Umm... If you asked me if you could capture virtually every consideration of macro focal stacking in one video, I would say probably not. You clearly proved me wrong. Amazing video! So thorough!!!
I’d like to meet you one day, you are both inspirational and probably The only correctly detailed guide to everything on photography, quality and knowledge are both 10/10
I was searching a video to help me edit my macro photos... and loved your video. As a biologist I trully apreciate your message about the importance of insects and their decline.
Thank you, Maria! We really have to spread the word about the insects. People have no idea what the loss of biodiversity means. For them it’s just comfortable to have less spiders and wasps and less cleaning of the wind shield 🤦♂️. If only more people would photograph macro, they would see the world with different eyes.
Just finding this video. The Miops slider is discontinued and I can't even find it on eBay. So sad. The information is excellent and will make me a better macro photographer. Thank you.
Wolf, I just came across your UA-cam videos and I must say these are the best most informative videos ever. Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge and effort.
🎯 I watched it two times to understand one time. One time more when I use it. . You did the best job... Thank you so much.... Das war richtig gut und verstaendlich . Super Wolf....
This is a very informative and interesting video. It looks like a whole lecture on staking. It's a pity there weren't such full videos at the time when I started to master it.
Macro NISI is acceptable for financial reasons. MIOPS is very expensive and I've heard it's also difficult to set up. So for both reasons it is out of the question for me. that's a shame. But thank you, you are invaluable and accurate.
Thank you for recommending this video after your Macro video on extension tubes and clip on lenses, this was a real eye opener. I have "stiched" landscape photos together before, but never anything like this. It is quite daunting, but I now have this video to help guide me through it. Topaz AI has now been added to my never ending "I need this list". :D
🤣 oh that dreaded "I need that list". My new recommendation would be: don't ever watch any video on youtube again if you don't want it to become even longer 🤣. Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. Enjoy macro photography. It is so much fun (well at least once the weather gets warmer here 🤣).
Hi, I just discovered your channel. If I may suggest? Your PGYTech adaptor, (shown as a side view in the video at 20:56) appears not to be seated fully down onto the slider, which could introduce a lot of camera bounce. I would recommend some kind of pad or shim between the adaptor and slider to reduce vibration and sequence time. I enjoyed your video, thank you.
Hi and thank you for the tip and the nice words. I realized that, but wasn't clever enough to think about a pad in between, but rather about shortening the thread. I was too lazy to do that, so I left it 😅. Now I will change that 😉🙏
thank you so much! I love how detailed your explanantions are. You are an excellent educator! I'm not a macro photographer (yet) and I've started studying before I take the jump. You have inspired me to keep on learning.
Perfect timing. I’ve been looking into different approaches for focus bracketing and stacking. My Canon EOS R doesn’t have the built-in function. The content was incredibly helpful. I also enjoy your presentation style. I would be interested in learning more about the editing in Zerene Stacker as well as how you set up the Photoshop action. This video is so full of useful/helpful information, I will be watching it over and over again. Thank you for taking the time to share.
What an amazingly clear, comprehensive and *useful* video! This has it be the best how-to photography video I’ve ever seen. Many thanks for all the effort you obviously put into making it(!) New subscriber…
Thank you 🤗. Do you mean focus stacking, or just the magnification. If you combine both, I don't think there really is. Olympus was the first company to just lately introduce an auto-focus 2x magnification lens. Without autofocus, you have to use sliders to combine focus stacking with higher magnification for what I know and have researched for this video. But I'd be happy if there are other options. Anything specific you are referring to and I need to go shopping 😉😁
Amazing educational video! Absolutely, undoubtedly helpful! Thank you sir for all your hard work i can see hard work when there is some. This video was crazy to put together and i thank you sir. Im sure you probably enjoy making videos but if it was somone who dosnt then it wouldent be this good. Good job!
Hello Wolf, that was a super video! Well explained, clear and very informative. I think I'll buy the slider right away. However, I also have a minor complaint: In Helicon you can also post-process very well. Using the F9 key, you can very quickly find the images with the sharp spots. In combination with the Page Up/Page Down keys you can quickly scroll through the images. Furthermore, Helicon loads all images into the cache, so that you can look at the images quickly and almost without loading times. Nevertheless, thanks again for this great video!
Thank you, Alexander. Much appreciated feedback. Too bad I cannot edit videos on youtube. That’s a function I was asking for ages. When doing instructional videos that would be so helpful.
I really enjoy your videos, as you always brings very useful tips and most importantly, you let the viewer really understands the problem and technique, which is crucial. This is usually missing in other content creators. Love that 👍
Thank you for the feedback. Someone already mentioned that. I tried it and it definitely helps, but it is still not quite convenient as zerene. I wished I could edit the video to include that info 😬
@@wolfamri I agree with you. I myself used Zerene for 3 years, and then switched to Helicon.I really like the speed of this program. I use method B and method C.They give the best result after retouching in my opinion.
