One shot at f32 or 4 shots at f8:?
Posted: 21.02.2005 01:51
It is tempting to shoot a macro picture in a single shot if the depth of field at f32 is large enough. But what will the result be?
After much experimenting with my Canon 1Ds and 100mm macro and 65 mm mpelenses I found that I achieve far superior results shooting 4 slices at f8 than 2 at f16 or 1 at f32 (the Canon lens does not go beyond f16, for good reasons!).
There is something which the Germans call "Brauchbare" or usable apertures which are calculated as follows:
Divide 50 by the magnification factor M + 1.
For 5x magnification the number is 50:6 = 8
For 1:1 magnification the result is f22, but my own tests with the Canon 100 Macro lens indicate that while the picture is "brauchbar" this term in German is not very complementary and means basically on the border of the usable. If you want a superior picture stick with f8 to avoid diffraction and shoot multiple slices.
Helicon Focus will takes less than 1 minute to combine 4 of them into a composite. Its well worth the time!
After much experimenting with my Canon 1Ds and 100mm macro and 65 mm mpelenses I found that I achieve far superior results shooting 4 slices at f8 than 2 at f16 or 1 at f32 (the Canon lens does not go beyond f16, for good reasons!).
There is something which the Germans call "Brauchbare" or usable apertures which are calculated as follows:
Divide 50 by the magnification factor M + 1.
For 5x magnification the number is 50:6 = 8
For 1:1 magnification the result is f22, but my own tests with the Canon 100 Macro lens indicate that while the picture is "brauchbar" this term in German is not very complementary and means basically on the border of the usable. If you want a superior picture stick with f8 to avoid diffraction and shoot multiple slices.
Helicon Focus will takes less than 1 minute to combine 4 of them into a composite. Its well worth the time!