Focus Shift Shooting / Stacking Explained for Nikon Z Cameras
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- Опубликовано: 22 окт 2020
- In this video I will show you how to use Focus Shift Shooting on your Nikon Z series camera to create a landscape and a close up photo.
I'll then show you how to take them from Lightroom into Photoshop where we can merge the images into one image with greater depth of field than would be possible from a single shot.
The same basic technique applies to any Nikon camera with focus stacking or shifting. This will work with a Nikon Z6 or Z7 or any other newer Z series camera that has Focus Shifting features (Note: The Z50 currently does not have this feature).
See the Nikon Z 14-24:
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See the Nikon Z 70-200:
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See the Nikon Z6 II
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See the Nikon Z7 II
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See the MB-N11
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#FocusShift #NikonZ #ShutterSpeak
Hi There!! this is an awesome video explaining everything to perfection thanks a ton 🙏🙏
Nice video Joe, thanks for a clear & precise explanation of focus stacking .
Glad it was helpful!
This is the best and most informative tutorial on focus shift shooting! Everything was brilliantly explained. Correcting focus shortcomings in PS were very useful. Thank you!
I'm very glad it helped you out and thank you for letting me know!
Wow! I was just playing around with this on the Z5 and was not happy with the end result. This popped up on youtube and I am glad it did. Big help. Liked and subscribed. Thank you.
Thank you - much appreciate the feedback and the subscribe.
This is an excellent presentation of a great technique presweneted in a language all should understand. The focus correction is great!
Thank you for creating this video. It prompts me to try out these features in my z6ii which I wouldn't think of using otherwise. I look forward to trying it out and your instruction is very helpful.
Glad to have helped.
Thank you for this video. As a new Z user, your videos on the Z system have been incredibly helpful.
Thank you for watching!
Thank you so much! Very clear explanation and easy to understand the concept and steps
Thank You for the video. This was a big help and actually my introduction to Focus Shift Shooting
Dear Joe, your presentation was brilliant and it’s something new I have learnt. I’ll definitely practice with my Z6 ii.
Thanks for watching - have fun trying this out!!
Thanks Joe, this video like your others is really helpful.
Very helpful Thank You Joe
Really good tutorial. Thanks for showing both distance and closeup shots.
You're welcome!
A very informative tutorial. Thank you!
Thank you! Easy and concise...good explanation
Thank you and thanks for watching :-)
Looking forward to trying this out. I was not aware that photoshop has a sky replacement feature now, awesome. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome - thanks for watching and commenting.
Fantastic video, thanks
Thanks for all the info on Nikon camera usage brother! Highly appreciated from a beginner!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you very much. Very well explained.
You're welcome :-)
Very good info!
Many thanks for this it really has helped me and I shall use both methods .thanks again
Joe, excellent demo of Focus Shift Shooting / Stacking. Thanks for sharing. I need to subscribe to you. Thanks.
Thank you for watching!
Very helpful, gonna have to try this!
Great Video Sir.
Thanks.
Very well explained. Thanks!
Thank you for watching!
This is so very cool. I use Lightroom and rarely use photoshop, but want to try it with landscape. Thanks.
Very informative indeed.
Love ur tutorials, they are so easy to understand and follow, thanks again for a great tip
Your welcome and thank you for letting me know!
@@ShutterSpeak Sorry to disturb, I tried it yesterday, but with limited success, set it up and was then going to focus , but soon as i hit "start" it went to preparing, Q.. does it find its own focus point, or should I have set it low before the start button? any other hints? Thank you for your time
@@janetaylor3462 Yes - you start with the focus point closest to you so set your focus point manually at the closest point. If you watch the video again maybe try to pause it and go step by step along with it.
Nice tool, thanks for the information
Very useful and informative. Thank you
Joe, thanks for this video. Really great explanation and demonstration. You got a like and a new subscriber. Appreciated.
Thank you for watching!
Thanks for video, very useful.
You're welcome :-)
Many thanks! Very helpful !
You're welcome!
Very nicely explained.
Glad it was helpful!
