In-camera stacking with D850 - looking for tips

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dhmiller
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In-camera stacking with D850 - looking for tips

Post by dhmiller »

I'd like to try some stacking using the D850's in-camera stacking feature and wonder if anyone has some tips - I'd like to use a 10x objective and assume I should use a step-width of 1 (the smallest value), the longest interval between shots (expressed as 3 or 5 fps), and the same (approximate) number of shots I would have used had I entered the step size into my Stackshot controller, as determined by the DoF of the objective. Can anyone confirm these settings and/or recommend others? Trial and error will be the order of the day. Thanks for any advice.

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Re: In-camera stacking with D850 - looking for tips

Post by rjlittlefield »

dhmiller wrote:...use a step-width of 1 (the smallest value) ... and the same (approximate) number of shots I would have used had I entered the step size into my Stackshot controller, as determined by the DoF of the objective.
You don't get to choose those things independently. Yes, for the same subject depth, you'll need the same number of shots with in-camera stacking as for stacking by rail. The appropriate setting for step size is whatever makes that happen.

I will be surprised if you need anything as small as 1. The reason is that the objective turns a physical small object into a virtual large object, and the minimum step size is seldom needed for large objects.

The required step size, in terms of shifting the focal plane at the sensor, is whatever you would need with a real large object, at the same effective aperture.

However, in terms of what size you need to set, that must be a matter for experimentation. I can easily imagine, for example, that Nikon changes the meaning of "step size 3" depending on the nominal setting of the aperture. But the objective will stop down the lens quite a bit, and the camera has no idea that has happened. So, any adjustments that are made by the camera based on nominal aperture will not have the result that the designers expected, when used with the objective.

Bottom line: experiment and take careful notes. Report back, please.

--Rik

mawyatt
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Post by mawyatt »

Don't think you can use the internal stacking with the D850 & an objective, the D850 requires the lens focus control I believe to change focus position

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dhmiller
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Post by dhmiller »

Ahhhh. That may be true. I do have the Laowa and might try that, or maybe it's time to try video.

dhmiller
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Post by dhmiller »

Thanks, Rik. Mike might have just put the kibosh on the idea.. Need to give this some thought...

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Post by rjlittlefield »

I assumed that you were talking about using internal focus on a telephoto positioned behind the objective as a tube lens.

Within limits, that approach works fine. See for example my post on "AF motor focusing with a microscope objective", HERE.

--Rik

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