Helicon Tube?

[MikeA]

Maybe tomorrow my new 105 VR micro might might be delivered and I can‘t wait for the weekend to try it out. For me it seemed to be a best bet from a previous thread here. Some people on other sites wrote me that this lens is not really usable for macro due to lens breathing. I hope that will not be too much of a problem.

Does anybody have experience with the Tube from Helicon for focus staking? My D500 does not have that and the Tube with software sounds promising...

Best,

Mike

 

[BCcanuck]

Are you referring to Focus STACKING or Focus SHIFTING?

 

[MikeA]

Focus stacking or braketing

 

[MikeA]

Focus stacking or braketing

https://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft-products/helicon-fb-tube/

 

[MikeA]

It seems nobody here using such a tube?

 

[AlexY]

So it would appear, which is too bad as I've been thinking about one for a while as well. If the tube works well, it's much cheaper than upgrading to a D850 for - among other things - its in camera focus-stacking capability.
Ah well...

 

[MikeA]

From another Nikon site in Germany I got a reply from someone using it for a few years already and he is really very happy with it using a D5 and a Nikkor 105mm. He uses it most of the time even without a tripod for flowers and insects in the rage 1:3 to 1,2:1. He wrote that you have to program the tube concerning the aperture you what to use and he uses f4 because he only wants the most important parts sharp and the rest not. That means a burst of 20-40 images in 2-4 s bei autoiso max 400 and he writes that works well even handheld and the software corrects any small deviation due to slight wind etc. Sounds good I guess! Of course the insect has to be holding more or less still.

 

[Squawk]

I looked at it a while ago and what I did learn that I hadn’t figured out intuitively is that it acts like an extension tube in the way it behaves on the camera. For most macro work it sounds great but anything at distance would be a problem.

 

[Thern]

@MikeA
Sounds interesting, wonder wether you can use it stacked with a second or even third extensionring? (Off course the ones keeping the communication between camera and lens alive)

I looked at it a while ago and what I did learn that I hadn’t figured out intuitively is that it acts like an extension tube in the way it behaves on the camera. For most macro work it sounds great but anything at distance would be a problem.

You can shoot up till a ‘given’ distance just not at infinity anymore.
The range where the camera is able to focus the lens ‘shifts towards the sensor’ so MFD gets shorter at the expense of loosing the possibillity to focus at infinity.

 

[IainD]

Maybe tomorrow my new 105 VR micro might might be delivered and I can‘t wait for the weekend to try it out. For me it seemed to be a best bet from a previous thread here. Some people on other sites wrote me that this lens is not really usable for macro due to lens breathing. I hope that will not be too much of a problem.

Does anybody have experience with the Tube from Helicon for focus staking? My D500 does not have that and the Tube with software sounds promising...

Best,

Mike

I have the Kenko extension tubes for Nikon. I believe they make focus at infinity impossible, but that is not really an issue. If you use extension tubes you are trying to focus closer! The tubes work well, and there is no reason the Helicon tube wouldn't be the same

 

[Thern]

Some people on other sites wrote me that this lens is not really usable for macro due to lens breathing. I hope that will not be too much of a problem.

Somehow missed this one.
Focuslensbreathing is a prop of most modern IF lenses, some breath more some breath less.
(source the review of Bjørn Rørslett)

Like the predecessor it uses the trick of shortening the focal length during focusing meaning that in a distance from slightly less than 40 cm to 31.4 cm (near limit), the magnification changes dramatically from 1:2 to 1:1. Fine if you hand-hold the lens, hopeless if the camera is on a tripod since you cannot adjust focus ever so slightly without altering the framing of the subject in a major way. This in fact was the very reason I dropped using my 105/2.8 AF and reverted to the manual f/2.8 and f/4 models instead.

That’s a lot off course but why would that make the lens ‘not really useable’ for macro?
You’re focussing on a tiny subject at ‘A certain’ distance which means the lens focusses at ‘A focal length’ (with A certain FOV, perspective and magnification as a result) then you move the rig towards or away of your subject to get the magnification you want/need and then you press the shutter release.
I don’t see any problem what so ever here?

Okay we’re going to use focusstacking for macro you say.
The FL changes from the shot with initial focus to the last shot (how many mms do you use in total for your stack?, translating in ??) but in practice todays stacking software corrects for this without a problem.
I wouldn’t worry, just keep this in mind and consider it as part of the learning curve.
I’ve seen a lot of awesome work shot with this lens

 

[Woodpecker]

https://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft-products/helicon-fb-tube/

Wow, thanks for asking. I didn't even know that there is his kind of tool to enable older camera models to do that !

 

[Thern]

Wow, thanks for asking. I didn't even know that there is his kind of tool to enable older camera models to do that !

Well we used focus-rails back in the days.
It’s a somewhat different approach with the same result.

Today’s modern (cheap) version.

An interesting site on the subject with tons of info

Focus Stacking Tutorial From Start To Finish

Focus stacking is a photography term used to describe combining photographs to obtain images with a much larger depth of field that would be possible in a single photo

extreme-macro.co.uk

 

[Woodpecker]

Well we used focus-rails back in the days.
It’s a somewhat different approach with the same result.

