How to Use Focus Shift (Stack) with Nikon Z 9, Z 8, Z 7, Z 6

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In this video I walk you through how I used Nikon Z 9's Focus Shift feature to create 50 images of a house fly. I take all those images into Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to create the resulting image that is sharp throughout the entire fly.
It's a great feature of the camera that really lets you in on all the details.
Filmed on Nikon Z 8 with Z 24-120mm f/4
Photos taken with Nikon Z 9 and Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Micro lens
Lighting: Nanlite FS-300B
Microphone: Sennheiser MKE 600
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Focus stack setup
1:19 - Lighting explanation
2:56 - Minimum Focus Distance
3:38 - Pre-focusing explanation
4:24 - Pre-focusing demonstration
5:58 - Focus Shift menu demonstration
8:35 - Camera Settings
9:10 - Inside Adobe Lightroom
9:45 - Inside Adobe Photoshop
12:01 - Focus-stacked images
12:23 - Outro

Опубликовано:

30 июл 2023

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Комментарии : 59

@patricklindahl868 11 месяцев назад

The incremental value of the focus shift between each photo varies very much between what lens you are using. Your lens, Z MC105mm, make very small increment steps, while if you would use a Z 24-200mm (set to 105 mm) and using the same focus step width , the focus point is shifting in about 4-5 greater steps. In your case (with the Z MC 105 lens) you could easily had set it to 4, while using the zoom lens setting 1 is required to reach the the same end focusing point after 50 shots.

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

Yes that’s true. Great point. There’s no one sure way to figure out what the best step width is for every lens (as far as I’m concerned) so it’s a matter of trial and error to see if your results are to your liking. If not, try with another setting.

@patricklindahl868 11 месяцев назад

@@taku_kumabe There's one rule of thumb: Expensive lens and macros: small steps, "cheaper" lenses: greater steps! I have compared Z 24-70 f4, 24-200, 70-200, 105 and one F-mount 60mm f2,8. The first two makes greater steps, and the last three makes small steps. If this has any impact on more accurate focusing, having 3-4 as many steps, I have no clue. I haven't figured out any way to test this.

@hans6304 11 месяцев назад

Thank you gents for the info.

@georgedavall9449 9 месяцев назад

Excellent

@davidwilliamhay 4 месяца назад

Nicely done! Thank you so much!

@randyschwager2515 5 месяцев назад

Great info! Thanks!

@kellaslowery8426 10 месяцев назад

This is so cool. I hope you channel grows

@taku_kumabe 9 месяцев назад

Thank you kindly for that! Much appreciated!

@georgedavall9449 9 месяцев назад

Simply Masterful! Very informative and the way you edited in the ‘cartoon fly’ and brushed it away, very nice. It always adds to the value and enjoyment, when watching a well produced video presentation! I would venture it is the software causing the ‘blurred’ areas, but just my thoughts. Happy Shooting!

@taku_kumabe 9 месяцев назад

Many thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated.

@samcarter4681 6 месяцев назад

Thanks. Great stuff. Next skill set to develop for me. One correction. Focus distance is measured from subject to film plane/sensor plane. Located at the top of cameras is a circle with a line running through it. That is the sensor/film plane to aid in manually measuring and setting the lens focus. Still... great information and again, thank you.

@taku_kumabe 6 месяцев назад

Thanks Sam. You are correct about the sensor plane and I had thought I corrected myself about that but it looks like I never did. My bad. Cheers!

@alphat4551 11 месяцев назад

Well done! Thank you.

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

Thanks for dropping by and watching!

@ericerickson6537 Месяц назад

Excellent

@sekaf4125 11 месяцев назад

Well done.. I have the Z8 and learning how, just upgraded from D850

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

Thanks very much!

@V1ZFN 3 месяца назад

Gotta try that

@michaelmckeag960 11 месяцев назад

Editing the stacking errors in Photoshop is a tedious chore, but the experience does provide motivation for investing in a dedicated macro stacking application such as Zerene Stacker.

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

True. But the amount of editing varies I would think based on the subject and step used. I haven’t used that program but sounds interesting!

@miguek412123 День назад

Hola, me gustaría hacer esomismo con mi Nikon, pero mucho mas de cerca, pero veo que es difícil enfocar en auto, con los tubos de extension, claro en el modo de Focus stacking.

@taku_kumabe День назад

Hello! If you know what the minimum focus distance is for your extension tube setup, then the auto focus should be no problem. Just keep moving back with the focus point set to the closest part of the subject to the lens. That should be the closest you can go with your setup.

@MarioKilian 9 месяцев назад

Perfect Video, the only issue is i dont have Photoshop or Lightroom. 😆, but at least now i know how to do it. Thank you.

@taku_kumabe 9 месяцев назад

You’re very welcome!

@davecostello8537 Месяц назад

I believe you can use the Nikon software to process the stack.

