Sony 12-24mm f/4 G @ 24mm: Single Frame Performance at f/11 vs Focus Stacking at f/11 (Downed Tree, Last Kiss of Sunlight)
See my Sony mirrorless wish list.
Focus stacking using Zerene Stacker. See my tutorial/how-to in Making Sharp Images.
See also Flowers Amid Bristlecones, which used the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM.
This 3-frame focus stack compares what is possible with a single frame at f/11 to a focus stack at f/11 using 3 frames. The difference in total sharpness is remarkable, especially since f/11 at 24mm might be expected to have good depth of field. As the single frame shows, no single frame is up to the job for an image like this.
Includes images up to full resolution. Also includes crops showing the stacked result versus , close/medium/far focus distance frames.
Focus stacking is a tool that should be mastered by any serious landscape photographers for any scene like this one, since depth of field can never be adequate for this extreme near-far composition. Focus stacking helps overcome three issues:
- Depth of field limitations.
- Field curvature.
- Lens asymmetry (focus not symmetric across the field).