Extremely Sharp Photos? | Focus Stacking on the Sony A7R V or ANY Camera

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

What do you think, is focus stacking worth the effort? 😬

[@IAmAllThatIs]

The only reason I would change to the A7r4 or 5 it is because of the 64MP and focus stacking, though as it is just a firmware update that can surely be pushed on my A7iii I am not happy to have to sell it for a software update.

[@Dailykaleroy]

Sam, just getting into Macro and this is EXACTLY the video I've been looking for. Thank you, man.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

I enjoy your calm & clear explantion .. also. your channel is seriously underrated

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

Thanks for the feedback and for watching! It’s always helpful to understand what you like and don’t like so thank you 😀

[@wilderstreeeet]

Didn't want the video to end! You're up for more subscribers soon for sure :)

[@Huma1894]

I use focus stacking with my A7RV on just about all of my architectural images. I usually am using the incredibly sharp Sony 20mm f/1.8. And when shooting at f/4, and using Helicon Focus, the images are amazingly sharp. I find that with Helicon, the added time for the focus stacking is minimal and well worth it.

[@alonsogarrote8898]

So what would be the difference between focus stacking vs focus bracketing?

[@AllenTweed]

Focus bracketing is the process of taking multiple images at more than one focal plane. Focus stacking is the process of combining those images into a single image. Some cameras do auto bracketing, some do in camera stacking, some do both.

[@ciprianadrian21]

can focus stacking be used on portrait shots ?

[@Equalizer1618]

I was trying out my Sony A7RV with the 70-200 mm G F/4 OSS II lens to give macro photography a try to see if I really enjoy this genre before I make any investments in more macro gears.. I tried focus bracketing and set it as 2 with maximum shots at 70 and the camera keeps shooting till it reaches the maximum 70 shots. I was expecting it to stop shooting before it reaches 70 shots as it would have captured enough focussed images for focus stacking. I also tried testing it by setting it to 3 and then to 4, and also on both occasions, the camera also took up to 70 shots which I knew that for my just a flower image, the shots taken by the camera were far more than were required for focus stacking. Can you please how to resolve this issue? Any advice or help would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

[@cowabungacrypto]

Love this video, would this method be variable for taking Timelapse photos, or would post processing be too time intensive for a sequence of 300ish photos meant for Timelapse?

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

Oof… might be lots of processing work but completely doable! I think you would need to have a separate shutter release cable running the Timelapse, with the camera in Focus Bracketing mode. I would make sure the focus bracketing is saved in different folders, then the tough part would be processing each folder 1 by 1 (unless anyone else has bright ideas on how to batch process)? This would certainly be impactful for an epic scene! Let me know if you do it 🙌🏻

[@LEONARDOHANSEN]

Hi;-) The right name is Focus braketing, and afterwards you stagg them!

[@HiddenAges]

Hi, I shoot macro for insects, i am planning to shift to Sony gears. I have one question. Does focus stacking work with flash, I mean for every click the light from flash flash or not. and last does photo stacking work only on auto focus mode, I have macro lens (80mm, 2:1) from Venus optics which has manual focus. So will I be able to use it for focus stacking in manual mode setting. Thanks

[@patricksommers3090]

Liked the video - the best I've seen on this topic. Big Question, when doing focus stacking on landscape what do you set - Drive Mode, Focus Area, Metering, ISO. Also, do you use A, P, S or Manual? Nobody (including Sony) seems to address these questions. Thanks

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

Thanks for the big compliment! I’ll give you my best answer for what I typically do: Drive Mode - Focus Bracket (*as shown in the video) Focus Area - I typically set it to spot or expandable spot so I can select exactly the area that needs to be in focus for the first shot of the focus bracket. Since I set my focus bracketing from 0 -> infinity, that means I use the spot focus to select the closest part of the image I’ll want in focus (there’s examples in the video of this too) Metering - This is really scene dependent if you play with your metering modes. I don’t much, I just meter via the histogram and by what I see on the screen… just make sure the seen looks good and isn’t too bright or dark. ISO - I try to keep it as low as possible since the sensor will perform best at low ISOs, in this case the base is 100 I shoot manual most of the time but you can use any of the modes for focus bracketing without issue. Keep in mind whether your shutter speed is fast enough to capture any motion and your ISO is at a reasonably low level. Does this help?🤔

[@Music4Jesus7]

Are you from Houston?

[@jeffreyperez7731]

I have a new sony A7R5 body. Im a new sony A7 user. Im using a Sigma MC-11 to adapt canon aps-c lens. Im trying to perform focus stacking and getting the following error message, "invalid with this lens" error. The "step width" and the "number of shots" are also grayed out. I also get the error message "this function is currently disabled". I also used a canon prime lens and still get the same error message " invalid with this lens". I have also turned on/off aps-c mode and still get an error message. Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond.

[@carlospereda-masson4187]

It's probably that the Sony body cannot control the focus features of the Canon lens to allow for this function.

[@IAmAllThatIs]

This is not available on Sony a7iii right?

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

Unfortunately not :( basically every camera since the A7R V, I think.

[@IAmAllThatIs]

@@TheOtherSamMallory Yes it is a shame right, the A7iii is very capable. Can we raise a petition for it, I am sure every A7iii owner would gladly pay 10+usd to have Sony move their as*? That would be a first. Thumbs up if anyone else agrees

[@rndvideo64]

@@IAmAllThatIs You can do focus bracketing on older models with an app on your smartphone

[@IAmAllThatIs]

​@@rndvideo64With what kind of app is this?

[@rndvideo64]

@@IAmAllThatIs It's for Android, connects to your camera as a remote control. Look for "Alpha Focus Bracketing"

[@americandronecompanyllc4268]

I enjoyed your voice more than th e video. Great voice man.

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

Haha I guess I’ll keep yapping 😂 thanks for watching!

[@melikaataghvaei3449]

Am I thinking right? the higher f in photo stacking results in more sharpness.

[@Alan_Clark]

At f16 you will NOT get optimum sharpness because of diffraction, it is better to use a wide to medium aperture. Another advantage of wide apertures in close-up work is that you can throw the background more out of focus, which usually looks better (but you will need to stack more images).

[@MikeMinMacro]

Sony shooter here.. only the v has focus bracketing, and that is one expensive beast 😢

[@TheOtherSamMallory]

It’s a big bummer it’s not in all of their cameras… should be a simple firmware update!

[@bondgabebond4907]

Seems to be available on the A7CR and a6700.