Why Lens Performance Matters for Focus Stacking

2016-10-15 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: Eastern Sierra, focus stacking, focusing, Sigma, Sigma 24-35mm, Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art, Sigma DG HSM Art, Sigma Lenses, Yosemite

Get Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art at B&H Photo.

I’ve found that for focus stacking, world-class lens performance saves me a lot of time:

Why Lens Performance Matters for Focus Stacking

It is my view that my touchup work in the example that follows would have been made easier by a world-class lens like the Zeiss Otus 28mm f/1.4 APO-Distagon, for the reasons I discuss.

This 3-frame focus stack in Making Sharp Images shows performance at f/9 with a single frame versus the focus stack for comparison. It is an excellent example of when focus stacking is beneficial, but perhaps only for a large print.

Example: 3-Frame Stack (Warm and Cool Aspen, Nikon D810)

Images up to 28 megapixels, with large crops.

f9 @ 1/5 sec focus stack 3 frames, ISO 64; 2016-10-02 08:51:32
NIKON D810 + Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art @ 24mm

[low-res image for bot]