Hi Peter, thanks for the video. I just bought the 7r5 and I’m about to shoot a watch for a client using Focus Bracketing. Another thing I wanted to let you know is that you can export and open directly to Helicon Focus from C1Pro. Just select Helicon instead of Photoshop when exporting and Viola! It will open Helicon with all the images imported. ;)
I'm glad you found this video helpful. Thanks for reminding me about the open in feature. It's something I don't use often because it converts everything to a DNG then round-trips it back, which is normally great. I like to have each layer exported with the final stacked images so that I can use the single layers to help fix any imperfections in Photoshop. Good luck photographing the watch.
Helicon Remote controls the camera and moves the focus points automatically if your camera doesn’t have built-in focus stacking, like the Sony A7rV or the Canon R5. If your camera has built-in focus stacking, then you only need Helicon Focus, which will combine the already captured photos. If your camera doesn’t have focus stacking, then you will need Helicon Remote to capture and Helicon Focus to combine the images.
@@peter_belanger Oooh, thanks for that! Now this makes a whole lot of sense. Does the remote work with Capture One or does Helicon remote work independently?
@@NAJCaptured Helicon Remote works independently, but you can have the images saved to the same folder as your Capture One session. There is a plug-in for Capture One that will send your selected images over to Helicon Focus to be combined.
Peter, does it work good "on the field" ? lets say taking the butterfly on the flower? or only at the studio on a tripod? All the tests I see are done at the studio.
It only works when you have zero movement, so that's why it's mostly used in the studio. If the butterfly and the flower have no movement there's a slight chance it could work, but I wouldn't bet on it. A tripod is a must. I've seen photographers who have had luck with landscapes, they manual fix any movement in tress or bushes.
Hello in this video when you pressed the button to photograph strobe fired only once and t clicked allnthe images in one go? or did you skip the several firing part. I am a beginner to stacking
Great question. I edited out all the captures, maybe I should have left them in. I only showed the first capture, but the strobe did go off for each of the 36 photos that I took.
Does the A7RV allow a speedlite flash on the hot shoe to fire when focus bracketing? If so it would be an interesting camera for insect photography with the 61mp sensor and the 90mm macro, especially for being able to crop in so much.
I've tested a Profoto A1X on camera flash and it works fine. In theory, it should fire any compatible brand flash that is in the hot shoe. I use a transmitter that has a generic connection and that works, so a generic flash that doesn't have TTL should technically work. Hope this was helpful.
@@peter_belanger Oh brilliant thanks for testing it and replying so quickly. That is useful to know. After investigating further I think maybe the buffer might be the only limiting factor with this camera for long insect macro stacks with uncompressed raws
@@Iain_M84 The things I capture don’t move, so I can capture slower without filling the camera buffer. I also normally add a delay between each capture to allow the flash to fully charge. A speedlite does have a faster recycle time, so that's probably not a factor for you. Good luck with your images.
That is a great question. From my experience, it would depend on how macro of a photo it is. The closer you are, the more focus breathing will affect your photo stacking. I expect that I will lose some of the photos edge do to Focus Breathing, so I crop with that in mind. The part that is harder to fix, is the ghosting which happens when stacking the photos due to perspective change. The quick answer is having the correct lens is important in making a flawless photo stack that works on the first try. That being said, I’ve used a wide variety of lenses that aren't good for focus stacking, and I have made them work. Granted, they require more post-production.
I am using A7RV with Broncolor Scoros & Pulso G heads. When using focus bracketing, i encountered white balance issue. The first frame stays normal, however, from the second frame onwards, there is a huge white balance shift towards the warm side (and it stay consistently warm until the last frame). Anyone encountering this issue when using studio flash? Anyways to fix this problem? Thank you!
I’m sure you have checked this, but make sure you don’t have auto-white balance on. Also on the Broncolor packs, make sure you don’t have fast flash speed mode on.
@@peter_belanger according to manual, it says “focus bracketing is available with compatible speedlites, and with non-Canon flash units fired via the sync terminal.” Can i use it with Broncolor strobes via Broncolor flash trigger ? Thank you
@@blackeaglezee4645 I use Profoto lights, and it works. I can test it Monday when I get to the studio and let you know. If you're using a generic flash trigger that isn't specific to any brand, there's no reason it shouldn't work. It just has one function, and that's to trigger the flash. It's not like you're trying to use TTL or any other advanced features.
@@peter_belanger actually i have a Canon R6 and it works with Broncolor flash trigger (Canon) but i have no experience with focus bracketing with flash on R6 :) I think R5 Mark ii will work too but when i see at manual for focus bracketing i got doubt
I have a Broncolor RFS ( generic, not Canon ) transmitter that I put in the hot shoe of the Canon R5 MKII, and I was able to focus bracket with only strobe. The only problem I ran into was that the Broncolor transmitter had trouble fitting into the new Canon smart hot shoe. I had to mount the Broncolor transmitter backwards, and it worked fine.
