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| LX100M2. Focus Stacking. The depth of focus in this composite is about five centimeters, impossible to achieve with a single capture. I chose a difficult subject with lots of fine detail. The camera stitched it all together with no problems as long as the flower was perfectly still for the 4K burst. |
One of the reasons I like Lumix cameras is that they have many features and capabilities gathered together into an attractive package.
The subject of this post is Focus Stacking which is enabled by the 4K Photo capability which most Lumix cameras have these days.
Each of the 4K Photo options utilises the camera’s 4K capability to make a burst of pictures each of about 8 Mpx at 30 frames per second and to save or merge these as required.
A crop frame is used so at the wide end of the zoom the focal length is equivalent to 31mm.
The instructions for the 4K Photo features are well described in the “Quick Guide for 4K Photo” which comes as a separate leaflet in the box.
The LX100M1/2 can get very close to a subject when the lever on the lens barrel is set to Macro. But depth of focus is always an issue with single shot photos.
Focus stacking permits a greatly increased effective depth of focus with close up subjects.
For best results both the camera and subject should be perfectly still so placing the camera on a tripod is desirable.
Select the [Post Focus] icon on Drive Mode, select an aperture (I used f4 for the photo above) and aspect ratio and press the shutter button.
The camera very quickly makes a series of pictures each one focussed on a different part of the frame.
Press the F1 button and select the [Auto] blending option. The camera makes its calculations and produces a finished JPG file in about two seconds.
I generally run this through the Camera Raw filter for final adjustments to tonal balance and minor sharpening.
The results can be very good.
Some experiment with subject selection and camera settings may be required for best results.
Focus stacking is one of those features which might appear to be a gimmick at first but actually proves to be a useful photographic tool.