Bonjour Joe. Thanks for your great videos. They are to the point and easy to watch. Maybe it has been covered, but just in case I would like to share the following. I found that scrolling in menus can be done by the use of touch screen on my Z7_II, just like you would instinctively do on the screen of a cell phone. This includes full wipe scroll (up/down) and saves some click-click-clik for navigation. Same for settings modifications, some with live renderings on the screen e.g.brightness, saturation, etc.
Great video, thank you so much. I have been doing this manually for some time. Really handy using it built in for that infinity focus.
Hope it helps you get some great shots!
Hah! I was just experimenting with this feature. Perfect timing, Joe!
Glad I could help :-)
Thank you for this video! Subbed.
I'm glad this video helped you out - thanks for watching and commenting! Welcome aboard :-)
Another educational video.
Thank you!
Great video! Thanks!
Thank you!
Very nicely explained
Thank you so much 🙂
very well explained...
Thank you!!
Thanks for the video. I will try the focus shift shooting and see how it goes. I was not aware of the 'sky replacement' option in Photoshop. Thanks for that info also.
Glad I could help :-)
Great tutorial. Thanks👍
I try... 😀
Terrific tutorial.
Thank you!
Great presentation. 👍🇦🇺🦘
Thanks!
Good stuff.
excellent video - I am a very enthusiastic photographer but things like focus stacking and bracketing always felt a bit too "next level" for me - but I think I am ready to take that step. Thanks for the video. I actually had no idea that my Nikon z7 had this option. I thought you just took three or four shots adjusting the focus point with the touch screen at differing depths. This is so much easier though!
Great video!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for the tips Joe!! I’m headed to Glacier National Park this weekend and hope to use this to get a picture of the rocks and mountains at lake McDonald.
Have fun!
Very informative.
Thank you
Thank you for your tutorial and your shooting recommendations to create sharp images from foreground to background.
I'm not a big fan of LR, preferring to do all my work in PS, the old KISS rule. Processing in PS works fine without having to go through the hassle of using LR.
Cheers and thanks again from Montréal 🙂
Thanks 😊
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thanks for the video, just got a Z and want to try focus shift.
Good luck!
good video, you did also forget to mention, that this is also great as it makes
the 50 mm f 0.95 or f 1.2 lens usable, ie. it makes the wide open iris able to produce a sharp image, by using the bokeh for selective focus on the edge of the subject of the stack, but still keeping the subject sharp, but blurring the background.
The 0.95 is not autofocus so no it won’t work.
Hi Joe, very nicely explained video, sir! I’m a landscape and product photographer who recently moved to the excellent Nikon Z7 System, but am so far unable to get good results using the Focus Shift Shooting Mode. (I've been doing focus merges manually with a Fuji X-T3 system before moving to Nikon, and indeed, do get good results doing it "manually" with the Z7 (and a manual Laowa 100 f/2.8 Ultra-Macro lens). I am waiting for the upcoming 105 f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor S, but in the meantime, have tried the 50 f/1.8 Nikkor S with Focus Shift Shooting, and results are not good. (When setting the first focus point at front bottom of the subject, say, a figurine, and making 25 exposures, using f/11, I find that 98% of them are Not in focus, meaning, the focus point did not travel "up" the subject on each subsequent exposure! Only exposure #1 and/or #2 are in focus at the desired subject focus point. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, as I've tried various settings in the Focus Shift Shooting menu. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I have been doing focus shift photography with my D850 extensively for several years now. The results are spectacular. However, at least with the D850, this function sometimes has a difficult time determining infinity with landscape stacking. My system will often take many shots beyond or back in front of infinity. I find it best to manually inspect each image, especially when I get way more images than I thought would be needed on a landscape set. I then simply exclude those extraneous shots. I do not know whether Nikon has fixed that matter with the Z cameras but even though I have the latest firmware update they have not addressed it with my D850.
My second point is that as long as there are no moving elements in my subject such as clouds, I find that the Zerene program is much faster and easier to use than Photoshop. With the exception of Zerene needing to use JPG files instead of NEF the results are outstanding. When I use the Photoshop stacking function I find that PS often has a difficult time drawing the masks for each image/layer. I has often assigned clouds to the nearest image and nearby bushes to the distant image. Care must be used when editing a stacked set. In one recent focus stacking exercise PS got totally confused about which image/layer should contribute the clouds so it put some of the clouds from several image/layers together in the final merged image and I could not fix the problem. I simply closed everything, stared all over and manually drew the masks.
