jim mij
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Senior Member
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Posts: 1,027
a moth - DPP vs Helicon vs Zerene
4 months ago
hi
I was lucky enough to find a dead or very dormant moth (I put it outside after use and now thats its dark its gone)
I tried several stacks of ~90 and used canon DPP for processing, then downloaded trials of zerene and helicon (after watching how to use vids)
I cant really decide which is best, all are similar but different, 3 images below for you to contemplate and perhaps explain what you think, but here is some trivia I noticed
DPP is free, results look ok but not the best (more later), It only has 1 stacking mode which I assume relies on the canon cameras inbuild stacking approach
Helicon is blisteringly fast, eg while dpp was running helicon processed the image 3 times in modes a b and c and then allowed me to review and choose which mode I preferred, and dpp was only 60% through. Zerene was slower than dpp, but did process the image twice
Helicon - although I processed 5 or 6 stacks in modes a b and c, method c always looked best for me, was that because I used the cameras in built stacking approach rather than say hand held stacks or sliders?
Helicon has the best entertainment while watching it build up the image
Helicon is annoying as you have to manually trigger build mode a then b then c, zerene has a menu option to do both its options in 1 click
Zerene has 2 modes pmax and dmap, the former seemed better in all the stacks I used, again is that because I used the cameras in built stacking approach?
Zerene has the oldest interface and menus, some things are definitely obtuse and a tad out of date (but do work). Some advanced users do seem to prefer its additional options, I assume the more effort you put in the better the results are
Zerene seemed bad for ghosting around edges (not so much in this image)
Zerene seems to introduce background noise, yes it could be removed afterwards but...
DPP & helicons images looked best OOTB after stacking, Zerene looked dull/flat. Post processing improves all outputs, but I didnt include those
All allow touch ups after processing to tweak bad areas from source images
For me, helicon seemed slightly better, but as i dont do much stacking I wont be investing in it for occasional use, although for the few days I'll be revisiting all my previous stacks to see what can be improved
DPP was almost as good (but not great eg check the rear/left eye) and its free to use so i'll stick with that
regards
Jim
Helicon
DPP
Zerene