It is been a while since The Doc’s last update, the to-do list was fairly long after the last trip. Sometimes blogging must wait.

One thing The Doc been working on is a quicker way to create focus stacked images in the field. This is primarily aimed at textures like bark, leaves, flowers, etc.  The Doc is now using the Post Focus feature in a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera using an Olympus 30mm or 60mm macro lens.

The Post Focus feature can be used for focus stacking. Post Focus is a two-stage process. After placing the camera in Post Focus mode and pressing the shutter release the camera finds all the focus points in the image and then takes a 6K video of all those focus points. The process takes about 2 seconds after pressing the shutter release. The lens must be in autofocus mode.

You can stack images in-camera using the G9’s touch screen or use a program like Helicon Focus. I created some images from a recent visit to Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, The Doc used Helicon Focus in post processing (Helicon imports the 6K video then creates a super sharp focus stack). It was a windy that day limiting my subjects to barks from the Corymbia family. Below are a few images (click on image to see full size). This is a link to a 3D video of the one of the stacks, here.