Manual focus shift & video = easy combination?

Callan42 said:

I recently upgraded to a 90d and was a bit delighted when I saw that the camera supported focus bracketing. That lasted until I saw that Canon does not support 3rd party lenses like my Tamron 180mm with that function. Well, that was not exactly unexpected.

Since I had my equipment set up anywasy and still about an hour to kill, I tried to get some photo seqences for focus stacking by hand. Also I googled for some dedicated focus stacking software like CombineZP or Helicon Focus and wanted to try them.

The results were not good at all, neither using a rail for focus shift, nor manually operating the lens focus. In both situations my focus shifts were to big, leaving blurred sections in the stacked photo.

Then, by chance, I saw the Helicon Focus had the option of importing a video file, too. So I switched the camera to video mode, gently shifted the lens focus manually and rendered it via Helicon Focus.

The result even shows the scratches on the lower right of the coin where I had used it beforehand to tighten the screw on the mounting plate for my camera:



Leaves me just with the question: when I get this result with about a minute of work for both capturing and postprocessing, why wouldn't I use a video instead of a shot sequence in most situations? Somehow it feels a bit too easy, as if I am overlooking something.

Click to expand...

I use video for stacking close-ups of flowers, buds, seed pods etc, this sort of thing.















I use a Panasonic camera which automatically racks the focus the from front to back of the scene while capturing a video and so I don't need to move the camera.

The main advantage for me of using video rather than focus stacking is that I prefer to work hand-held and the capture rate with my kit is a bit over six times faster with video than with focus bracketing. The capture may take several seconds but the typically 30 to 60 frames I need for a stack are captured in one to two seconds, and it is much easier holding the framing for say two seconds than 12 seconds. Faster is also good because I'm often working in breezy conditions and it is easier to catch a two second lull in the breeze than a 12 second lull.

A disadvantage of using video is that you are essentially shooting JPEG rather than raw so for example you have less control over managing highlights and shadows, and you have less pixels to work with because the camera is almost certainly using a crop for video, and possibly a quite significant crop.

I like it that there are less files to manage when using video. Each "take" is one file, rather than 10, 30, 50 or however many for each "take" when using focus bracketing.

As you have discovered, Helicon Focus makes it very easy to use video, which is why I use Helicon Focus.

A disadvantage of stacking, whether you are using video or focus bracketing, is that it can be difficult and time-consuming, and sometimes impossible, to produce a stack that works well (the example you tried is particularly easy in terms of stacking and may be misleading in that respect). That is why I use multiple "takes" of each subject, so I have more to try if one doesn't work out well, and why I also capture stills, in case none of the stacks is usable. (Besides which, I prefer the look of stills to stacks sometimes; for example see this post.)

I have not yet got into using video for stacking insects etc. I intend to try this again next season. It is possible to get excellent results with video-based stacking; for example see the work of Achim Kluck (you may have to look through to find video-based stacks as he also uses focus bracketing and stills).



--
Nick
Summary of photo activity and output since 2007 https://fliesandflowers.blogspot.com/2019/01/when-i-retired-in-2006-i-had-it-in-mind.html
Flickr image collections http://www.flickr.com/photos/gardenersassistant/collections/

Thanks for your tips and clues regarding loss of resolution and RAW format. While I don't use RAW much and thus probably won't miss it much, the resolution loss might bother me a bit more. Since ~10 MP seems to be enough for me for photographic printing onto a Din A4 sheet of paper, I sometime like to use cropping to enlarge a specific motive. I'll have to experiment with non-Macro motives for that, I guess.

I tried earlier to get both a video and a focus bracketing sequence of a vibrating spider. As you said, getting a good stack is not easy. Shooting free hand did not work at all, using a tripod got me an acceptable result:


4k video, ~170 frames stacked, then a bit of postprocessing for white balance, contrast and brightness



I also tried Helicon Remote today to circumvent my camera not supporting focus bracketing with 3rd party lenses. That went well as well and I'll experiment with that bit of software more, too. That would solve both RAW and resolution loss for me. Since I tried it on a banknote I probably better not post the result of that ^_^;

On the upshot I am quite optimistic that I will be able to handle most macro motives I have mind: common household and hobby items shot indoor. At leas I was very positively surprised how well one of my painted miniatures ended up with less than five minutes of work:


4k video, ~50 frames stacked, no postprocessing

Callan42 said:

Thanks for your tips and clues regarding loss of resolution and RAW format. While I don't use RAW much and thus probably won't miss it much, the resolution loss might bother me a bit more. Since ~10 MP seems to be enough for me for photographic printing onto a Din A4 sheet of paper, I sometime like to use cropping to enlarge a specific motive. I'll have to experiment with non-Macro motives for that, I guess.

I tried earlier to get both a video and a focus bracketing sequence of a vibrating spider. As you said, getting a good stack is not easy. Shooting free hand did not work at all, using a tripod got me an acceptable result:


4k video, ~170 frames stacked, then a bit of postprocessing for white balance, contrast and brightness

I also tried Helicon Remote today to circumvent my camera not supporting focus bracketing with 3rd party lenses. That went well as well and I'll experiment with that bit of software more, too. That would solve both RAW and resolution loss for me. Since I tried it on a banknote I probably better not post the result of that ^_^;

On the upshot I am quite optimistic that I will be able to handle most macro motives I have mind: common household and hobby items shot indoor. At leas I was very positively surprised how well one of my painted miniatures ended up with less than five minutes of work:


4k video, ~50 frames stacked, no postprocessing

Click to expand...

Looks like you are going to have fun with this!

--
Nick
Summary of photo activity and output since 2007 https://fliesandflowers.blogspot.com/2019/01/when-i-retired-in-2006-i-had-it-in-mind.html
Flickr image collections http://www.flickr.com/photos/gardenersassistant/collections/