Hi, I use quickmask (Q) and brush the areas I want to fill(FG color should be in black) and again press Q and with the selection I use Content-aware and It works great
Good tips, even for experienced photographers. Many thanks. It is worth pointing out if you have APSC or MFT there can be advantages depending on the type of lenses you are using. Photoshop seems to divide images almost randomly. It is ridiculous that Adobe have not produced a stacking module that works well. For very large stacks (hundreds) with 80 MP RAW files (Olympus in Hi Res Mode), Helicon on method C is the obvious choice for insect photography. If you have a really fast graphics card, it makes sense to use Helicon. I then AI sharpen and sometimes reduce to 50 MP (to give 200 MP per full frame image).
Great job! Is it possible to have the Photoshop tutorial for the action or at least have the action available? It will help a lot a beginner like me 😅😅
Good as far as it goes but I don't use Adobe and resist paying so much ($289?) for Zerene so I'll continue to rely on the routine in the free Canon DPP4. No, it is not fast. There is also one that works reasonably in Affinity Photo but I only go there if DPP4 has failed. I assume there are others I have never heard to exist. I do not understand all the controls of DPP4's stacking and wonder how they might help on some images. I do run stacks through Topaz Sharpen AI but find it often adds some artifacts making a string of things that did not seem to need retouching before. I first stacked using another (now antique) freeware program called CombineZ which seemed better than the then new Helicon Focus for my purposes. I don't like to clone out mites but dust and sensor dirt have to go. Bees should be covered with pollen. Ones that are not look like dead insects purchased online. Live insects are obviously much harder to stack with the precision you show. The entire matter is filled with compromises.
Thanks for your feedback, Doug. Paying such a premium is really hard unless you constantly use it. I wonder if they actually earned more money if they offered it at a lower rate. Unfortunately the mite wandered around and left partly transparent blobs in the focus stack, so I had to do something about it. I do love pollen on bees, but sometimes it’s also just fun to make it clean (particularly dust, etc.). It’s like editing a landscape or portrait 😁. I usually make a copy of the layer before I bring it into sharpen AI. If something goes wrong, I mask that portion out. That might make noise visible and if it does, I copy the base layer again and bring it into denoise AI.
In camera focus stacking isn't that limited on R7. You can set number of shots and width between them. The only limit is the fact it is electronic shutter, which doesn't allow you to use a flash. This is why I don't use it anymore and bought a manual focus lens.... Laowa 100mm. Thanks for showing demo on focus stacking and F stops, this is why my F4 stacks look wrong I guess, too much haloing. I learned a lot here, cheers!
This was the third , and by far best, video I watched on the Miops unit and ALL made the same assumption so I assume I am just too old and dense to use this product. You refer to the app but you do not say whether the app is for Apple, Android or both. Neither do you tell whether the app is included in the $399 price or have to searched out from the usual app providers. I enjoyed watching the video and it convinced me that I would like to own the unit for what I do but I am not going to buy an IPhone just to run this app and found no mention on compatibility (or lack) with my Android phone (Galaxy S21). In the last 6 months I have done a lot of manual stacks using both camera and manual rail advances so now I am interested in the next step which sounds like the Miops. If you are considering another video on this unit, I wonder how it would fare used in the field for closeup and near macro shots of living insects (I do not shoot dead bees when there are living ones available). Obviously this would be many fewer shots more widely spaced and would suffer from subject movement (wind is deadly in stacking) with delay set to a minimum. Perhaps the motion caused by the advance would be a problem but it might still be better for those of us now trying to shoot while leaning toward the subject with camera set to 15-30 frames per second.
Thanks, Doug. I‘m afraid I don’t own an Android device. But as far as I know there is an android version too. So far all the gear I bought that requires an app to be used came with a free app. Regarding the in-field stacking: I wouldn‘t recommend any slider. Most people focus bracket using motion as you mentioned. Another option is in-camera stacking. You have to be patient though, not many insects will sit still without wind for that long, not even early morning, but at times it works very well. Regarding wind: there are tools that would let you fix the plants a bit.
Thank you, Gerhard. I totally forgot the link. And it seems like your question is pretty old too. Verrrrrrry sorry!!! Here is the link. I hope you can still use it. exposure-triangle.com/pdf/focusStackingCheatSheet.pdf
I may be wrong, but I think the camera shake issue could be amplified by the use of that cheap lightweight quick-release plate? Personally I would sacrifice a few grams of weight-saving and use a sturdy alloy version!
Thank you! Puh, that's a tough question. I'm currently trying a different software, that is also very promising - maybe it's worth to check that too. ua-cam.com/video/VzJQKzFB-Uw/v-deo.html
@@wolfamri I’m planing on doing studio work, so I’m looking to stack a bunch of frames to get some rich details. What I loved about your showcase of the Zerene software was how you can easily navigate between the source frames in the retouch portion of editing. From the video you linked, Affinity seems to lack that kind of navigation. Would really like to know if I’d have access to the same features shown in your video with a license that is cheaper than the professional one? Looking to purchase the personal license. Also really appreciate your timely response. You’re great!
@demahniforte4631 To be honest, I'm afraid I don't really know the exact differences between the versions. From what I know all versions would support what you want. The pro and producer versions add even more. The pro version is the same as the prosumer, but adds the right to use it professionally. Perhaps this page helps. If you are still unsure, drop them a note. They are really helpful 😉
Hi Wolf, great video with a lot of details, thanks for that! Instead of an (expensive) slider, what about putting your camera on a tripod and just using the focus ring to shift the DOF forward step by step. Advantage: The picture stays always exactly the same. I'm curious about your answer!