All that said, focus stacking (shifting) is great fun and is probably one of the main reasons I jumped on getting my D850 as soon as I could. I love it! Now I just need to decide whether to get the Z7ii or the Z6ii as my next step.
Thanks for commenting - You will love the Z series of cameras. They are a pleasure to work with.
Dude you just changed my life... I can't believe I didn't know about this. You're a great teacher too.
Wow, thanks! Glad to help.
Thanks for the video! I understand focus shift shooting better now. I am confused, though, by the "Tips" page that says to choose any mode except AF. ??? Nikon says to put it in autofocus mode for focus shift shooting.
Great difficulty turning focus shift on because I had auto bracketing selected. This has to be turned off even though it is inoperative in auto mode. Worth mentioning at start of video as it took me ages to sort out. Otherwise great thank you Joe. Simon
Yes - it does not work with bracketing. Thank you for mentioning it and thanks for watching.
You certainly can merge individual files - if you open all files in PS as separate tabs, simply use the PS function to stack all open files and align them all in 1 step. (Also - shortcut - you can select/unselect all of the layer eyeballs in 1 click by clicking and dragging down the eyeballs - saves you clicking every single one of them)
I'm not sure what you mean - in the video we merge a whole bunch of individual files. In fact - we do it in Photoshop.
@@ShutterSpeak You made the comment yourself at 8:38. Your own quote: "they'll open as individual files and you won't be able to merge them" - but you can. I was indicating that you can certainly merge individual files that are in separate tabs - the feature is built into PS to do it, as it's commonly done in compositing and other work, is the way photographers who do not use Lr or Bridge do focus stacking, and of course has been the way we did focus stacking before we had the automation to handle these things so nicely! FIle - Scripts - "Load Files into Stack" - and choose the all open files option (or files from your hard drive), and then you can complete the alignment in one step as well. I do it the same way you did (and teach it the same way as I'm a college Lightroom & Photoshop instructor), but just pointing out that you said that you can NOT merge 'separate files,' but you can, and it has other uses because of that, particularly if you do compositing, or if you have files of different formats that are not coming out of Lightroom, such as graphic design or other files.
@@amsivertson Good tip - thank you for the correction.
Thank you for your contribution and tips! I'm not a big fan of LR and do all my work in PS so I appreciated your input. I've used the PS merge function for creating panoramics, so the steps you outlined for merging stacked images in PS in your followup post are really appreciated!
Cheers and thanks!
Frederic in Montréal.
Hi Joe love you channel. I'm having problem with this focus shift as the camera seems like its working correctly but when I check the pictures the focus point is not changing on the different photos. What could I possibly be doing wrong?
Thanks for the great guide. Quick question- wouldn't moving the camera back further away from the subject make it more likely to get everything in one focus? What is the advantage of this over that? (I am relatively new to this type of shooting and process). Thanks!
Moving the camera will impact other parameters like exposure, composition etc which will make it that much harder to stack in post
Thanks, Joseph
Do the Z cameras, particularly the Z8 and Z9 allow focus shifting to be set as default? I’d like to do some experimental shooting and to simply be able to shoot one stack after anotherwithout going back to the menus.
Cheers
Tom
thanks for the video, I am assuming you leave the camera in auto-focus mode? sorry if you already mentioned that.
Fantastic videos, what if its landscapes? Or objects that are blowing the wind for focus shift shooting ?
If you get movement that is just mask the image in where you feel it looks best.
Works great on the Z7II ... BUT I cannot tether it to Lightroom Classic, the FOCUS SHIFT SHOOTING feature is greyed-out in the menu, so I have to unplug the USB-C cord and just use the SD Card to get it back in the computer for post. I think it's the same on my Z6II.
Anyway THANK YOU for this video- referred to it several times when I just got my Z7II for a focus stacking job!
Thanks for letting me know about that quirk. Glad the video has helped you and thanks for commenting!
