Z6 focus stacking - help please

if "3" is the right step width is very lens dependent. posting the first and last image could help.

Try it first with some stuff on your salon table, much more comfortable. And with a small stepsize. Go on from there.

The last of your landscape picture(s) should be sharp at infinity I would say.

It does work

like this:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63841839

I think you set the closest focus and the stepsize, and the camera starts stepping towards infinity.

If you got 20 that way, that sounds like plenty to me.

I don't understand why Nikon didn't design the firmware so you set three things:

- Closest focus point

- Furthest focus point

- Number of steps

Seems this would make it much more easy and lead to more successful outcomes.

wcan said:

I don't understand why Nikon didn't design the firmware so you set three things:

- Closest focus point

- Furthest focus point

- Number of steps

Seems this would make it much more easy and lead to more successful outcomes.

Click to expand...

I believe that's what Panasonic does, possibly Olympus as well.

I have often shot stacks where the focus point in the first image was right where I expected it to be, and the last shot was entirely out of focus. But that only happened because I shot more frames than I needed. So, just to be clear, are you saying that no part of the second shot was in focus?

Posting the first two or three images from your stack might help us see a problem.

BTW, I've read that for landscapes where you want to the steps to eventually reach to infinity, you should set the number of shots to the maximum. The camera will stop shooting when it reaches infinity -- no matter how many shots you set it on. In other words, if you set it for 200 shots, but only 15 shots are necessary to reach the infinity focus point, it will stop at 15.

Thanks very much for your advice which is appreciated! I attach the first shot with foreground sharp. I also attach the final shot, with everything blurred. Id hoped to get the background of the first shot sharper through stacking - maybe thats expecting too much? Any advice would be welcomed.




First shot




Final shot

In the first image, the DOF is so deep that the mountain tops seem as sharply focused as the foreground -- at least to my eye. I don't know why the final image is blurry, but my best guess is that the focal point is beyond the mountains, perhaps at infinity. Maybe the clouds are sharp?

I think it would be more useful to look at the first two or three images, rather than the first and last. Are the second and third shots really entirely unfocused? That would be a puzzler. In stacks where each shot has a shallow DOF, it is easy to scroll through the images sequentially and see the focal point getting incrementally farther away. With your DOF being so deep, it is not clear exactly where the focal point is.

By the way, I'm a big fan of Steve Perry at Back Country Gallery. He has a video tutorial on focus stacking (aka "focus shift shooting") with Nikon cameras. I think the tutorial cost about $20. He covers stacking for landscapes. https://bcgwebstore.com/product/focus-shift-shooting-digital-workshop-for-nikon/

I am curious as to what did the 'peaking stack image' look like when you finished shouting that stack? It would have shown you what area(s) were in focus and if there were gaps. Also the foreground rocks, IMO, are not all that sharp. Where did you initially focus the start of the series? Stay Safe!

BSiler said:

By the way, I'm a big fan of Steve Perry at Back Country Gallery. He has a video tutorial on focus stacking (aka "focus shift shooting") with Nikon cameras. I think the tutorial cost about $20. He covers stacking for landscapes. https://bcgwebstore.com/product/focus-shift-shooting-digital-workshop-for-nikon/

Click to expand...

I second the Steve Perry video tutorial. It was tremendously helpful to me.

If you try searching here, you might find some help.

I found a lot of people saying it's still "guesswork".

Example:


In that thread, they link to a PhotographyLife article that has some reference material that may help.