Brian
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Post by Brian on Mar 25, 2021 14:47:03 GMT -5
How is this different than just changing the aperture? I can do f2.8-20 but I like the bokeh with 2.8 Focus stacking still allows you to use a wide aperture for better light gathering while giving the advantage that a smaller aperture would provide. Since most lenses have a sweet spot for aperture, it allows you to use the sharpest aperture for your lens without being limited to a narrow focal plane. Or you can use a smaller aperture and get even more of your subject in focus with focus stacking. I find it to be a great tool to have when shooting close up but still want to bring more of the image into focus. |
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saxplayer
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 25, 2021 15:11:07 GMT -5
How is this different than just changing the aperture? I can do f2.8-20 but I like the bokeh with 2.8 Focus stacking still allows you to use a wide aperture for better light gathering while giving the advantage that a smaller aperture would provide. Since most lenses have a sweet spot for aperture, it allows you to use the sharpest aperture for your lens without being limited to a narrow focal plane. Or you can use a smaller aperture and get even more of your subject in focus with focus stacking. I find it to be a great tool to have when shooting close up but still want to bring more of the image into focus. Ok, this makes more sense. My camera doesn't have focus stacking, so is there good software that does it for you after you take multiple pictures? |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 25, 2021 16:24:31 GMT -5
The Olympus TG series are a trip. Simply set on stack mode, hold still, hit the shutter.
It does about 500 pages(exaggeration maybe)of calculations very quickly.
And the shutter clicks on and off quickly too as it takes shots incrementally from point A to point B. Must be a dozen or so.
If the camera shakes too much during the shutter sequence it will tell you it can't seam the photos together. If it shakes only slightly it often gives unique ghost images.
I believe Olympus owns the rights to an integrated chip that cranks the Fourier math to make stacking possible so quickly.
The statement 'Olympus stacking' is out there as if a trademark.
Olympus has always been a trend setter in bodaciously insane camera technology.
Their DSLR has a great reputation as an all around camera with the stacking built in.
My only digital DSLR is a worn out Nikon D70 and has needed replacing for years now, considering the Olympus E-M1 DSLR but can't get the courage. Some one give me a push !
PS Figured Nikon or Canon would have stacking by now.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 25, 2021 17:52:14 GMT -5
Grant, we may be the last of the old schoolers. As much as a guy with a digital camera can be considered old school.  I have never stacked photos, nor did I get into High Dynamic Range photos. I learned on an old Canon A-1 and brought the same philosophy to digital. I do some post processing on Photoshop to crop, brighten, adjust levels and such, much like you would in a darkroom. I like the images you can get from the new software advances, but I still prefer to try to get what I want by changing lenses, lighting, ISO, aperture, angle, etc. to get the picture to look the way I envision in my head. I guess I'm not ready to turn everything over to my camera and computer just yet. |
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 25, 2021 17:55:07 GMT -5
By the way, there has been some great information, as well as great macros, posted in this thread.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Mar 25, 2021 19:55:05 GMT -5
Focus stacking still allows you to use a wide aperture for better light gathering while giving the advantage that a smaller aperture would provide. Since most lenses have a sweet spot for aperture, it allows you to use the sharpest aperture for your lens without being limited to a narrow focal plane. Or you can use a smaller aperture and get even more of your subject in focus with focus stacking. I find it to be a great tool to have when shooting close up but still want to bring more of the image into focus. Ok, this makes more sense. My camera doesn't have focus stacking, so is there good software that does it for you after you take multiple pictures? You can do it in Photoshop and I believe Lightroom as well. I have also read some good reviews for Helicon Focus, which supposedly is much quicker than using Photoshop. Some of the software that comes with cameras can also do focus stacking. My Olympus micro four thirds camera was not able to do it in-camera originally, but the software provided that feature. I know there are several other programs out there, but those are the most popular ones. |
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saxplayer
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 25, 2021 22:03:28 GMT -5
Ok, this makes more sense. My camera doesn't have focus stacking, so is there good software that does it for you after you take multiple pictures? You can do it in Photoshop and I believe Lightroom as well. I have also read some good reviews for Helicon Focus, which supposedly is much quicker than using Photoshop. Some of the software that comes with cameras can also do focus stacking. My Olympus micro four thirds camera was not able to do it in-camera originally, but the software provided that feature. I know there are several other programs out there, but those are the most popular ones. So, I'm going to upgrade my camera soon and get the Arsenal 2 pro that is coming out this summer. It does photo stacking automatically - should be fun to experiment with. |
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saxplayer
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 25, 2021 22:08:55 GMT -5
