Thinking of going Nikon

[Lou Jost]

Ray, both normal and and high res shots are done by a single full press of the shutter. When doing this via remote, like a WeMacro or Stackshot connector, I had to short out some contacts in the remote to make it work.

Lumoix Tether triggers the camera through USB with no problem.

[dhmiller]

Mac or PC? On the Mac, you can use Capture One, though that is somewhat overkill if all you are doing is tethering, You can also use Nikon's own Camera Control Pro, also for Windows. I think ControlMyNikon (Windows) would also be a good choice.

I've been shooting with my Canon HRT2i for quite some time, and eventually it's going to wear out and need replacing. I've tried to find a replacement while at same time improving resolution, and purchased a Pentax K3-II, a Sony A7Rm3, a Canon 5DSR, and Sony A7Rm4. None of these gave me the image quality I was seeking for various reasons as I have reported here on the forum over the years. I have recently seen some photos taken with a Nikon D850 and some with the Z7, and they look very good to me at pixel level, better than I generally see from the other cameras I tried. I'm thinking maybe the Nikon demosaicing, or sensors, or something may be superior and worth considering.

My current hardware setup requires USB-connected Live View tethering, and the ability to hardwire trigger from a mjkzz/WeMacro/StackShot interface. I also want EFSC (EFCS for Nikon) to enable continuous lighting, and no AA filter. Full electronic shutter would be nice, as would be mirrorless. FF would be preferred, but APS-C would be acceptable if other parameters were satisfied. As high a MP count as possible. I think the candidates are:

D810
D850
D500
D7500
Z7

I have a few questions for those who've used the above for macro:

- Are there other models which have both EFCS and no AA filter?
- Are there any odd things about these cameras that would affect functionality? For instance, I think some of the DSLRs (all?) need to be in MUP mode to activate EFCS. How is that accomplished during a stack? Is the first image lost?
- What is the best tethering program for Nikon? I would generally go toward CMN but if something else is better (and not too expensive) I'd consider it

Sorry if this info has been discussed before.

[chris_ma]

I should have been more precise about my complaint regarding compressed RAW files. Lossless compression is fine; like you, I'd appreciate that. But Panasonic and Sony do lossy compression on the RAWS! That's a sin in my book.

would be nice if they offered both option, but lossless usually only reduces file size by about a third, while panasonics version makes the file size about half of what would be possible with lossless.
so a 1:2 lossy compression should be possible with very few artifacts.

what's rather ironic is that if I ZIP a pixel shifted RAW, I can get another 15% reduction in file size which means their algorithm is not fully effective. then again compressing a 1GB file in camera quickly and on battery power is probably not an easy task.

chris

[edit: corrected TB to GB]

[Lou Jost]

It is hard to know if these lossy compression schemes do or don't produce artifacts, especially in non-typical applications like stacking. Sony's algorithm became famous as the "star-eater" and ruined some Sony cameras for astrophotography.

[svalley]

I shoot with a Nikon D810 on a Stackshot controlled be Zerene and also tethered to a PC.

I use ControlMyNikon for live view and setting controls on the camera. I hate this program! It will not display the full frame view when in Live View and the aperture and exposure comp. spontaneously change (thankfully not while shooting a stack).

[ray_parkhurst]

Thanks everyone for the inputs. More in-depth info than I had expected and I appreciate it. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a winner based on the total picture of camera + tethering + stacking.

What about the Z7?

A guy over on the coin photography forum on CCF uses a Z7 with good results. He apparently uses Capture One. I have not use it but would appreciate any comments on how well it works vs EOS utility.

[s58y]

...
What about the Z7?

A guy over on the coin photography forum on CCF uses a Z7 with good results. He apparently uses Capture One. I have not use it but would appreciate any comments on how well it works vs EOS utility.

I'm the guy over at CCF forums and just found my old ID here. I'd say that Capture One Plus the Z7 works as well as EOS utility and the Canon T6s. I think focusing is easier with the Z7, but white balance is easier with the Canon.

Of course, I don't do a lot of complex stacks using automated hardware that needs to communicate with the camera and Capture One.

[ray_parkhurst]

...
What about the Z7?

A guy over on the coin photography forum on CCF uses a Z7 with good results. He apparently uses Capture One. I have not use it but would appreciate any comments on how well it works vs EOS utility.

I'm the guy over at CCF forums and just found my old ID here. I'd say that Capture One Plus the Z7 works as well as EOS utility and the Canon T6s. I think focusing is easier with the Z7, but white balance is easier with the Canon.

Of course, I don't do a lot of complex stacks using automated hardware that needs to communicate with the camera and Capture One.

Thanks for adding to the discussion here. I think the only open question is if the Z7 can do wired trigger compatible with mjkzz/WeMacro/Stackshot. Anyone know?

Also, does Capture One run on Windows 7?

[Macro_Cosmos]

...
What about the Z7?

A guy over on the coin photography forum on CCF uses a Z7 with good results. He apparently uses Capture One. I have not use it but would appreciate any comments on how well it works vs EOS utility.

I'm the guy over at CCF forums and just found my old ID here. I'd say that Capture One Plus the Z7 works as well as EOS utility and the Canon T6s. I think focusing is easier with the Z7, but white balance is easier with the Canon.

Of course, I don't do a lot of complex stacks using automated hardware that needs to communicate with the camera and Capture One.

Thanks for adding to the discussion here. I think the only open question is if the Z7 can do wired trigger compatible with mjkzz/WeMacro/Stackshot. Anyone know?

Also, does Capture One run on Windows 7?

Yes, it does. You can see the supported systems here:
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us ... ng-system-

C1 is great, love it. They recently released Capture One 20 which reworks the finicky features of 12 (such as that silly crop tool being a pain to use) and added some small but convenient features. I'm likely going to stick with 12 though.

[ray_parkhurst]

Well, this was all a bit disappointing. No matter how good it is, Capture One is pretty expensive, and so far I still don't see an obvious replacement/upgrade for my current camera. Luckily it's still working, so the can continues to be kicked down the road...

[dhmiller]

I'v done thousands of shots with Control My Nikon and have never had any issues with spontaneously changing exposure/aperture. Have you mentioned this to the developer?

I shoot with a Nikon D810 on a Stackshot controlled be Zerene and also tethered to a PC.

I use ControlMyNikon for live view and setting controls on the camera. I hate this program! It will not display the full frame view when in Live View and the aperture and exposure comp. spontaneously change (thankfully not while shooting a stack).