September 12, 2012 magic lantern is an open gpl framework for developing enhancements to the amazing canon 5d mark ii and 550dt2i digital slrs. Focus stacking is a feature that macro photographers will love and is a great feature from magic lantern. Mar 04, 20 magic lantern is by far the best thing to happen to the dslr cameras. One thing it can do is to control auto focus lenses so that you can shoot a focus stack very precisely through a graphical user interface on your computer. For the following tutorial i will be using an insect as my subject. Focus stacking corel photopaint x5 coreldraw graphics. Our canon and nikon friends can use the existing open source and free magic lantern software to provide a powerful remote control interface which happens to include includes focus stacking. Magic lantern successfully tested on 5d mark iv eoshd. Focus stacking is the technique of stacking or blending a number of images that have been focussed at different points throughout a scene to give a final image that contains the sharpest portions of the originals, seamlessly blended into one. Other thirdparty software also exists for zerene stacker or other focus stacking software controlmynikon. Using magic lantern to step focus on canon dslr magic lantern is a free and open source firmware addon that extends the functionality of many canon dslrs to provide automatic acquisition of focus stacks by controlling the motor inside automatic focus lenses. Magic lantern is a free software addon that runs from the sdcf card and adds a host of new features to canon eos cameras that werent included from the factory by canon. It works best with the camera on a tripod, and you do have to do the following steps.
It is not a hack, or a modified firmware, but it runs alongside canons own firmware, booting from the card every time you turn the camera on. Posted by jim denham in featured photo, magic lantern, tutorials 24 comments. When enabled this will examine the image and write an. As i have discussed ml in some detail in previous posts, i wont bore you by repeating all that stuff again. I tried out jons extension tubes while on holiday in south africa last month, and of course that got me back onto focus stacking. Best focus stacking software helicon focus vs photoshop.
Has been using internal focus bracketing with my 6d and 7d together with magic lantern. Obviously there is external software plus motorised macro rails that can do this. Obtain an insect of your choice in a container and put it in a killing jar or use your freezer to do the job. It can even overcome the otherwise unavoidable sharpness loss from diffraction. By enabling follow focus, you are free to set the start and endpoints of where you want your lens to focus over a sequence. Maybe a special note should be added for magic lantern software, something that is installable on various canon dslrs. The firmware hack work is in part aiming to open up an. It took a bit of studying to get it working correctly and found a few usability issues that are being report to ml but it makes focus stacking orders of magnitude faster than doing it manually.
With follow focus and rack focus, the camera always misses the focus point i set. What is magic lantern and how can i use it on my nikon d7000 or d300. However, with focus stacking, images are captured with different focus points, and later combined in photoshop, to create an image with more dof than would be possible with a single exposure. Focusing rails are typically adjusted by rotating a screw on which the camera platform sits or otherwise the platform freely slides along the rails until clamped into position with markings provided to make precise interval shooting. Im just wondering what alternatives are available right now i have never done focus bracketing stacking but recognize its value for macro. The developers are looking for volunteers to install it on their cameras and help with the research and testing process. This mounts the entire camera on a rail attached to a tripod and the rail allows the entire camera to slide forwardbackward my rail has about 11 cm worth of travel.
Initial demonstration of a slow, smooth rack focus using the magic lantern firmware. I installed ml on my 60d a few weeks ago but am having trouble figuring out the focus stacking, mainly in relation to setting the start end points. Magic lantern unleash your cameras full potential for free. I was particularly interested in focus stacking because i sometimes like to take pictures of very small things. Macro photography focus stacking tutorial seeing in macro. Magic lantern for hdr extending your cameras bracketing capabilities.
The emulation guide also covers initial firmware analysis and has some reverse engineering tips. The basic principle is that you first make sure all the pictures are. Both helicon soft and zerene stacker offer 30day evaluation versions, they can be downloaded here. I suspect that it is only a matter of time that a form of focus stacking will be present in most digital cameras, as its such an obvious thing to do. With focus bracketing, you can use a computer software to do focus. A tutorial on how to create a focus stacked image using magic lantern for canon dslrs including a brief overview of a post production. Maybe you havent heard about it, but there is a way to pimp your canon camera firmware with magic lantern and get new features for free what is magic lantern and how does it work. The usual risks apply, if not more so as this is in such an early proof of concept stage with the aim to discover and reverse engineer camera functions. Most notable of these are zerene stacker and helicon focus. Focus stacking also known as focal plane merging and z stacking or focus blending is a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of field dof than any of the individual source images. Aug 28, 2014 i am looking to explore focus stacking for close up marco work.
For trial software use either zerene stacker or helicon focus. Both of these packages have easy tools to retouch the final image when. Focus stacking and exposure stacking are basically requisites in the modern camera for people that know how they work. Magic lantern hack software which does focus stacking i think is still not available fully functioning for the 5d4.