ZereneStacker is a great option to use. I picked Helicon because it's much faster at stacking the images. I have also found that on occasion ZereneStacker changed the lighting of the stacked image, such as taking down highlights in gradations or making a shadow a little darker. No software is perfect, that's why I have more than one, but Helicon is my go to until a stack doesn't work. Helicon is also an Industry standard, so if I'm working with an assistant or a digital tech, they are more likely to know Helicon than ZereneStacker.
The Sony A7r5 Does not have built in focus stacking, only focus bracketing. The Olympus/OMD Cameras such as the EM1 MkIII has in body focus stacking and bracketing (Built in) Most other camera brands have had focus bracketing for a long time. Sony is late to the game, I wish they would have put it on my old A7r3.
I wish that too. I am glad I didnt upgrade from r3 to r4 and waited a bit more.. I was really jealous for Canon, Nikon and Olympus users to have this possibility. I was hoping Sony wouldnt be so sluggish to add this feature to their cameras. I really would prefer to have focus bracketing than ShiftPixel in r3. Well, planning to get r5 and keep r3 as the backup.
I have the original A7r IV with firmware 1.20 and I'm not aware of any internal focus stacking. Let me know where in the menu you see it. What I'm doing is focus stacking, which is what you do when you combine several focus points together to create one sharp image.
Hi Peter, thanks for the video. I just bought the 7r5 and I’m about to shoot a watch for a client using Focus Bracketing. Another thing I wanted to let you know is that you can export and open directly to Helicon Focus from C1Pro. Just select Helicon instead of Photoshop when exporting and Viola! It will open Helicon with all the images imported. ;)
I'm glad you found this video helpful. Thanks for reminding me about the open in feature. It's something I don't use often because it converts everything to a DNG then round-trips it back, which is normally great. I like to have each layer exported with the final stacked images so that I can use the single layers to help fix any imperfections in Photoshop. Good luck photographing the watch.
Fantastic video & great insights! I've done that years back manually for pictures of jewelry, but I've never seen a pro do it. Thanks!
Jewelry is a perfect use for focus stacking. Thanks for the comment.
This is really informative! What's the difference between Helicon Focus or Helicon remote?
Helicon Remote controls the camera and moves the focus points automatically if your camera doesn’t have built-in focus stacking, like the Sony A7rV or the Canon R5. If your camera has built-in focus stacking, then you only need Helicon Focus, which will combine the already captured photos. If your camera doesn’t have focus stacking, then you will need Helicon Remote to capture and Helicon Focus to combine the images.
@@peter_belanger Oooh, thanks for that! Now this makes a whole lot of sense. Does the remote work with Capture One or does Helicon remote work independently?
@@NAJCaptured Helicon Remote works independently, but you can have the images saved to the same folder as your Capture One session. There is a plug-in for Capture One that will send your selected images over to Helicon Focus to be combined.
Thanks! @@peter_belanger what's the name of the plug-in?
@@NAJCaptured It's made by Helicon. Here is the link. www.heliconsoft.com/capture-one-plugin/
Peter, does it work good "on the field" ? lets say taking the butterfly on the flower? or only at the studio on a tripod? All the tests I see are done at the studio.
It only works when you have zero movement, so that's why it's mostly used in the studio. If the butterfly and the flower have no movement there's a slight chance it could work, but I wouldn't bet on it. A tripod is a must. I've seen photographers who have had luck with landscapes, they manual fix any movement in tress or bushes.
yes it can be done :)
Hello in this video when you pressed the button to photograph strobe fired only once and t clicked allnthe images in one go? or did you skip the several firing part. I am a beginner to stacking
Great question. I edited out all the captures, maybe I should have left them in. I only showed the first capture, but the strobe did go off for each of the 36 photos that I took.
Nicely done 👏👏👏
Does the A7RV allow a speedlite flash on the hot shoe to fire when focus bracketing? If so it would be an interesting camera for insect photography with the 61mp sensor and the 90mm macro, especially for being able to crop in so much.
I've tested a Profoto A1X on camera flash and it works fine. In theory, it should fire any compatible brand flash that is in the hot shoe. I use a transmitter that has a generic connection and that works, so a generic flash that doesn't have TTL should technically work. Hope this was helpful.