Thank you 🙏. Yes you can do it that way, but it depends on the magnification and the length of the focus travel distance of the focus ring (if that’s the correct term 😬😁). Some have a long travel distance and would let you change the focus in very fine steps. Other lenses not so much. Another thing is that you’d have to touch the camera every time. Not that it would ruin the shot, but it can create problems. I hope that helps. It’s definitely always worth a try 😉.
Great explanation! I'm hoping that the day is not far off when AI becomes a part of focus stacking and stack editing. I can imagine a time when AI will be able to recognize types of objects and their characteristics (flower or insect or whatever), find bokeh halos and eliminate them, and perhaps even generate an internal 3D model of the object being stacked to recognize when one "tentacle" (or hair or fiber) is in the foreground and another in the background, and where they cleanly cross. Imagine the results!
Thank you, Ron. AI is definitely a big helper and at the moment it is advancing fast. I strongly believe AI is an exponential, rather than linear development, so I too guess that we'll see some technology jumps in the near future.
News flash, that day arrived many years ago!! Helicon Focus has been doing exactly what you described for many years now. The whole point of it is to stack the frames such that, for example, an antenna at the front is in focus but so are the hind legs. What you’re saying about the bokeh halos disappearing, I’ve no idea hat you mean. When have you ever seen a focus stacked which shows these halos you mention? I can’t say that I ever have. The whole point of focus stacking is so that everything is sharply focussed, so there generally aren’t any areas with halos. Furthermore, Helicon also can provide a depth map function and even a 3D feature too, I think. What software have you been using? I’ve only ever used Helicon Focus but TTBOMK, it has included the feature for depth maps for at least the past couple of years and I think quite a bit longer actually.
@@aaronperelmuter8433 honestly, you come across quite aggressive. Why is that? If you watched the video, you see that I have used three different pieces of software and they all have the halo issue if the shot has a lot of overlapping areas with high contrast. Which is pretty logical - and I explained why that happens too. If you have seen the discussion lately about Samsung smartphones and moon photos, you definitely understand what we are talking about.
Thank you for asking. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much interest. Photoshop will obviously soon start a new tool in this regard. It’s already accessible in the beta version. It’s currently not all that quick, other than my action, but it is similar when it comes to results.
Good morning. My name is Hermano. From Brazil. Please, could you answer me if I can stack photos by changing the focus area, using the manual focus by the lens, instead of using the Nisi focusing rail?? Would the result be the same, or do I lose a bit of quality in the final photo?
Hi Hermano! Yes, you can do that too. It’s a little more difficult, because you can’t make the adjustments as fine as with other tools, but you should definitely try! The images won’t align perfectly, but the software should be able to deal with that.
Which exact lens is that? If the older 2.8 version, then it is an awesome lens and yes, good for portraits. Not sure if you've seen my video about the portrait lens comparison tool that I created. That should help you find out where about that lens is in regard to background blur if that is something you want to know.
Sure, there are many options out there. I just liked the MIOPS because it ass other functionality too. For microscopic work, 1 micron sure is great. For regular macro work, even at 5:1, it’s not needed 😉.
By the way there is a better way to fix errors in PS stacking. Make a copy of all the layers before merging. When it's done, merge the layers into one layer, keeping the originals below it. You can then either erase the part and turn off the layers below one by one until you find the one where it's sharp, then copy/paste this section manually.
@@wolfamri Thank you right back, some good tips in here such as adding hotkeys to actions. That's going to be a massive time saver for me since I've been opening from the menu each time. I forgot you could do this. I'm also considering the one off payment for Zerene stacker since it is fairly reasonable.
@@wolfamri there is macro room channel and one of his video title is "Everyday object In macro" could you make a video on how they create that video please make a full tutorial on it (editing + shoot)
Thanks, I just checked. Some of them are very high end technically and require motion control that is pretty expensive. Plus a lot of slow motion. I can't say for sure how they are done, but I assume quite a bit is green screen at a very high level - that requires expensive lighting, an expensive camera and an expensive motion control (I assume the cam is mounted on a cran-like head that is rotating very fast around the subject, or even worse - there are many cameras involved, like in the matrix). That is not something you or I can do easily ;).
@@photohonors6409 Oh, I just found the everyday objects in macro video. That is less technical than the newer videos from them. I assume that's an effect called hyper zoom. Perhaps this helps understand: ua-cam.com/video/Zfq3PG6AQu4/v-deo.html
Correction: Exposure time is not just shutter speed. When exposing to light, you can have a long shutter speed but use a flash on a low setting to freeze the action, while keeping a little ambient light in the bg. Your flash power down time is then the controlling point of your exposure to light time, which is much faster than your shutter speed.
@@wolfamri It depends on the ambient light. I find at 250th ISO 100 especially on a x2 magnification on a crop body at F10 it's basically black on an overcast day. It also depends where the shade is. It might not apply in full sun.