Press updown arrows to select stack focus, then press live view. If you are interested in focusstacking specifically for macro photogoraphy, the common solution is to use a focus rail. Starting out with focus stacking isnt hard, can be done at any time and doesnt need to be expensive. I am switching over to fuji x system and was wondering if anyone is using mirrorless cameras. Focus stacking walkthrough 1 the focus stacking workflow 2 how to prepare a focus stack.
For you canon users, magic lantern might be worth a look, as it will help you take focus bracketed shots to be able to make stacks with them. Extreme macro software focus stacking and post processing. Focus stacking is a technique that will give your macro shots much sharper focus. Magic lantern focus stacking tutorial with post production in lr4. Magic lantern is a custom firmware addon for canon dslr cameras. May 29, 2016 the toughest thing about focus stacking in the field is dealing with changing conditions such as wind, rain and light. Clicking on run focus stack starts the process, giving you a sequence to work within adobe. This manual is designed to be a laymans introduction to magic lantern release no.
Using magic lantern to step focus on canon dslr zerene stacker. Some cameras come with an internal focus stacking function, which allows you to define a start and endpoint of your stack and the amount of images you want it to take. And if you focus back and forth a lot it drifts further and further. Some people use burst mode on cameras and simply move. Is there a way to make my canon dslr bracket focus. If only other brands like pentax were this enlightened. When wind is an issue i always run through at least two or three focus stacking progressions to ensure that i have a sharp frame at each focus point.
The system is inexpensive compared to highend commercial focus stacking solutions. If anyone could recommend software and or tutorials i would be grateful. Beginners guide to focus stacking for macro photography. Comment on the forum magic lantern proof of concept code is running on the 5d mark iv. In this manuscript we present a focus stacking system, composed of commercial photographic equipment. Focus stacking is commonly used in various forms of photography but is most known within the genres of landscape and macro photography. Q about focus bracketing macro talk in photographyon. Magic lantern for hdr extending your cameras bracketing. Finally got some time to play with focus stacking with magic lantern. We tested this system and compared the results with several different software packages combinezp, automontage, helicon focus and zerene stacker. How to unlock canon camera features with magic lantern.
Feb 04, 2014 my first try with focus stacking using magic lantern, take a look on the results. Then you can use helicon focus to blend all the sharp areas together and produce a completely sharp image. Magic lantern has many other features and can be difficult to learn, so were providing here a quick recipe for how to use just the focus stacking feature. Using magic lantern with focus peaking for freelensing. Using canon eos utility to step focus canon eos utility is camera support software that comes bundled with every canon dslr. When activated using live view, a focus box shows up on the lcd screen at the magnification you select. If you cannot find a firmware dumper, feel free to ask. Its available as both standalone and as a plugin filter for ps. The magic zoom feature can be set up to function is several different ways.
The current build of magic lantern includes a deflickering module. Aug 12, 2017 in looking for software to stack images i found that adobe photoshop cs6 to cc2017, helicon focus and zerene stacker appear to be popular programs for image stacking all of these are commercial products, but the nice thing is that they all offer 30 free trial where you can test the software. Generally there are two forms of stacking that you might use for different reasons. A glass bowl full of coffee capsules and a couple of metal cups with stirrers. Canon 5d mark iii, canon 5d classic, canon 1100dt3 users guide. Canon has introduced focus bracketing with eos rp, but you will need to stack the images in dpp4 or another software. Although i do have some experience with photography and post production, i have no experience with focus stacking so the easier the better. Jun 16, 2015 as i have discussed ml in some detail in previous posts, i wont bore you by repeating all that stuff again. The magic lantern software has always been opensource and free for all to use. I dont want to have to look to something like the arsenal camera assistant to get a second hand, slower access to these features.
As good as dslrs are these days, they have yet to make one that does everything a photographer might want it to do. Fixed focus, variable camera position a perennial favorite for macro shooters is the use of a focusing rail to move the camera forwardbackward at set intervals. How to get sharp macro shots with focus stacking cnet. Magic lantern follow focus video production stack exchange. Open source and free, magic lantern software for canon cameras enables incamera stacking. Magic lantern was originally written for the canon eos 5d mark ii by trammell hudson in 2009 after he reverse engineered its firmware. All you need to start focus stacking is a digital camera, a stage, a flash, your tripod, the right software for stacking and a good sprinkling of patience. Could this be the optimum focus stacking technique. Wait for live view image to stabilize with magic lantern notations under. These log files can be used to see how well the ramping went and to finetune the algorithm. Canon eos utility is camera support software that comes bundled with every canon dslr. Helicon focus and focus stacking helicon soft website.