@torbjornwiken 2 месяца назад

Great video! For editing i highly recommend Helicon Focus stacking software, It is far more accurate then Photoshop and can save a lot of time :)

@taku_kumabe 2 месяца назад

I've heard of that but haven't had the chance to try it out yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

@bosco1234 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for the tutorial! :) Got a question. Since Z9 is free of mechanical shutter, there won't be any vibration at all. Will you consider shooting at a higher aperture (F16), lower ISO at base 64, and adjusting the shutter speed to the correct exposure? From my rough calculation, your shutter speed will need to compensate for another 3.3 stops, which means about 1/8 of a second per shot, which doesn't seem like an time issue while waiting, since 50 shots should be over in a while? I've got a Z8 now, learnt how to shoot using D850 years ago, but I needed a revision. Seeing what I can learn from online!

@taku_kumabe 8 месяцев назад

It doesn't hurt at all what you're suggesting. You might end up using larger steps with a higher aperture, that's all. Just make sure to not move the camera during the exposure, especially if you're doing this outside.

@Ritopecki 3 месяца назад

Thanks ❤

@taku_kumabe 2 месяца назад

You're welcome 😊

@sharonhaasbroek7464 9 месяцев назад

Thanks

@taku_kumabe 9 месяцев назад

No problem!

@lizkiddle2591 6 месяцев назад

Really useful, thanks. Please can I ask a technical question? I’ve just brought the 105mm lens, to use on a z8, a beginner at macro. I’m struggling to get objects as small as a fly to fill the frame and have any part of them in focus, either in MF or AF. Had you cropped the photos before combining them? I feel like there’s something obvious I’m doing wrong, but no idea what…..

@taku_kumabe 6 месяцев назад

Hi! Yes, these were cropped. I mentioned in the video that all lenses will have a minimum focus distance, which is the closest distance a lens can get to a subject before not being able to focus on it anymore. The 105mm lens you have has a minimum focus distance of 0.29m from focal plane (indicated on the body of your camera with a circle and line going through it). This means you can't have your camera any closer to the subject than 0.29m, otherwise you won't be able to focus properly. I hope that helps!

@deepotterphotography6228 11 месяцев назад

Great stuff, Taku! It’s a shame after all this that you’re left with small details that aren’t in focus. I’ve not used the focus stacking feature on the Z9 for macro, but I have for landscapes with mixed results like yours. So, I have to wonder about which element of the process is at fault for the blurred areas: the camera or Photoshop. I’ve always suspected the latter.

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

Excellent question and I would presume the latter as well. I did try and find properly focused areas on another layer and found them so that leads me to believe Photoshop had some difficulty analyzing the details. This might be less obvious on a landscape image though, thankfully.

@helmag.3520 10 месяцев назад

First of all, thank you for this clearly structured video. Regarding the blurred details, a comparison with Helicon Focus might provide some information. Many macro photographers use this special software. About the Z9/8: unfortunately, focus stacking cannot be used with burst mode, although the AF would be fast enough. What a great update it would be 🎉 to be able to stack freehand...

@gailbarsh2997 4 месяца назад

Do you use Manual exposure mode or Aperature priority for focus stacking? Does it make a difference?

@taku_kumabe 4 месяца назад

I would use manual exposure so you have full control of all settings. You don't want the camera to be changing your shutter speed on you in Aperture mode. This way you will know exactly what exposure you are getting for every single image.

@gailbarsh2997 4 месяца назад

@@taku_kumabe Thank you!

@amaimani 11 месяцев назад

The minimum focus distance on the lens is 0.29 as I can read it on my lens. Please verify

@taku_kumabe 11 месяцев назад

Yes that is correct. I wrote that in the video captions. 👍

@rachelhusband9890 5 месяцев назад

Does it take the 50 shots all at once, or do you have to press the shutter 50 times? (presuming you've set it to 50 shots). Hoping you just press it the once and it does the rest for you. Thanks

@taku_kumabe 4 месяца назад

When you press the shutter button, it will take 50 shots automatically based on the interval you set it to in the settings.

@rachelhusband9890 4 месяца назад

@@taku_kumabeThats weird. I can't take them from the shutter button. I can only do it by going into the Focus stacking set up screen and pressing 'START' on the menu screen. Not a problem as have to enable it anyway so I'm in that screen but does make me wonder why the shutter doesn't work (or i couldn't get it to). Either way it works now and its a very cool function. Also followed the rest of your video, auto stacking in PS and auto align and that worked perfectly.

@victorb4774 12 дней назад

How do I use focus shift on a Z8 or Z9 with less than a 1second delay?

@taku_kumabe 11 дней назад

Are you referring to an exposure delay?

@hiboostsupra5965 9 месяцев назад

Isn't the min focus distance measured from the plane of the image sensor, not the front of the lens? I've been able to focus my 105 much closer than 11" from the end of the lens.

@taku_kumabe 9 месяцев назад

Yes it is. My measurement was a bit off in this case which I corrected on the video with some text…admittedly I should have written from sensor plane at that time. Cheers.

@hiboostsupra5965 9 месяцев назад

All good, thanks for the response and the helpful video!

@gordonl8171 6 месяцев назад

How did you save the finial image?

@taku_kumabe 6 месяцев назад

You have to bring those images into Photoshop or another graphics program to combine them. Photoshop will do it automatically for you, which makes things easier.