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Focus Bracketing on EOS R5

RRB1
Apprentice

As I learn my way around the R5, I am puzzled by the settings for Focus Bracketing.  In particular the "Focus Increment" setting is not clear to me regarding its function.  There are not units of length shown.  Presumably, the length of a narrow increment for a macro photo would be much different than the length of a narrow increment for a grand scale landscape, but I do not understand how to set the camera for that difference.  Any guidance here would be appreciated.

Thanks! 

3 REPLIES 3

Sounds like you are getting there, and it is confusing. The setting allows you to move your next focal plane closer or farther to/from the previous focal plane (plane of sharpest focus). IMO, all you can do is experiment or have a very good grasp of how deep your DOF is at a given f/stop and distance, and this applies to macro or landscape. A narrow setting will give you a sharper stack, but you may need to take more shots to cover the area you want to capture. It just depends on what you consider "acceptable" focus as to whether you use Narrow or Wide. Wide will move your FP closer to the back of the DOF of the previous FP, so you will start to see some softness. This can be slightly corrected in DPP, but it's a long wait to see the outcome if you have a large stack.

The built in stacking of the R5, and other Canon cameras with this feature, is very basic and sometimes the features are poorly explained. Focus increment is explained, kind of, on page 241 of the R5 manual, actually, it's pretty good at first then they go off a bit, IMHO.

Most of the time I use Helicon for both capturing and processing stacks, but still use the R5 and DPP for smaller stacks. I'm starting to use the R5 more of late and processing in Helicon Focus. Helicon Remote doesn't officially support the R5 and R6, so I am running their beta software, which is a bit hit or miss. But Helicon Focus supports CR3's from the R5(6), it just doesn't export EXIF data in the finished stack.

I hope this helps 🙂

Newton

EOS R5, R6, R6II. RF 15-35 f/2.8L, 50mm f/1.2L, 85mm f/1.2L, 100mm f/2.8L Macro, 100-400mm, 100-500mm L, 1.4X.

Newton,

Thank you so much for taking the time to attempt to clarify the Focus Bracketing tool in the R5.  Your patient and thorough explanation really helps!  It seems that the tool is a bit cryptic in regard to the specifics of its use, so trial and error is in order.

Thanks!

Russell

 

You are welcome, Russell. Focus stacking is fun but it takes patience and practice even with tools that are specifically designed for it. The R5 is very simplistic compared to my dedicated software for capturing the stacks, but it is still very usable, it just takes a few test runs to perfect the way Canon implements it. DPP 4 does a pretty good job of stacking, but again, you have to fiddle with it's controls to see exactly what results it will produce.

Newton

EOS R5, R6, R6II. RF 15-35 f/2.8L, 50mm f/1.2L, 85mm f/1.2L, 100mm f/2.8L Macro, 100-400mm, 100-500mm L, 1.4X.
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