I don't think that is fair of you to say. First it is not clickbait. I didn't change it for 2023. Second: you get all the info for free. You probably think being a youtuber earns you a lot of money, but rest assured, I invested way more money into the channel than I got out of it. And that doesn't even calculate the time I put into this. This video took me weeks to finish and all I get back from you is sarcasm. You may want to rethink your approach to life and other people, particularly those who offer free education to people who are actually interested.
Good advice, I will “rethink my approach” in 2024. In 2025 I will go back to my original way of thinking in 2025. See how dumb that sounds? PS, I didn't learn anything from your video.
If you only bother whether a video is helpful for you, and don't care about others, probably all hope is lost. Maybe after you click on a few videos from 2021, watched them all the way through and then realize that in 2023 things are different, you will realize that these numbers can actually help you. Have a nice day my friend 😉.
Thank you, Bill. I said that focus stacking/bracketing does work on some cameras for AF lenses and I do use and like Olympus for that. But many macro lenses are not AF 😉.
Umm... If you asked me if you could capture virtually every consideration of macro focal stacking in one video, I would say probably not. You clearly proved me wrong. Amazing video! So thorough!!!
Wow, thank you so much for such a great feedback 🙏🤗🙏
@Wolf Amri, but well deserved praise
I’d like to meet you one day, you are both inspirational and probably The only correctly detailed guide to everything on photography, quality and knowledge are both 10/10
Thank you so much! Perhaps one day we'll do a UA-cam meetup! That would be super fun!
Thank you for putting in so much of work, for us to learn. Awesome job. Extremely informative, and very well put together. Thank you again.
Great to hear it was helpful. Thank you for your feedback 🤗
I love you like a father. This helps so much
Awwwww, I‘m speechless. Thank you 🤗🤗🤗
I was searching a video to help me edit my macro photos... and loved your video. As a biologist I trully apreciate your message about the importance of insects and their decline.
Thank you, Maria! We really have to spread the word about the insects. People have no idea what the loss of biodiversity means. For them it’s just comfortable to have less spiders and wasps and less cleaning of the wind shield 🤦♂️. If only more people would photograph macro, they would see the world with different eyes.
Хвала!
много вам хвала (I had to look that up 😉). I really appreciate that 🙏🙏🙏
@@wolfamri haha you did it well 😄 Thank you for your selfless sharing of knowledge 🐝🪲🐞
The most complete guide to stacking I ever seen, great work 👍🏻
So great to hear that, thank you 🤗🤗
coming back after a while... dope
Thank youuuuu 🤗🤗
The most complete and good explained tutorial I have seen for macro photography! Really nice, this is a gem!
Thank you so much, that is so great to hear ;)
Just finding this video. The Miops slider is discontinued and I can't even find it on eBay. So sad. The information is excellent and will make me a better macro photographer. Thank you.
Sorry to hear that it is discontinued 😢. Thank you for your feedback 🙏
cool to see you back! hopefully you will continue making videos. They are really something special
Thank you so much, Andreas. I'll definitely continue, I'm just too slow 😂
Wolf, I just came across your UA-cam videos and I must say these are the best most informative videos ever. Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge and effort.
Awwwww! Thank you so much, Stephen! Much appreciated feedback!!!
Danke! Outstanding tutorial which inspirates me to buy the slider as well as Zerene Stacker. Thanx a lot!
Gerne 😉. Enjoy the tools. You’ll love them 😉.
Thanks 🙏 One of the best micro photo & slider videos I’ve seen. 🎉
Thank you so much!!!
best video on macro photography stacking.
Thank you 🤗🤗
🎯 I watched it two times to understand one time. One time more when I use it. . You did the best job... Thank you so much.... Das war richtig gut und verstaendlich . Super Wolf....
Vielen Dank, lieber Horst 🙏🤗🙏
This is a very informative and interesting video. It looks like a whole lecture on staking. It's a pity there weren't such full videos at the time when I started to master it.
Thank you 🤗🙏🤗
Macro NISI is acceptable for financial reasons. MIOPS is very expensive and I've heard it's also difficult to set up. So for both reasons it is out of the question for me. that's a shame. But thank you, you are invaluable and accurate.
Thank you, Alex. Your feedback is greatly appreciated 🙏
Thank you for recommending this video after your Macro video on extension tubes and clip on lenses, this was a real eye opener. I have "stiched" landscape photos together before, but never anything like this. It is quite daunting, but I now have this video to help guide me through it. Topaz AI has now been added to my never ending "I need this list". :D
🤣 oh that dreaded "I need that list". My new recommendation would be: don't ever watch any video on youtube again if you don't want it to become even longer 🤣. Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. Enjoy macro photography. It is so much fun (well at least once the weather gets warmer here 🤣).
Hi, I just discovered your channel. If I may suggest? Your PGYTech adaptor, (shown as a side view in the video at 20:56) appears not to be seated fully down onto the slider, which could introduce a lot of camera bounce. I would recommend some kind of pad or shim between the adaptor and slider to reduce vibration and sequence time. I enjoyed your video, thank you.