Focus stacking is a powerful technique for extending a photos apparent depth of field. Sometimes its just one or two movements too far but its always too many. In fact, focus stacking is the poor mans entrance into the world of high quality macrophotography. Magic lantern canon eos 750d, magic latern canon eos 750d. The focus stacking is not intuitive, but if you spend some time with it, it is good. However, focus stacking must take place in external software. Of course i can focus somewhere in the middle and stop down to maybe 16 and get most of it sharp wideanglebut it wont be as sharp as with focus stacking. Deflicker images for focus stacking with magic lantern and. If i were doing a lot of macro focus stacking i would break out the 5diii over the iv just for magic lantern. I wish there was a program that allowed incamera bracket and fusion. Magic lantern is a free and open source firmware addon that extends the functionality of many canon dslrs to provide automatic acquisition of focus stacks by controlling the motor inside automatic focus lenses.
There are several possibilities including helicon focus, zerene stacker, photoshop, or combine zm. When you use bulb ramping, magic lantern will save a log file with the exposure parameters, metered values and so on. Magic lantern is a firmware addon that runs on top of your cameras. Focus stacking is an intermediate photography technique that combines the use of a camera and a postprocessing software such as adobe photoshop. Cant help with ml settings but for focus stacking software. Canon 5d mark ii, 550d, 60d, 600d, 50d and 500d ports in progress.
Focus stacking comparing photoshop, helicon and zerene by. Focus stacking lets you take several photos of a landscape, focused at different points, and combine them together into the sharpest possible image. Fixing dof with focus stacking merging by ps vs merging by hand. This process cannot be done incamera and probably most of us would not want to wait. To use this technique, you take several images of the same scene, focusing your lens on a different part of the object for each shot.
Is there a way to make my canon dslr bracket focus automatically. Magic lantern has a step focus feature in it designed for folks who do a lot of focus bracketing for stacking purposes. Youtube video video from ted kinsman and his students at rit on how to use stackshot for focus stacking. This feature allows you to select a magnification of 1. Ill also assume you are a magic lantern user and familiar with the power of ml. All of the images captured by focus bracketing are stored on the memory card. A beginners guide to focus stacking digital photography school. Magic lantern uses the available screen space to display operational information in a clear and practical manner. On thursday i bought a 600d for surice and myself, and before friday i had installed magic lantern.
Magic lantern is by far the best thing to happen to the dslr cameras. You can run both canon firmware and magic lantern, to some extent, in qemu. I have tried focus stacking before, but ive never really focused on the topic, because i dont have a macro lens. It offers so many options not given to you by the normal canon firmware that it should be sin not to install it. On occasion you can get away without it, sometimes you may even want a slightly more shallow depth of field. There are now versions for many other canon dslrs and the current principal developer is known as a1ex.
May 22, 20 macro photography basic focus stacking indoor tutorial. Its perhaps most useful in closeup and macro photography, since the camera lenss highest fstop is often insufficient to render everything in focus. If your problem is noise, common to astrophotographers, you capture a series of images and place them into a stack, al. Focus stacking is an interesting development of digital photography, and, more specifically, digital postprocessing. Without a remote i have hardware options for example the promote and an incamera software option using magic lantern s focus stacking, however the promotes remote input is incompatible with the hardware i want to use to trigger each focus stack a kessler second shooter and the magic lantern focus stacking can only be triggered from. First enable the post deflicker module and file manager module in magic lantern. Magic lantern is keystroke logging software developed by the united states federal bureau of investigation fbi.
Bitrate control, movie logging exiflike metadata, autorestart after buffer overflow or 4 gb limit, hdr video, advanced fps control. Magic lantern is a software that enables a ton of features on canon dslrs that dont come in the original package things like focus peaking. So here, based on my experience and experimentation, is the optimised focus stacking workflow for landscapes based on my 5d3 set up. Magic lantern was first reported in a column by bob sullivan of msnbc on 20 november 2001 and by ted bridis of the associated press. Each set of images can be used to simply select the single bestfocused option. Update your camera with the firmware you just downloaded from canon. Cant help with ml settings but for focus stacking software for free try combinezp. The image shows a screenshot with commonly used ml features enabled. Many olympus cameras have this feature and most canon dslrs can obtain it by installing a third party firmware called magic lantern. Home pentax user forum pentax digital slrs forum auto focus stacking.
Aug 03, 2017 this is another feature that aids in achieving critical focus in a specific area of a scene. Using magic lantern to step focus on canon dslr zerene. Pimp your canon camera firmware with magic lantern and get. The ultimate focus stacking guide capturelandscapes. The resulting photos, however, can be striking and unique.
Or, more typically, further processing via focus stacking is required. But since they have to essentially reverse engineer everything from scratch for every single camera, its availability for a new camera is kind of a big deal. Comments 1 the main way that extreme macro differentiates itself in software terms is the use of focus stacking software, in which various stacking vendors compete for the limited number of stackers. Jan 22, 20 january 22, 20 focus stacking macro photos enfuse i recently got a new camera to update my aging gracefully.