Grant, we may be the last of the old schoolers. As much as a guy with a digital camera can be considered old school. I have never stacked photos, nor did I get into High Dynamic Range photos. I learned on an old Canon A-1 and brought the same philosophy to digital. I do some post processing on Photoshop to crop, brighten, adjust levels and such, much like you would in a darkroom. I like the images you can get from the new software advances, but I still prefer to try to get what I want by changing lenses, lighting, ISO, aperture, angle, etc. to get the picture to look the way I envision in my head. I guess I'm not ready to turn everything over to my camera and computer just yet. I agree, I'm trying to learn some good basics, but also some of the newer tricks lol. I upgraded my camera body from the nex-6 to the a6600 because I have e-mount lenses and wanted to stay in an e-mount APS-C system so I was limited. It's a major step up from the nex-6 though. My issue now, is I photographed all my tumbles from the past 6 months with my old camera, now I'm in the waiting game for more to photograph - hence the plant pics lol. I'm loving the macro lens. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 25, 2021 23:19:39 GMT -5
Grant, we may be the last of the old schoolers. As much as a guy with a digital camera can be considered old school. I have never stacked photos, nor did I get into High Dynamic Range photos. I learned on an old Canon A-1 and brought the same philosophy to digital. I do some post processing on Photoshop to crop, brighten, adjust levels and such, much like you would in a darkroom. I like the images you can get from the new software advances, but I still prefer to try to get what I want by changing lenses, lighting, ISO, aperture, angle, etc. to get the picture to look the way I envision in my head. I guess I'm not ready to turn everything over to my camera and computer just yet. My old Nikon auto mode has been whacked for years forcing full manual. Like the 1957 Rolleicord I had to learn photography with it was all manual. I do cherish the ability to control the photo using the f stop and shutter speed. The Rollei had a mechanical lock that would lock each f-stop with it's appropriate shutter speed on a slider for a given condition to vary depth of field. Most DSLR's have a thru-the-lens light meter which takes the guesswork out of the equation. Anyone owning a DSLR should switch that baby to manual and take pictures using the light meter. Perhaps start with shutter or aperture priority and move to full manual. Take photos under exposed 1 f-stop or over exposed 1 f-stop in addition to the correct f-stop, it is easy to delete them if they don't turn out. |
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pizzano
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Post by pizzano on Mar 26, 2021 3:07:36 GMT -5
With all this wonderful digital camera technology out there today......how many have found need to up-grade their hard copy printers.....or does any one print their own copies anymore....?
After purchasing my Nikon D7000 and now a few good lenses, I find I'm shooting & printing much more than in the past....all the usual stuff, kids, grand kids, rocks, wildlife, cars, landscapes, ect.......with much more precision and flexibility, I'm encouraged to print due to the quality of the photo's.
I've owned quite a few middle of the road inkjets that never live up to their hype, and my 4yr old HP printer, which I mostly use as my home office printer, finally died. It never made quality photo prints regardless of the paper stock or ink used and the ink cartridges were unbelievably expensive for so little quantity it would print.
So, having a little disposable income stashed away, and with the wife working from home with printing needs as well, we finally decided no more throw-away, cartridge inkjet printers.........I did a little research and had my wife ask her office IT folks a few questions about cost, reliability and manufacture suggestions. We decided on another inkjet, but not cartridge fill. We discovered that there are some really good photo copy inkjets under the $500.00 limit we set (that's a lot for us).....and wouldn't you know it, made by camera manufactures.....Canon, Olympus, Minolta.....and they have for years......now why didn't I think of that before instead of relying on computer name brands...........lol
Anyway, we now have an all-in-one Canon Pixma G7020 mega tank printer..........the details and specs are much to vast to discuss here, but for a quiet light duty office printer with exceptional photo/scanning/copying resolution and detail, DIY replaceable/cleanable printer heads, large refillable ink tanks, miser ink consumption, outstanding photo workshop software and paper/media bond friendly feed.........this is probably the best bang for the buck printer we've ever owned. It's no speed demon and only holds 350 sheets of bond, but it is far cry from the HP's, Brother's, Epson's we've had....a few more expensive than this Canon.........so we'll see how it holds up......we've always done a fair amount of printing here and just damn tired of replacement cartridge issues/costs, ink head clogs, fussy paper feeds....we would have gone laser but color toner costs and complicated maintenance issues kept us out of that arena.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 26, 2021 4:55:45 GMT -5
Thanks for that info pizzano. Great rationale, many fine printers are made by camera companies. I happened to have plans on buying a 'photo quality' printer one day. A modern general performance $250 printer performs so well it makes sense that newer photo quality machines must make fine prints. The refillable ink tanks sure make sense. Did you use powerful printers in your drone business ? With wall art being so trendy beautiful prints should be marketable. Especially specialty photos like macros. ETSY experiences heavy amounts of searches for photo wall art but there is also high competition in this sector. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 26, 2021 5:12:00 GMT -5
This took guts Brian. Sticking my beloved $400 TG-4 underwater to take a photo of an aquatic insect. It just did not feel right lol. (I did drop the first TG-4 and broke the backplate LED a week after buying it. Darn if Amazon replaced it for free no questions asked.) Make sure both water tight hatches are in double locked position if going underwater ! Since this camera is waterproof the zoom lens does not extend far being that it is totally contained in the waterproof case. This causes low zoom magnification which might be it's only shortcoming. No need to stack, subject flat and under strong sun light  |
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Post by fernwood on Mar 26, 2021 6:06:18 GMT -5
Exceptional photo.