Hi and thank you for the tip and the nice words. I realized that, but wasn't clever enough to think about a pad in between, but rather about shortening the thread. I was too lazy to do that, so I left it 😅. Now I will change that 😉🙏
Thank you! Incredibly well made and clearly explained! You are a master!
Thank you so much 🤗🤗
Mega tutorial Wolf - I can't applaud your effort enough. Looking forward to more macro related content please
Thank you 🙏🙏🙏 Very much appreciated!
thank you so much! I love how detailed your explanantions are. You are an excellent educator! I'm not a macro photographer (yet) and I've started studying before I take the jump. You have inspired me to keep on learning.
Awesome! Thank you for your feedback, much appreciated. I'm sure you will love macro once you get your fingers wet 😉.
Perfect timing. I’ve been looking into different approaches for focus bracketing and stacking. My Canon EOS R doesn’t have the built-in function. The content was incredibly helpful. I also enjoy your presentation style. I would be interested in learning more about the editing in Zerene Stacker as well as how you set up the Photoshop action. This video is so full of useful/helpful information, I will be watching it over and over again. Thank you for taking the time to share.
Thank you so much, John. I really appreciate your feedback 🙏🙏
Great video. Thank you for your words about saving bees!:)
Thank you 🤗. It was definitely heartfelt. ❤️
What an amazingly clear, comprehensive and *useful* video! This has it be the best how-to photography video I’ve ever seen. Many thanks for all the effort you obviously put into making it(!) New subscriber…
Thank you so much for such a great feedback. You keep me motivated ;)
OMG new video from wolf 🐺 . Welcome back 🤩
Thank you so much. It was about time. 🤗🤗🤗
Finally, he’s back!
🤗🤗🤗
Thanks!
Thank you, that really means a lot 🤗🤗🤗
Extremely helpful and informative video!! Thank you so much, it’s really appreciated 🙏🏼
Thank you, you keep me motivated 😉🙏
Fantastic video. Thank you for the effort doing such an amazing educational video about stacking.
Thank you for your feedback 🤗🙏
Awesome. There is way to get these magnifications without a slider though 😄
Thank you 🤗. Do you mean focus stacking, or just the magnification. If you combine both, I don't think there really is. Olympus was the first company to just lately introduce an auto-focus 2x magnification lens. Without autofocus, you have to use sliders to combine focus stacking with higher magnification for what I know and have researched for this video. But I'd be happy if there are other options. Anything specific you are referring to and I need to go shopping 😉😁
Thanks a lot for this video !! Very very instructive !! Thanks for taking the time to explain so much 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤
Thank you, Nina 🙏🤗🙏
one of the best explanation, thank you for spending the time and to be fair i subscrived and liked the video, Thank you again.
Thanks you, John 🙏🙏🙏. That means a lot! 🤗
Amazing educational video! Absolutely, undoubtedly helpful! Thank you sir for all your hard work i can see hard work when there is some. This video was crazy to put together and i thank you sir. Im sure you probably enjoy making videos but if it was somone who dosnt then it wouldent be this good. Good job!
Thank you 🤗🤗🤗. Yes, I absolutely enjoy creating videos - particularly if I can make them (almost) exactly as I want them 😁.
Just FYI, Sony cameras do have focus stacking and they do an outstanding job of it. Figured you'd rather know than not. Excellent videos!
Thanks for the info! I know, some do, but by the time I took this video, I‘m pretty sure none of them did 😉.
Thank you for this wonderful masterclass!
Thank you for your feedback! 🙏🙏
Love this tutorial.
So great to hear that, thank you!
absolutely amazing and helpful video! thanks a million!
That's so great to hear, Ami. Enjoy focus stacking 😉
Once again a fantastic video! Thanks Wolf!
Thank you so much 🤗🤗
Hello Wolf,
that was a super video! Well explained, clear and very informative. I think I'll buy the slider right away.
However, I also have a minor complaint:
In Helicon you can also post-process very well. Using the F9 key, you can very quickly find the images with the sharp spots. In combination with the Page Up/Page Down keys you can quickly scroll through the images. Furthermore, Helicon loads all images into the cache, so that you can look at the images quickly and almost without loading times.
Nevertheless, thanks again for this great video!
Thank you, Alexander. Much appreciated feedback. Too bad I cannot edit videos on youtube. That’s a function I was asking for ages. When doing instructional videos that would be so helpful.
Brilliant instruction.
Thank you, Brian 🙏🙏
I really enjoy your videos, as you always brings very useful tips and most importantly, you let the viewer really understands the problem and technique, which is crucial. This is usually missing in other content creators. Love that 👍
Thank you so much, Vladimir. That’s exactly my goal, so this feedback means a lot 🤗🙏
Very helpful, thank you so very much! 😀
Great to hear that, thank you for your feedback 🙏🙏
35:53 In Helikon Focus, you can select the photo you need using the F9 key. Just hover your mouse over the desired location and press F9.
Thank you for the feedback. Someone already mentioned that. I tried it and it definitely helps, but it is still not quite convenient as zerene. I wished I could edit the video to include that info 😬
@@wolfamri I agree with you. I myself used Zerene for 3 years, and then switched to Helicon.I really like the speed of this program. I use method B and method C.They give the best result after retouching in my opinion.
