Focus Stacking - Do you use it?

[danic]

I picked up a copy of a photo mag from my local newsagent. It has an article on how to focus stack.

For those that don't know what it is, basically you take a stack of shots, with the same DOF and exposure time, but with different focal points in the photo. Typically, it is between 5 - 10 shots. You then merge them to get the required DOF you want. This is used more often in macro work than anything else.

There are two programs out there that the article mentions, one's called CombineZM and the other one is Helicon Focus.

As I'm getting a proper macro lens, it's something I'm considering, but I don't want another software program to deal with. Photomatix and Elements is enough for me at the moment.

Do you use it? Do you focus stack?

[mjs1973]

I have used Helicon Focus, and it works very well. Photoshop CS4 now has this type of feature built into it. I'm sure you can achieve the same affect manually using layers and masks if you want to spend the time doing it. Here is a thread I started about a year ago when I first used Helicon Focus.

Helicon Focus, it's like HDR for DOF

Here is a video showing how it's done in CS4

http://vimeo.com/2133955

I have CS4, but I can't get this feature to work. I keep getting an error message...

[danic]

Cheers Mike,

Is it a useful feature? Do you find yourself using Helicon Focus a lot? or is it more gimicky? Do you have a shot or two to show where you used it?

[mjs1973]

Is it a useful feature?

Yes, it does have it's place. I really liked the results I got with this method, but I don't know how practical it would be in the field. If your subject is moving at all, I don't think this method would be useful. In a studio, shooting a still life that you know isn't going to move, this method works great.

Do you find yourself using Helicon Focus a lot? or is it more gimicky?

No, I don't use it at all, but I don't think it's gimicky either. I downloaded the free trial back in March and played around with it a bit. It worked great, but for me, it wasn't worth the cost for the license, so I no longer use it. This feature is now built into the newest version of Photoshop, and is one of the main reasons I upgraded to CS4. I only with I could get it to work on my computer...

Do you have a shot or two to show where you used it?

The first link in my original post will take you to a thread with a couple examples of images that I created using the Software.

[danic]

Cheers Mike! Some good examples there.

Thanks,
Dan