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Post by fernwood on Mar 26, 2021 6:16:48 GMT -5
I love my Epson eco tank printer.
A paper jam caused my several month old one to die. Was sent a replacement with no hassles. Noticed the design had improved to allow access to where the jam was in my old one.
This has very high resolution, perfect for macro photos.
Depending on the number of photos/docs printed, one fill of tanks can last 2 years.
I have used it to print photos, docs and iron on transfers.
The printer is over a year old and the tanks are still about 2/3 full.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Mar 26, 2021 6:27:09 GMT -5
That’s a cool shot, jamesp! I have not even thought to try using the macro feature underwater. That could lead to some interesting shots. I had a similar thing happen when I got the TG-5. Within a month, it got dropped on concrete. Luckily, I had put a tempered glass screen protector on the back and that took the brunt of the force. The screen seems to be a weak spot in a otherwise stellar little camera. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 26, 2021 12:45:49 GMT -5
That’s a cool shot, jamesp! I have not even thought to try using the macro feature underwater. That could lead to some interesting shots. I had a similar thing happen when I got the TG-5. Within a month, it got dropped on concrete. Luckily, I had put a tempered glass screen protector on the back and that took the brunt of the force. The screen seems to be a weak spot in a otherwise stellar little camera. At 2:20 in video he video's the TG doing 10 machine gun bracketing and stacking shutter operations. The bracketing does great for getting a range of 10 under and over exposures. The stacking also sounds like 10 shutter clickers. This camera also has micro. They claim 11:1 magnification but it seems higher than that. |
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pizzano
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Post by pizzano on Mar 26, 2021 14:03:03 GMT -5
Thanks for that info pizzano . Great rationale, many fine printers are made by camera companies. I happened to have plans on buying a 'photo quality' printer one day. A modern general performance $250 printer performs so well it makes sense that newer photo quality machines must make fine prints. The refillable ink tanks sure make sense. Did you use powerful printers in your drone business ? With wall art being so trendy beautiful prints should be marketable. Especially specialty photos like macros. ETSY experiences heavy amounts of searches for photo wall art but there is also high competition in this sector. At the office we have three commercial printers, two newer HP Design Jet's for 24" x 36" paper/mylar plan drawings. one older HP Design Jet for 24" x 36" paper only and one HP Pagewide 600dpi for reports, studies, photos, and everyday printing needs, it's a workhorse. All of which are nothing more than sophisticated "inkjet" type printers. Inkjet's are slower than toner laser's and don't print the quantity laser's do, but the final product quality for color, inkjet is much better and less paper/bond fussy.
