage is wasted, and still ends up needing longer exposures.

BedBug,

You are arguing for shallow depth of field in an article about focus stacking. The entire point of this article is about how to use exotic techniques to achieve greater DOF, since the shallow DOF of DSLRs is a disadvantage in macro photography.

As far as IQ goes, I'll take your word for it. I don't enlarge to a meter or more. I'm not familiar with the compact models that you named. I was specific about high-end compacts, which these days would be something like the LX7, XZ2, TL500, etc.. It is easy to avoid high ISO on these high-end compact models in macro photography, because you don't have to stop down the aperture for DOF reasons. Also, many of them have apertures of f2.0 or wider, but still good DOF for macro.

I think for the vast majority of users, few of whom ever print larger than 8x10", let alone a meter, a compact is a much better choice for macro photography.