@@shapomacro the speed really is something! I wished the two would join forces.
Thanks you so much! This is such an amazing interesting tutorial! Looking forward for the next videos!
Thank you, Fedir 🙏🙏
Hi, I use quickmask (Q) and brush the areas I want to fill(FG color should be in black) and again press Q and with the selection I use Content-aware and It works great
thank you. I need to try that 😉
Good tips, even for experienced photographers. Many thanks.
It is worth pointing out if you have APSC or MFT there can be advantages depending on the type of lenses you are using.
Photoshop seems to divide images almost randomly. It is ridiculous that Adobe have not produced a stacking module that works well.
For very large stacks (hundreds) with 80 MP RAW files (Olympus in Hi Res Mode), Helicon on method C is the obvious choice for insect photography. If you have a really fast graphics card, it makes sense to use Helicon.
I then AI sharpen and sometimes reduce to 50 MP (to give 200 MP per full frame image).
Thank you! Much appreciated. I bought an OM1 last year. Love it so far. I haven't thought about combining Hi Res with focus stacking. Great idea!
Great afford and very informative!
Thank you 😉🙏🙏 and thanks for the idea 😉
Very useful video. But I didn't see a link to the focus stacking cheat sheet.
Thanks so much, John. I completely forgot the link. Here it is: exposure-triangle.com/pdf/focusStackingCheatSheet.pdf
Great job! Is it possible to have the Photoshop tutorial for the action or at least have the action available? It will help a lot a beginner like me 😅😅
Hi Andrea! Thank you! I will work on making it available. Please remind me in case I haven't done so in a week. 🙏
Good as far as it goes but I don't use Adobe and resist paying so much ($289?) for Zerene so I'll continue to rely on the routine in the free Canon DPP4. No, it is not fast. There is also one that works reasonably in Affinity Photo but I only go there if DPP4 has failed. I assume there are others I have never heard to exist. I do not understand all the controls of DPP4's stacking and wonder how they might help on some images. I do run stacks through Topaz Sharpen AI but find it often adds some artifacts making a string of things that did not seem to need retouching before. I first stacked using another (now antique) freeware program called CombineZ which seemed better than the then new Helicon Focus for my purposes. I don't like to clone out mites but dust and sensor dirt have to go. Bees should be covered with pollen. Ones that are not look like dead insects purchased online. Live insects are obviously much harder to stack with the precision you show. The entire matter is filled with compromises.
Thanks for your feedback, Doug. Paying such a premium is really hard unless you constantly use it. I wonder if they actually earned more money if they offered it at a lower rate. Unfortunately the mite wandered around and left partly transparent blobs in the focus stack, so I had to do something about it. I do love pollen on bees, but sometimes it’s also just fun to make it clean (particularly dust, etc.). It’s like editing a landscape or portrait 😁.
I usually make a copy of the layer before I bring it into sharpen AI. If something goes wrong, I mask that portion out. That might make noise visible and if it does, I copy the base layer again and bring it into denoise AI.
In camera focus stacking isn't that limited on R7. You can set number of shots and width between them. The only limit is the fact it is electronic shutter, which doesn't allow you to use a flash. This is why I don't use it anymore and bought a manual focus lens.... Laowa 100mm. Thanks for showing demo on focus stacking and F stops, this is why my F4 stacks look wrong I guess, too much haloing. I learned a lot here, cheers!
Thank you🙏. Yes, cameras are getting better and better. 👌
Thank you for this
My pleasure 😉. Thanks for watching 🙏
Excellent video.
Thank you, Reno 🙏🙏
Very good video man. ❤️🙏namaste
Thank you so much 🙏🙏
Yayyyy new video!!!
Thanks for watching, Yanni!!!
wait - you have two channels? 😲
outstanding video, thanks !!!
Thank you, Gerardo. Much appreciated 🙏🙏🙏
🐝 💚
❤️❤️
This was the third , and by far best, video I watched on the Miops unit and ALL made the same assumption so I assume I am just too old and dense to use this product. You refer to the app but you do not say whether the app is for Apple, Android or both. Neither do you tell whether the app is included in the $399 price or have to searched out from the usual app providers. I enjoyed watching the video and it convinced me that I would like to own the unit for what I do but I am not going to buy an IPhone just to run this app and found no mention on compatibility (or lack) with my Android phone (Galaxy S21). In the last 6 months I have done a lot of manual stacks using both camera and manual rail advances so now I am interested in the next step which sounds like the Miops. If you are considering another video on this unit, I wonder how it would fare used in the field for closeup and near macro shots of living insects (I do not shoot dead bees when there are living ones available). Obviously this would be many fewer shots more widely spaced and would suffer from subject movement (wind is deadly in stacking) with delay set to a minimum. Perhaps the motion caused by the advance would be a problem but it might still be better for those of us now trying to shoot while leaning toward the subject with camera set to 15-30 frames per second.
Thanks, Doug. I‘m afraid I don’t own an Android device. But as far as I know there is an android version too. So far all the gear I bought that requires an app to be used came with a free app.
