Focus Stacking camera
- Thread starter brads
- Start date
Fred Kingston
Senior Member
What is your budget$$$ ?
BF Hammer
Senior Member
Fred Kingston
Senior Member
Okay... What some cameras do is take a series of images, and with each exposure, the camera changes the focus position... You don't need a special camera with that feature to do the same thing. Look at camRanger 2... It connects to your Nikon D7200 camera via the USB port, and using an app. on a cell phone, tablet or computer to do the focus shifting, along with many other tethered features...
camRanger 2
It's significantly less expensive than buying one of the cameras that has that feature, and you can can use a camera that you already have and know...
The easiest part of focus stacking is taking the pictures... I use camRanger all the time for macro photography on a D810 and a D750 Why spend $1000 for something that can be done much better for 1/2 that?
Here's a broad over-view of Focus stacking with camRanger
camRanger 2
It's significantly less expensive than buying one of the cameras that has that feature, and you can can use a camera that you already have and know...
The easiest part of focus stacking is taking the pictures... I use camRanger all the time for macro photography on a D810 and a D750 Why spend $1000 for something that can be done much better for 1/2 that?
Here's a broad over-view of Focus stacking with camRanger
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
No, the p950 won’t auto focus bracket, it’ll just auto bracket for exposure. To my knowledge, Nikon doesn’t offer a camera as of yet that will auto focus stack, just auto focus bracket. There are some (including my z6 and all other mirrorless, but maybe not the z30) that will auto focus bracket shots for you but the stack is up to you to complete while post processing, that is it will take a series of shots for you adjusting focus automatically in camera at adjustment parameters you set in camera but will not merge the stack for you in camera, you’ll have to do that on the computer or tablet using something like photoshop or similar. There are other options though. As @Fred Kingston mentioned, theres the CamRanger 2 that I used with my D7500 & D800 for macro shots. I just hated the cord and the process of tethering. It works but it’s cumbersome. There’s also macro rails you can get on the cheap to very expensive if you want to do the adjusting manually. Just plant the rails on the tripod, focus close, take a shot and then twist the dial on the rail slightly to move the focus further away slightly and repeat. Do this a buncha times, (hundreds for some macro shots) and you’ll end up with a focus bracket you can stack in post. Also, it depends what you’re trying to stack. If it’s a landscape, its easy enough to plant your camera on the tripod and choose 3-5 focus points near to far for 3-5 shots that you merge in PS. No need for any special gear. I like the process in the z6 better than the camranger2 and much better than the rails, I haven’t used either since going mirrorless.
Fred Kingston
Senior Member
The biggest issue with "focus stacking" is determining the depth of field for the particular situation, considering the distances and the lens you're using then calculating how many shots you NEED to get a complete series of shots that cover a full range of IN-Focus shots... Focus rails don't do that, so you need to manually do those calculations... camRanger does that calculation internally... all you do is select the closest focus position and the farthest focus position... CamRanger then determines what it needs between those two variables. Yes, the cable is annoying, but I've acquired a short cable, and a bracket that attaches the whole thing to a leg of my tripod...
RockyNH_RIP
Senior Member
Good Luck Brad, something I never tried so I will be of no real help.
Bikerbrent
Senior Member
Hey Brads, [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)]Fred Kingston[/COLOR] has really given you the best advice. The D7200 is one of the best Nikon cameras you can get at any money.