EOS 90D Mixed results with stacking; Moving files in Affinity Photo 2

[Ramsden]

Good morning

I have tried to get used to Stacking following my previous post.

EOS90D and in this example 70-300mm lens, and no filters.  I can now stack!

But after dragging my tripod around the local lanes, I had some mixed results. So what am I doing wrong.

The landscape shot, had, at the time a clear blue sky, but the photo has made the distance look hazy, and the blue skies have gone.I followed the advice for landscape and set the stacking stops to 4. So is it my camera set up, stacking set up or something else.

I thought you might like the second photo when the sheep moved. Don’t they know they have to stand still when being photographed!

But I have another question about using Affinity Photo 2 on my iPad. Is there a simple way to move the photograph back to my photos folder, as at the moment it doesn’t offer me that option. I can put it back into Dropbox, My IPad and Drive.

Ramsden

[Ramsden]

Thanks EB. 

I was originally recommended to try focus stacking following a discussion about focusing, while doing macro and close up photography. The problem being, partly, that 'things' like flowers, tend to move, and with it, the focus points.

Thats the background.

I can now focus stack, at a very basic level, hence the poor quality landscape photo attached earlier.

My second issue is that Affinity Photo 2 doesn't talk to Canon app on my ipad. So I currently have to go through Dropbox, and I can't find a simple way to save the photos to my photos app on ipad.

Moving on. I'd like to improve my stacking skills with both macro, and more general photography, like your garage and landscapes for example. You may recall that I take my camera for a walk (often with a dog) around my local country lanes. These offer a huge range of photographic 'gifts' from old rusty gates, wild flowers and live stock.

Thanks again for your offer of help.

I may invest in a laptop...

Ramsden 

[Ramsden]

Thanks John 

That's really helpful, and just what I was looking for.

 I'll try those settings today.

Ramsden 

[Ramsden]

Hi again EB

Just a quick addition: attached is a stacked photo of a green tomato, where you can see that the stem and bit of a leaf are in focus, but the tomato itself is a touch fuzzy. So can I improve this with focus stacking?

 Shot in M, auto WB, 1/40 f2.8, ISO 100

[Ramsden]

I think I'm going to get my son to check out the Raspberry pi. It looks right up his street, but above my paygrade!

[johnrmoyer]

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@Ramsden wrote:

Thanks John 

That's really helpful, and just what I was looking for.

 I'll try those settings today.

Ramsden 

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Focus stacking could improve your tomato posted below. 

The iPad photos app keeps images in a "library" and they must be imported from and exported to a file system for any processing not done in the photos app. The file system could be remote like dropbox or local like a USB stick.

To use DPP for focus stacking, one needs either macOS or Windows. 

Debian Linux will get more performance from older or cheaper hardware than either macOS or Windows. Ubuntu is very similar to Debian. Gimp and Hugin free software should be a starting point.

On a rare day without wind: https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2021May19_birds_and_cats/2021may17_cornus_DC_1172.html Roughleaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii) blooming in Norman, Oklahoma, May 17, 2021

Artist	John Moyer
F Number	8.0
ISO	640
Shutter Speed Value	1/50
Focal Length	35.0 mm
Focus Distance Upper	1.33 m
Focus Distance Lower	0.62 m
Lens Model	EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Focus Stack	several images

 This was done using one of the recommended lenses. The  EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM seems to me a very good lens for this purpose. The stacking was done in DPP on macOS this time because there was no misalignment and DPP does very well handling the raw files.

If one is willing to spend the time, Gimp can do much more. Hugin can automate more than Gimp. When using Hugin or Gimp, I save a 16 bit TIFF from DPP.  The stacking can be very time consuming. For a landscape when using Hugin, one may use a combination of images that are focus stacked or exposure stacked at the same time.  

I suggest that for stacking, turn off unsharp mask before stacking and do it after using a program other than DPP. The iPad photos app can do unsharp masking.

( Others say Adobe products are the only thing to use. I stopped using Adobe products decades ago. I stopped using Windows when I retired and no longer had an employer to require it. )

https://hugin.sourceforge.io/ 

https://www.gimp.org/ 

https://docs.gimp.org/3.2/en/ or https://docs.gimp.org/3.2/en_GB/  on your side of the pond

https://docs.gimp.org/3.2/en/gimp-image-combining.html 

[johnrmoyer]

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@Ramsden wrote:

I think I'm going to get my son to check out the Raspberry pi. It looks right up his street, but above my paygrade!

---

The is a lot to learn, but I find it fun now that I now longer need to drive to an employer workplace.

[Ramsden]

Thanks again John

The photo is crystal sharp and I guess that is what I was hoping for with stacking.

I have found a lap top - second hand and refurbished. And its not too expensive.

 But like you, when I retired Windows was something I never wanted to see again.

I find the Raspberry pi quite quirky and appealing, plus it's not expensive.

I've also got the 18-135mm so things are looking good. 

Regards 

Ramsden 

[ebiggs1]

"I have tried to get used to Stacking following my previous post."

In you first question I assumed you wanted exposure control but you now are talking focus stacking. That is somewhat different. However, Photoshop is still the best. 

"My second issue is that Affinity Photo 2 doesn't talk to Canon app on my ipad."

I understand and another reason you should use Photoshop. And, secondly, IMHO, you should stop using your iPad and use a computer. From my experience all photo editing features are not fully available on the iPad. I have an iPhone and an iPad and I love them but I use a desktop PC with a 32" monitor for photo editing.

I also do a lot of music composition for that I use Dorico Pro 6 which has an iPad version. But just like photo editing the iPad version is not full featured so I resort to my desktop PC.

You can lessen a lot of the frustration if you just do that. Again, IMHO as usual.

[johnrmoyer · Accepted solution]

One more suggestion.

Use either Darktable or Rawtherapee for developing the raw CR2 files and save a 16 bit TIFF.

The "capture sharpening" in Rawtherapee does a Richardson/Lucy deconvolution to remove small aperture diffraction blur. The radius for "capture sharpening" must be chosen based upon spacing of photosites on the sensor chip and FNumber. F/16 would require twice the radius as F/8 and for your camera, it is likely not needed for F/5.6 unless there are other forms of Gaussian blur in the image and then the radius should match the blur radius.

[ebiggs1]

"I'm not convinced it will be worth spending over £1k to enhance my photography."

And neither am I especially if you want to and buy a Linux OS. I would avoid it like the plague but you know you can get a Linux version for a PC which would be the better solution.  It is totally reversible when you find out how much trouble or effort you have to do. Although, I love my iPad and iPhone I wouldn't have a Mac laptop as a gift. It's not that the Mac OS is bad it's not. It's fine. But the never knowing if the next OS upgrade will break everything and every app you have. There again not an insurmountable problem but just a hassle you really don't need. All my old apps, I ever had will still run on my PC. I have Photoshop CS6 still running perfectly for example.

BTW, I am not a Microsoft fan at all nor do I particularly like Windows. It's OK, it's just there. When you run software like PS you really don't notice MS or Windows. That's good.