Regarding the in-field stacking: I wouldn‘t recommend any slider. Most people focus bracket using motion as you mentioned. Another option is in-camera stacking. You have to be patient though, not many insects will sit still without wind for that long, not even early morning, but at times it works very well.
Regarding wind: there are tools that would let you fix the plants a bit.
Nice, but where can I find the focus stacking cheat sheet?
Thank you, Gerhard. I totally forgot the link. And it seems like your question is pretty old too. Verrrrrrry sorry!!!
Here is the link. I hope you can still use it.
exposure-triangle.com/pdf/focusStackingCheatSheet.pdf
I may be wrong, but I think the camera shake issue could be amplified by the use of that cheap lightweight quick-release plate? Personally I would sacrifice a few grams of weight-saving and use a sturdy alloy version!
you surely are right, but I think there would still be some camera shake left due to weight distribution because the lens doesn’t have a collar.
Someone probably already pointed it out, but some DSLRs do have focus stacking. My D850 being one.
Thank you. Yes, someone mentioned it.
Amazing video! Which license for the Zerene software do you recommend getting?
Thank you! Puh, that's a tough question. I'm currently trying a different software, that is also very promising - maybe it's worth to check that too. ua-cam.com/video/VzJQKzFB-Uw/v-deo.html
@@wolfamri I’m planing on doing studio work, so I’m looking to stack a bunch of frames to get some rich details. What I loved about your showcase of the Zerene software was how you can easily navigate between the source frames in the retouch portion of editing. From the video you linked, Affinity seems to lack that kind of navigation. Would really like to know if I’d have access to the same features shown in your video with a license that is cheaper than the professional one? Looking to purchase the personal license. Also really appreciate your timely response. You’re great!
@demahniforte4631 To be honest, I'm afraid I don't really know the exact differences between the versions. From what I know all versions would support what you want. The pro and producer versions add even more. The pro version is the same as the prosumer, but adds the right to use it professionally.
Perhaps this page helps. If you are still unsure, drop them a note. They are really helpful 😉
Hi Wolf, great video with a lot of details, thanks for that! Instead of an (expensive) slider, what about putting your camera on a tripod and just using the focus ring to shift the DOF forward step by step. Advantage: The picture stays always exactly the same. I'm curious about your answer!
Thank you 🙏. Yes you can do it that way, but it depends on the magnification and the length of the focus travel distance of the focus ring (if that’s the correct term 😬😁). Some have a long travel distance and would let you change the focus in very fine steps. Other lenses not so much. Another thing is that you’d have to touch the camera every time. Not that it would ruin the shot, but it can create problems.
I hope that helps. It’s definitely always worth a try 😉.
@@wolfamri Understood and agreed! For sure I'm gonna try (but I can't compare with a slider as I don't have one (yet) ;-)
Great explanation!
I'm hoping that the day is not far off when AI becomes a part of focus stacking and stack editing. I can imagine a time when AI will be able to recognize types of objects and their characteristics (flower or insect or whatever), find bokeh halos and eliminate them, and perhaps even generate an internal 3D model of the object being stacked to recognize when one "tentacle" (or hair or fiber) is in the foreground and another in the background, and where they cleanly cross. Imagine the results!
Thank you, Ron. AI is definitely a big helper and at the moment it is advancing fast. I strongly believe AI is an exponential, rather than linear development, so I too guess that we'll see some technology jumps in the near future.
News flash, that day arrived many years ago!! Helicon Focus has been doing exactly what you described for many years now. The whole point of it is to stack the frames such that, for example, an antenna at the front is in focus but so are the hind legs. What you’re saying about the bokeh halos disappearing, I’ve no idea hat you mean. When have you ever seen a focus stacked which shows these halos you mention? I can’t say that I ever have. The whole point of focus stacking is so that everything is sharply focussed, so there generally aren’t any areas with halos.
Furthermore, Helicon also can provide a depth map function and even a 3D feature too, I think. What software have you been using? I’ve only ever used Helicon Focus but TTBOMK, it has included the feature for depth maps for at least the past couple of years and I think quite a bit longer actually.
@@aaronperelmuter8433 honestly, you come across quite aggressive. Why is that?
If you watched the video, you see that I have used three different pieces of software and they all have the halo issue if the shot has a lot of overlapping areas with high contrast. Which is pretty logical - and I explained why that happens too.
If you have seen the discussion lately about Samsung smartphones and moon photos, you definitely understand what we are talking about.
What happened to the Photoshop retouching action you mentioned.
Thank you for asking. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much interest. Photoshop will obviously soon start a new tool in this regard. It’s already accessible in the beta version. It’s currently not all that quick, other than my action, but it is similar when it comes to results.
superb .. too much information :)
😂 I agree, that was too long 😂
Good morning. My name is Hermano. From Brazil. Please, could you answer me if I can stack photos by changing the focus area, using the manual focus by the lens, instead of using the Nisi focusing rail?? Would the result be the same, or do I lose a bit of quality in the final photo?
Hi Hermano! Yes, you can do that too. It’s a little more difficult, because you can’t make the adjustments as fine as with other tools, but you should definitely try! The images won’t align perfectly, but the software should be able to deal with that.