@@peter_belanger Oh brilliant thanks for testing it and replying so quickly. That is useful to know. After investigating further I think maybe the buffer might be the only limiting factor with this camera for long insect macro stacks with uncompressed raws
@@Iain_M84 The things I capture don’t move, so I can capture slower without filling the camera buffer. I also normally add a delay between each capture to allow the flash to fully charge. A speedlite does have a faster recycle time, so that's probably not a factor for you. Good luck with your images.
@@peter_belanger Thanks Peter. All the best
Спасибо! 👍
Thanks!
How important would correct lens selection be, given that many lenses (macros, in particular) are subject to focus breathing?
That is a great question. From my experience, it would depend on how macro of a photo it is. The closer you are, the more focus breathing will affect your photo stacking. I expect that I will lose some of the photos edge do to Focus Breathing, so I crop with that in mind. The part that is harder to fix, is the ghosting which happens when stacking the photos due to perspective change. The quick answer is having the correct lens is important in making a flawless photo stack that works on the first try. That being said, I’ve used a wide variety of lenses that aren't good for focus stacking, and I have made them work. Granted, they require more post-production.
Muchas gracias
Thanks for this tutorial! Does anyone know the equivalent workflow in Lightroom?
You'll want to do this in Photoshop.
I just posted a video on a Lightroom workflow. th-cam.com/video/ywYz8G-k57o/w-d-xo.html
I am using A7RV with Broncolor Scoros & Pulso G heads.
When using focus bracketing, i encountered white balance issue.
The first frame stays normal, however, from the second frame onwards, there is a huge white balance shift towards the warm side (and it stay consistently warm until the last frame).
Anyone encountering this issue when using studio flash? Anyways to fix this problem? Thank you!
I’m sure you have checked this, but make sure you don’t have auto-white balance on. Also on the Broncolor packs, make sure you don’t have fast flash speed mode on.
thank you, is this system as same as Canon R5 Mark ii ?
Now the Canon R5 MK II can use flash/strobe, so it would be a similar concept.
@@peter_belanger according to manual, it says “focus bracketing is available with compatible speedlites, and with non-Canon flash units fired via the sync terminal.” Can i use it with Broncolor strobes via Broncolor flash trigger ? Thank you
@@blackeaglezee4645 I use Profoto lights, and it works. I can test it Monday when I get to the studio and let you know. If you're using a generic flash trigger that isn't specific to any brand, there's no reason it shouldn't work. It just has one function, and that's to trigger the flash. It's not like you're trying to use TTL or any other advanced features.
@@peter_belanger actually i have a Canon R6 and it works with Broncolor flash trigger (Canon) but i have no experience with focus bracketing with flash on R6 :) I think R5 Mark ii will work too but when i see at manual for focus bracketing i got doubt
I have a Broncolor RFS ( generic, not Canon ) transmitter that I put in the hot shoe of the Canon R5 MKII, and I was able to focus bracket with only strobe. The only problem I ran into was that the Broncolor transmitter had trouble fitting into the new Canon smart hot shoe. I had to mount the Broncolor transmitter backwards, and it worked fine.
Why do you prefer Helicon over Zerene?
ZereneStacker is a great option to use. I picked Helicon because it's much faster at stacking the images. I have also found that on occasion ZereneStacker changed the lighting of the stacked image, such as taking down highlights in gradations or making a shadow a little darker. No software is perfect, that's why I have more than one, but Helicon is my go to until a stack doesn't work. Helicon is also an Industry standard, so if I'm working with an assistant or a digital tech, they are more likely to know Helicon than ZereneStacker.
The Sony A7r5 Does not have built in focus stacking, only focus bracketing. The Olympus/OMD Cameras such as the EM1 MkIII has in body focus stacking and bracketing (Built in) Most other camera brands have had focus bracketing for a long time. Sony is late to the game, I wish they would have put it on my old A7r3.
Thanks for your comment. You can call it what you want, but the new "Focus Bracketing" that Sony added can absolutely be use for focus stacking.
I wish that too. I am glad I didnt upgrade from r3 to r4 and waited a bit more.. I was really jealous for Canon, Nikon and Olympus users to have this possibility. I was hoping Sony wouldnt be so sluggish to add this feature to their cameras. I really would prefer to have focus bracketing than ShiftPixel in r3. Well, planning to get r5 and keep r3 as the backup.
Finally Sony decided to add this option.. Canon, Olympus had it for years already..
Yea, my Phase One camera has had it for a long time as well, I'm happy to see it on add to the Sony lineup.
This is not focus stacking, this is focus bracketing. And it was already there from a7r IV.
I have the original A7r IV with firmware 1.20 and I'm not aware of any internal focus stacking. Let me know where in the menu you see it. What I'm doing is focus stacking, which is what you do when you combine several focus points together to create one sharp image.