Hi Joseph
. Thank you for good and thorough teaching. I have a Nikon Z50 and can't find the Focus Shift Shooting menu. It might only be on the other Z models?
No - this is not available on the Z50 :-(
@@ShutterSpeak Thank you very much for quick reply
I just bought a z6 ii this week. Thank you for the video. Can you use bracketing with the focus shift for high dynamic range scenes or would you have to manually focus throughout the scene? I'm guessing you can't since you need the the exposure locked in the settings.
No - you can not bracket and use focus shift. Thanks for watching!
@@ShutterSpeak I wonder if they can change that in a firmware update or if the camera is just limit.
Thanks for you video even if I'm french ... What about wind ? When the object are moving with the wind ? Or simple question, when something is moving on the photo ? What is the result with the stacking process ?
Hi nice post. Do u think it’s possible to get good results with this feature from hand held focus bracketing for outdoor flower photography? I go on long day hikes and don’t want to carry a tripod. Does z lenses have optical stabilisation and if so would that help? Would shutter speed need to be fast? Thx Isaac
I recommend a tripod if you are going to use focus shift.
Thanks for the video... Will try this with my z6. But at the end how do you save the image.. I mean do you right click and merge all the layers or just save the final layer
So Photoshop will make the final layer for you. You can just export it at that point. If you had to touch up a layer use CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E to make a stamped layer after you finish your touch ups. Then export as normal.
@@ShutterSpeak thank you
Hello, I enjoy watching your videos, if you allow me I have a different question for you: How do you transfer the LCD screen of your camera to the monitor? Thank you from İstanbul..
Hello - HDMI out from the camera to a USB HDMI capture box on my PC
@@ShutterSpeakThanks from İstanbul.
Hi Joe before we hit the start button do you need to focus somewhere ? Foreground? Mid or back before hand.?
Focus on the closet thing you want to be in focus
Is the focus lock sound at the beginning of your video from Konica Minolta?
Does it matter what lens you use? Could I use a Tamron 90mm macro with a Nikon adapter and the Z adapter?
Just purchased a Z6ll and updated to most recent firmware, noticed that Peaking Stack Image is missing or no longer available in the Focus Shift Shooting menu. Do you know if this was removed as an option?
Hello when you were brushing in the section that was out of focus in photoshop that looked very helpful. I'm trying to do the same thing in Photoshop but when I move the brush to bring out a section in a layer that is in focus nothing happens. I've tried several things but you moved so fast through that I not certain that I missed something. Any insight would be appreciated
Thanks
Adam
It's around the 11 minute mark
Make sure you are painting with white on the mask (to the right of the image icon in the layers panel).
Does Focus shift feature on Z series of cameras work only when the camera is equipped with a Z mount lens and not with a legacy lens + FTZ adapter ?
What chair is that? Look very comfortable.
It was but it didn't hold up. It's been replaced by a Secret Labs chair now :-)
Hello Joe...
I found this video very interesting and tried to set up my Z7, except the Focus Shift was grayed out.
When I hit the button, it says "The Option is not available due to current settings or the cameras
current state."
I have no idea what I have set that can be causing this.
If you or anyone here knows, please let me know.
Thanks,
Rick
The only requirement I know of is that you need to be in an auto focus mode (not manual focus) on both camera & lens with an auto focusing lens and have the camera in photo shooting mode (not video mode). Hope this helps.
@@ShutterSpeak I got it into Focus Shift by turning the selector dial to the U3 Position. Thanks!
Do you put the focus square in the front and press ones and will the camera keep shooting by itself or do you have to press for every shot.
Focus in front and press once
@@ShutterSpeak thank you . I was wondering iam very new to photography so forgive my D questions. When you shoot bracket HDR can you focus stake at the same time? And if you shot multiple pics with hdr bracketing do you edit before or after merging. Thank you.
@@herlingwowor1896 No - you can not.
@@ShutterSpeak thank you 👍
On 5:18 you just jump from "let's give it a try" to the "lightroom final image set".
The question is how did you do it? Manually or Automatically? You take all the pictures or does the camera controls all the action and takes the pictures by itself on the 12 points you have chosen (unless it reaches infinity as you said)?