Today’s modern (cheap) version.

An interesting site on the subject with tons of info

Focus Stacking Tutorial From Start To Finish

Focus stacking is a photography term used to describe combining photographs to obtain images with a much larger depth of field that would be possible in a single photo

extreme-macro.co.uk

Thanks for this one. I am not too much into macro - yet - and especially extreme macro work would probably get too technical for me, but it is always good to see/read something new. I just got @Steve 's latest video workshop because of being curious and the pictures I saw there sort of caught me, although I have to say that I like these "old school" macros very much with their tiny DOF while the rest looks more like a aquarelle ...

 

[bjanes]

Somehow missed this one.
Focuslensbreathing is a prop of most modern IF lenses, some breath more some breath less.
(source the review of Bjørn Rørslett)

Like the predecessor it uses the trick of shortening the focal length during focusing meaning that in a distance from slightly less than 40 cm to 31.4 cm (near limit), the magnification changes dramatically from 1:2 to 1:1. Fine if you hand-hold the lens, hopeless if the camera is on a tripod since you cannot adjust focus ever so slightly without altering the framing of the subject in a major way. This in fact was the very reason I dropped using my 105/2.8 AF and reverted to the manual f/2.8 and f/4 models instead.

That’s a lot off course but why would that make the lens ‘not really useable’ for macro?
You’re focussing on a tiny subject at ‘A certain’ distance which means the lens focusses at ‘A focal length’ (with A certain FOV, perspective and magnification as a result) then you move the rig towards or away of your subject to get the magnification you want/need and then you press the shutter release.
I don’t see any problem what so ever here?

Okay we’re going to use focusstacking for macro you say.
The FL changes from the shot with initial focus to the last shot (how many mms do you use in total for your stack?, translating in ??) but in practice todays stacking software corrects for this without a problem.
I wouldn’t worry, just keep this in mind and consider it as part of the learning curve.
I’ve seen a lot of awesome work shot with this lens

If the camera is on a tripod and you are shooting at high magnification in the range of 1:2 to 1:1 it is helpful to mount a focus rail on the tripod and attach the camera to the rail. If the framing changes during focusing you can adjust the camera to subject distance with the rail instead of moving the whole tripod and camera setup, which is inconvenient. Having a rack and pinion focusing rail such as the Novoflex Castel-L makes this easier, but one can use an inexpensive rail and duplex Arca style duplex clamp such as shown in the links. The duplex clamp enables attaching the camera with attached lens via an L-Plate or to a lens with an integral Arca plate.

Bill

 

[Thern]

If the camera is on a tripod and you are shooting at high magnification in the range of 1:2 to 1:1 it is helpful to mount a focus rail on the tripod and attach the camera to the rail. If the framing changes during focusing you can adjust the camera to subject distance with the rail instead of moving the whole tripod and camera setup, which is inconvenient. Having a rack and pinion focusing rail such as the Novoflex Castel-L makes this easier, but one can use an inexpensive rail and duplex Arca style duplex clamp such as shown in the links. The duplex clamp enables attaching the camera with attached lens via an L-Plate or to a lens with an integral Arca plate.

Bill

Well we used focus-rails back in the days.
It’s a somewhat different approach with the same result.

Today’s modern (cheap) version.

An interesting site on the subject with tons of info

Focus Stacking Tutorial From Start To Finish

Focus stacking is a photography term used to describe combining photographs to obtain images with a much larger depth of field that would be possible in a single photo

extreme-macro.co.uk

I was answering to the OP regarding the useability of his 105mm Micro Nikkor for macro work. (post 11)
My next post (post 13) in response on @Woodpecker referred at the use of focusrails.

So not sure why you’re quoting me?

 

[bjanes]

I was answering to the OP regarding the useability of his 105mm Micro Nikkor for macro work. (post 11)
My next post (post 13) in response on @Woodpecker referred at the use of focusrails.

So not sure why you’re quoting me?


QUOTE="Thern, post: 28714, member: 3254"]
I was answering to the OP regarding the useability of his 105mm Micro Nikkor for macro work. (post 11)
My next post (post 13) in response on @Woodpecker referred at the use of focusrails.

So not sure why you’re quoting me?

I am quoting your reference to Bjorn:

"Thern said:

Focuslensbreathing is a prop of most modern IF lenses, some breath more some breath less.
(source the review of Bjørn Rørslett)

Like the predecessor it uses the trick of shortening the focal length during focusing meaning that in a distance from slightly less than 40 cm to 31.4 cm (near limit), the magnification changes dramatically from 1:2 to 1:1. Fine if you hand-hold the lens, hopeless if the camera is on a tripod since you cannot adjust focus ever so slightly without altering the framing of the subject in a major way. This in fact was the very reason I dropped using my 105/2.8 AF and reverted to the manual f/2.8 and f/4 models instead."

I wanted to discuss the focus breathing issue.

Bill

 

[Thern]

Okay Bill, no problem but there’s not much to discuss when we share the same opinion?