focus merge

[ianrb]

I had a play with focus merge today and was wondering what caused the halo on the top tiny flower [mostly] --- slight subject movement is my guess. 
Pana Fz300 + remote cable + Canon 250D close up filter + focusing slides (yep cheapo)
couple more added -- any hints and tips very welcome .
it's it better to take  more photo "just in case" or get it right with less photos --- these are 5-8 file stacks as the little sensor has more dof than most "big toys"

Damn amazing techknowledge; and pretty  fast considering . Affinity Mirroring still fascinates me !! What the computer does is one thing; how the whiz kids explain it to the computer in the first place is a whole different ball game

Cheers 

[firstdefence]

Not necessarily movement, it can be camera settings and or focus merge parameters.

What were the settings for the camera?

I know this is related to HDR but the info can help: https://farbspiel-photo.com/original/reducing-halos

[John Rostron]

These halos are a fairly common occurrence in focus stacking. Whether they appear or not depends on various circumstances, not least the focus stacking algorithm. There are  Three algorithms use by Helicon Focus: Pyramid, Depth Map and Weighted Average. Each has its advantages and disadvantage. We do not know which algorithm Affinity Photo uses. I tend to use Affinity first for my focus stacking and only move to Helicon Focus if I cannot get AP to perform. (I had bought Helicon Focus before I bought Affinity!)

If you watch the Affinity video on Focus Merging, it shows you how you can get rid of halos by cloning from one of the original source images, typically one with the haloed object in sharp focus.

John

[ianrb]

Sorry; didn't / not getting notifications,  or bells when opening the forum (??)

Thanks @firstdefenceand @John Rostron. I will have look at videos and try the ideas 
 

[ianrb]

this is another good video --- any others you know off; don't need to be affinity . Must add I do miss the focus stacking build into the great Olympus Em D1 + 12-40 mm lens . A jpg file would be saved of the stack as well as all the raw files --- or was that all the jpg files (??) Raw I think!