i080424
New member
Will the D850 focus shift on a statue 12 feet away AND the at infinity conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter (tonight )??? If possible, suggested lens and focus shift settings.
Focus Shift Shooting
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Palouse
Well-known member
It should. Set it up with focus just in front of the statue; use a wide gap (6-7) and set fir many more shots than you need. If you can experiment in daytime.
Careful with the wide gap - it'll leave blurry areas between shots.
There are two scenarios that come to mind for this. First, do you need focus shift shooting? If it's just the statue and the planets with nothing visible in the frame in-between, you don't need it at all. Just pop a shot off of the statue, then refocus on the planets and pop off another.
If there are elements in the frame between the statue and planets, then yes, Focus Shift Shooting is the way to go.
Focus just in front of the statue.
I'd set like this:
# of shots - 100
The camera will stop at the end of the lenses focus distance, so it won't use all those shots, just what it needs. Also, this also depends on the focal length too, if you're using a longer lens, go higher. You want the camera to get through the focus range. However, if it comes up short (it could if you're using a long lens), don't refocus and just start again - it'll pick up where it left off. Also, it will focus beyond infinity and your last few shots will be throwaways. Once you're at the computer, just pick the sharpest shot of the planets.
Focus Step Width - 4
This is my go-to and it has always worked well for landscapes.
Interval between - 0
Exposure smoothing - off
Set your exposure manaully
Silent Photography - on
That should do it. However, keep in mind that depending on the focal length and how many shots you need to get the stack, the planets are going to move a bit between the first and last shot. So, you may have to manually place the last frame in the image, depending on the stacking software.
There are two scenarios that come to mind for this. First, do you need focus shift shooting? If it's just the statue and the planets with nothing visible in the frame in-between, you don't need it at all. Just pop a shot off of the statue, then refocus on the planets and pop off another.
If there are elements in the frame between the statue and planets, then yes, Focus Shift Shooting is the way to go.
Focus just in front of the statue.
I'd set like this:
# of shots - 100
The camera will stop at the end of the lenses focus distance, so it won't use all those shots, just what it needs. Also, this also depends on the focal length too, if you're using a longer lens, go higher. You want the camera to get through the focus range. However, if it comes up short (it could if you're using a long lens), don't refocus and just start again - it'll pick up where it left off. Also, it will focus beyond infinity and your last few shots will be throwaways. Once you're at the computer, just pick the sharpest shot of the planets.
Focus Step Width - 4
This is my go-to and it has always worked well for landscapes.
Interval between - 0
Exposure smoothing - off
Set your exposure manaully
Silent Photography - on
That should do it. However, keep in mind that depending on the focal length and how many shots you need to get the stack, the planets are going to move a bit between the first and last shot. So, you may have to manually place the last frame in the image, depending on the stacking software.
Palouse
Well-known member
Agree. I was assuming that there is no detail between statue and otter space 
Trying to find the answer but not seeing it. When using focus shift do you set the camera on AF-S or AF-C for autofocus?
Daveg
New member
AF-S. It only focusses once at the start of the series. Focus on the nearest point required to be sharp. Start the process. Subsequent shots are computed according to your settings. The series ends when the set number of shots is reached or when infity focus is reached.
DG
Can you point me to a reference where it sates AF-S only? All I can find is you must use AF-S lenses. Thanks!
Daveg
New member
You can use either but, because the camera only auto focusses once at the beginning and you are unlikely to be shooting rapidly moving subjects AF-S seems to be the obvious choice. It is what i use when shooting the first image of a stack.
DG
DG
Thanks for the reply. Just curious if you tried a handheld focus stack of landscape images?
Daveg
New member
No, the Z6 doesn't do handheld very easily. I do mostly table-top where the number of shots can often be 100+.
The Olympus apparently does hand-held stacks very well.
DG
The Olympus apparently does hand-held stacks very well.
DG
I will also add that if you are shooting a planet it is likely not at the infinity of the lens. You will need to manual focus on the planet. Best way to do this is live view, zoom in on the lcd panel and manual focus. Take a shot and then zoom in to verify focus. This usually takes a few tries to get it tack sharp.