When you get to that level of printer requirements (business reproduction), maintenance, reproduction quality and reliability are the priorities, cost associated with reproduction materials/time are absorbed in the price of doing business. The other issues to consider are software/firmware compatibility/flexibility. That's why HP has been one of the standards in our industry for many years.......although, Minolta isn't lagging to far behind anymore. Digital data transfer formats are finally becoming so generic and user friendly, almost all newer commercial printers in our industry crossover quite well. The problems crop up when using older equipment and outdated software/firmware (meaning more than a couple yrs old)..........which is intentionally designed/manufactured into everything.......we suffered through this last year, but the owner(s) finally climbed out of the cave and opened their wallets.......and have actually made a return on investment already.........engineers are fantastic designers/planners/fixers/inventors.....but many in my world still lack common economic business sense and are entirely to "frugal" with capital outlay.........That's one of the areas I try to help them with..........lol
Now back to macro photo's......I finally picked up a barely used Nikon AF-S DX Micro 40mm F/2.8G lens.......for under $200.00. Been waiting for a deal......haven't spent much time with it yet, but so far seems it will satisfy my macro needs and even suffice as a good portrait lens as well...still working out it's lighting demands....will post pic's once I have it dialed-in.....!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 27, 2021 4:48:31 GMT -5
A President's eye on a US bill. Olympus TG-4 micro mode setting. Problems with super macro: - camera very close to subject - getting enough light - focusing - camera shake - extremely narrow depth of field Article - learn.zoner.com/super-macro-photography-discover-the-magic-of-close-up-macro-photography/ "Digital data transfer formats are finally becoming so generic and user friendly, almost all newer commercial printers in our industry crossover quite well." Thanks for this tidbit pizzano. Congrats on your new macro lens. I picked up an old Vivitar fixed 55mm 1:2.8 for a song($100) that fit an old Nikon D90. EBAY write up - "This Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro lens is a made in Japan series, (manufactured by Komine) with a metal barrel and metal lens mount fitting Canon FD - great for the Canon AE-1/F1n/TL/FTb/T90/T70 and more accepting Canon FD series lenses and additional cameras using adapters or modifying to more modern film and digital cameras too. This lens is a highly regarded optic considered to be "Legendary" by some because of its sharpness and resolution for detail. This lens allows for uses doing macro work at a 1:1 ratio (life size) in addition to making a fantastic standard lens. This lens provides excellent quality and color rendition that is great." |
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saxplayer
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 27, 2021 9:52:56 GMT -5
A President's eye on a US bill. Olympus TG-4 micro mode setting. Problems with super macro: - camera very close to subject - getting enough light - focusing - camera shake - extremely narrow depth of field Article - learn.zoner.com/super-macro-photography-discover-the-magic-of-close-up-macro-photography/"Digital data transfer formats are finally becoming so generic and user friendly, almost all newer commercial printers in our industry crossover quite well." Thanks for this tidbit pizzano . Congrats on your new macro lens. I picked up an old Vivitar fixed 55mm 1:2.8 for a song($100) that fit an old Nikon D90. EBAY write up - "This Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro lens is a made in Japan series, (manufactured by Komine) with a metal barrel and metal lens mount fitting Canon FD - great for the Canon AE-1/F1n/TL/FTb/T90/T70 and more accepting Canon FD series lenses and additional cameras using adapters or modifying to more modern film and digital cameras too. This lens is a highly regarded optic considered to be "Legendary" by some because of its sharpness and resolution for detail. This lens allows for uses doing macro work at a 1:1 ratio (life size) in addition to making a fantastic standard lens. This lens provides excellent quality and color rendition that is great." Hmm.. I wonder if I emulate your photo to compare cameras/lenses etc how they would differ? No post-processing. Care if I try? |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 27, 2021 10:08:50 GMT -5
A President's eye on a US bill. Olympus TG-4 micro mode setting. Problems with super macro: - camera very close to subject - getting enough light - focusing - camera shake - extremely narrow depth of field Article - learn.zoner.com/super-macro-photography-discover-the-magic-of-close-up-macro-photography/"Digital data transfer formats are finally becoming so generic and user friendly, almost all newer commercial printers in our industry crossover quite well." Thanks for this tidbit pizzano . Congrats on your new macro lens. I picked up an old Vivitar fixed 55mm 1:2.8 for a song($100) that fit an old Nikon D90. EBAY write up - "This Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro lens is a made in Japan series, (manufactured by Komine) with a metal barrel and metal lens mount fitting Canon FD - great for the Canon AE-1/F1n/TL/FTb/T90/T70 and more accepting Canon FD series lenses and additional cameras using adapters or modifying to more modern film and digital cameras too. This lens is a highly regarded optic considered to be "Legendary" by some because of its sharpness and resolution for detail. This lens allows for uses doing macro work at a 1:1 ratio (life size) in addition to making a fantastic standard lens. This lens provides excellent quality and color rendition that is great." Hmm.. I wonder if I emulate your photo to compare cameras/lenses etc how they would differ? No post-processing. Care if I try? Please do any darn thing you want with any of my photos Sax. The eye needs some shop brightening. The 'Eye of Providence' on back of a dollar bill is a great subject to share with other camera owners for comparison use. Everyone has dollar bills... |
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I have never stacked photos, nor did I get into High Dynamic Range photos. I learned on an old Canon A-1 and brought the same philosophy to digital. I do some post processing on Photoshop to crop, brighten, adjust levels and such, much like you would in a darkroom. I like the images you can get from the new software advances, but I still prefer to try to get what I want by changing lenses, lighting, ISO, aperture, angle, etc. to get the picture to look the way I envision in my head. I guess I'm not ready to turn everything over to my camera and computer just yet.