The other technique I know I do it "by hand", i.e., I focus and shift the focus one by one. If I have to do this than there is no difference...
Thank you!
The camera takes the pictures automatically. Just make sure the first focus point is the closest point you want in focus.
Exit the posibility to put together but with celular phone aplication,,, some other brand cámaras do into the camara
I've just got a Z7 and have a query about step width. If you choose the number of steps then why doesn't the camera calculate the step width from starting focus point to finishing point? How does the camera operator know the width? Thanks
Its kind of a guessing game really depending on how much you want in focus but I think you can see from the video it is pretty easy to get in the ballpark.
Commenting for the YT algo
Appreciate you!
Can I use focus shift with the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2:1 Ultra Macro APO Lens? Does the lens matter?
The lens must be autofocus - so no, you can not use the Laowa.
@@ShutterSpeak Thanks!
I just bought a nikon z7ii and it's not having peaking focus, just shifting. I wonded if is normal or no? And i must to have Photoshop for merging the photos?
I'm a vet doctor and I was buying this tools for making macros photos of the eyes. But now I cannot see anything in M mode, I suppose because it's a mirrorless. Before with a 3200 and a ri g flash I was able to take great pictures. It is a way to correct this?
Sorry for such many questions! I wait you're réponses with faith... because the z7ii it's a wonderful machine but I want to use it for my job first of all!!!
😊 thanks
Focus peaking must be turned on via the menu system to work. The view finder shows how your pictures will come out so perhaps your settings are incorrect? Good luck and thank you for watching.
@@ShutterSpeak thanks a lot for your answer. I will pass tomorrow to the nikon store, because it's a little more complex than may old D3200:))
@@geocrisanda If you have not found the focus peaking settings, it is in the Custom Setting Menu>d9
Choose any focus mode (there is only AF and MF) except auto for best results. I'm confused. @4:34
When I hit "Start" I get the message, "Cannot start shooting. Change the settings below and try again. *Focus Mode. I went to Focus Mode and set to manual. (Focus Shooting Menu) Can you help. Thank you.
Nice video but you missed telling us that when you have tweaked your first photo in LR you then sync that to the rest of the layers otherwise you will not have uniformity when you merge the laysrs.
Please review the 8:14 mark of the video. You will see the very minor changes that are made. They will not affect the outcome as they are unsubstantial. Thanks for watching.
Any Focus mode 'Except' Auto? What else is there, Manual?
Any focus mode where the camera selects the focus point for you (example - All Area in AF-C). You want to pick your focus point and not let the camera decide where to focus for your first shot. AF-S would be a better choice.
@@ShutterSpeak Is there a way to set the first image so the camera won't refocus for that first shot? When shooting Macro, the focus with the 105mm isn't always great. I usually need to manually focus for the first shot. If only there was a setting to stop the refocus when hitting Start...
Using Z6
Why can't I select focus shift shooting on my Nikon 6II? It is grey and won't let me select it.
So, how do you use it? You never explained or showed us how it works while taking pictures. Does the camera do the focusing, or do I have to refocus after each shot?
The camera does the focusing- Why not give it a try and see.
I’m having extreme difficulty downloading raw or Nef files into Lightroom; could you shed some light to help me out?
Thank You 🙏
David
What kind of difficulty? Are you using a card reader attached to your computer?
@@ShutterSpeak
Yes the files are already downloaded into my pc
When I click on the file and do a right click and scroll down to open with
I chose Lightroom and a popup saying not able to open raw or Nef files
Maybe my Lightroom is too old
@@davidhart6900 Go into LR and in the Library tab use the import function to import your photos.
@@ShutterSpeak
Thank You 🙏 Joe-:)
For beginners you are leaving out some key points. 1. You don’t press “start” you select start in the menu, but then what do you press to initiate action? OK? Shutter? You don’t define what focus mide you should be in. Manual? Auto?
Very nice setup, but what if we don't have photoshop??
Do you have ON1?
@@ShutterSpeak just LR. I wouldn't mind buying PS however isn't it a monthly sub now?
@@coltoncyr2283 Yes it is.