stack v small aperture

[racketman]

comparison. Unfortunately the 10 shot stack was hand held and there is some halo effect but if it was shot from a tripod that would not be a factor and for proper macro you seldom need more than 3 or 4 shots to cover the subject.
The f25 was shot at higher ISO due to flash strength - that would not be the case for real close up shots.

Anyway f25:

http://www.pbase.com/image/109088508/original.jpg

10 shot stack at f9

http://www.pbase.com/image/109088593/original.jpg

tamron 180mm macro

[spidermanrbryce2006]

wow great differnts

[LordV]

Good demo - greater DOF and clarity in the stacked shot. Wonder if you could do that in one shot with a TSE lens ?

Brian V.

[troypiggo]

But the first shot looks like you've focused on something in the foreground, like the clamp? You've lost half the depth of field? Shouldn't you focus more in the centre of the racquet?

[davej1234]

Thanks for the comparison. As a newbie I'm just dabbling in focus-stacking, trying to figure out CombineZM. Has anyone used CS3 for this?

[racketman]

But the first shot looks like you've focused on something in the foreground, like the clamp? You've lost half the depth of field? Shouldn't you focus more in the centre of the racquet?

Good point, I did indeed focus on the green support in the foreground. I believe max dof is achieved by focusing 1/3 into the scene? I might try another tonight as I have one more racket to do.

[LordV]

Good point, I did indeed focus on the green support in the foreground. I believe max dof is achieved by focusing 1/3 into the scene? I might try another tonight as I have one more racket to do.

Nope in macro the DOF is evenly distributed either side of the focus point.
Brian V.

[racketman]

Nope in macro the DOF is evenly distributed either side of the focus point.
Brian V.

but would this count as macro?

[LordV]

but would this count as macro?

Pretty certain that those odd dof balances only happen at fairly long focus distances ie metres away at a minimum

[racketman]

f25 with manual focus on end of string gripper

http://www.pbase.com/image/109112564/original.jpg

14 shot stack, f10 (may have missed narrow area end of gripper), no cropping required so Helicon has done a good job helped by tripod and cable release.

http://www.pbase.com/image/109112600/original.jpg

f25 can't compete for resolution - might be a case for maximizing macro lens resolution at f16 rather than around f8 like non macro lenses?

[LordV]

Better comparison with only a slight advantage to the stacked image in DOF but much more in terms of resolution.

Think you would be breaking too many physical laws to optimise the resolution of a macro lens at F16 unless you purposely made it miss focus at wider apertures :)

Brian V.