Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM: Imaging Performance @ 16mm, Single Frame vs 3-Frame Stack: Flowers in Meadow to High Peaks, Dusk
See Sony mirrorless wish list.
This 3-frame focus stack at 12mm at f/11 (using Zerene Stacker) compares what is possible with a single frame to a focus stack. The difference in total sharpness is not dramatic at first glance, since f/11 at 16mm does have a good depth of field. But no single frame is up to the job for an image like this, particularly with Sony lens skew issues and field curvature, so the foreground and outer zones really benefit:
Includes images up to full resolution. Also includes crops showing the stacked result versus , close/far frames.
Focus stacking is a tool that should be mastered by any serious landscape photographer for any scene like this one, since depth of field can never be adequate for this extreme near-far composition. Focus stacking overcomes:
- Depth of field limitations.
- Field curvature.
- Lens asymmetry (focus not symmetric across the field).
See my tutorial/how-to in Making Sharp Images.