👍🏻❤
🙏🤗🙏
The Canon 90d dslr has focus stacking. 🤗
There you go - so much research and still.... 😂😂😂
I bought a canon 50d with tamron 80 to 210mm. Is it good for portraits?
Which exact lens is that? If the older 2.8 version, then it is an awesome lens and yes, good for portraits. Not sure if you've seen my video about the portrait lens comparison tool that I created. That should help you find out where about that lens is in regard to background blur if that is something you want to know.
@@wolfamri thank you. I will check.
interesting. My brain could however not process all the macro talk. Will need to rewatch the video again at a later time.
Let me know if you have questions, Mutsa 😉. And thanks for watching 🙏
If you’re shooting live insects, like I do, theres no way a slider would work. But definitely good for stationary subjects.
Oh yes, a big slider like this would hardly ever work unless they forgot to search for a place to hibernate 😉😆.
For $100 (Australian) more than the MIOPS slider, you can buy a fully electronic WeMacro - It's minimum step can be set as 1 micron in precise mode.
Sure, there are many options out there. I just liked the MIOPS because it ass other functionality too. For microscopic work, 1 micron sure is great. For regular macro work, even at 5:1, it’s not needed 😉.
By the way there is a better way to fix errors in PS stacking. Make a copy of all the layers before merging. When it's done, merge the layers into one layer, keeping the originals below it. You can then either erase the part and turn off the layers below one by one until you find the one where it's sharp, then copy/paste this section manually.
Thank you for the suggestion. I have to try that 😉
@@wolfamri Thank you right back, some good tips in here such as adding hotkeys to actions. That's going to be a massive time saver for me since I've been opening from the menu each time. I forgot you could do this. I'm also considering the one off payment for Zerene stacker since it is fairly reasonable.
how to zoom everyday object like macoroom yt pls make video on it full
Hi there! I'm not quite sure I understand. What do you mean with macroroom and zoom?
@@wolfamri there is macro room channel and one of his video title is "Everyday object In macro" could you make a video on how they create that video please make a full tutorial on it (editing + shoot)
Thanks, I just checked. Some of them are very high end technically and require motion control that is pretty expensive. Plus a lot of slow motion.
I can't say for sure how they are done, but I assume quite a bit is green screen at a very high level - that requires expensive lighting, an expensive camera and an expensive motion control (I assume the cam is mounted on a cran-like head that is rotating very fast around the subject, or even worse - there are many cameras involved, like in the matrix). That is not something you or I can do easily ;).
@@photohonors6409 Oh, I just found the everyday objects in macro video. That is less technical than the newer videos from them. I assume that's an effect called hyper zoom. Perhaps this helps understand: ua-cam.com/video/Zfq3PG6AQu4/v-deo.html
Correction: Exposure time is not just shutter speed. When exposing to light, you can have a long shutter speed but use a flash on a low setting to freeze the action, while keeping a little ambient light in the bg. Your flash power down time is then the controlling point of your exposure to light time, which is much faster than your shutter speed.
But I'm afraid the ambient will still make the shot blurry. I've even had blur with exposure times of 1/250sec plus with flash 😬
@@wolfamri It depends on the ambient light. I find at 250th ISO 100 especially on a x2 magnification on a crop body at F10 it's basically black on an overcast day. It also depends where the shade is. It might not apply in full sun.
This is exactly how I focus stacked in 2022. In 2021, I did it differently. In 2023, also different.
Did you change your focus stacking gear or your software, Jason?
Neither, it was sarcasm. The year has nothing to do with it. It is a clickbait youtube trend and it is really annoying.
I don't think that is fair of you to say. First it is not clickbait. I didn't change it for 2023. Second: you get all the info for free. You probably think being a youtuber earns you a lot of money, but rest assured, I invested way more money into the channel than I got out of it. And that doesn't even calculate the time I put into this. This video took me weeks to finish and all I get back from you is sarcasm. You may want to rethink your approach to life and other people, particularly those who offer free education to people who are actually interested.
Good advice, I will “rethink my approach” in 2024. In 2025 I will go back to my original way of thinking in 2025. See how dumb that sounds?
PS, I didn't learn anything from your video.
If you only bother whether a video is helpful for you, and don't care about others, probably all hope is lost.
Maybe after you click on a few videos from 2021, watched them all the way through and then realize that in 2023 things are different, you will realize that these numbers can actually help you. Have a nice day my friend 😉.
Nikon D 850 has auto focus stacking
Thank you!
miops slider ad , should have said in thumb nail
Did you watch the video? 😉
Omg… Is this really all for freee!!! 😂
What’s the catch 😉
😂🤗🤗
"DSLRs don't have focus bracketing"??
Excuse me, but the Canon Eos 90D does.
I should have said very few DSLRs do 😉
In-Camera Focus Stacking DOES work with Olympus macro lenses on Autofocus
Thank you, Bill. I said that focus stacking/bracketing does work on some cameras for AF lenses and I do use and like Olympus for that. But many macro lenses are not AF 😉.
I have made a comment in the video "what lens" to choose but i couldn't add another conment there. I have messaged you my question on instagram. 😊
That’s weird. I don’t see a comment. I’ll check on IG.