Currently working on a 430 macro image stack
#Macro
oblique eagle
My PC is going to scream ❤️
140 watts of power just to stack a beetle
16 cores and 32 threads, going 100%
For 20 minutes
Finally
Total runtime: 22 minutes
oblique eagle
pliant crane
shot from samsung galaxy a12
mental hull
crisp island
shot from samsung galaxy a12
how is last photo macro?
modest heron
If I'm gonna get a camera what lens should I get to be able to do shit like thisv
cursive robin
Trying my best, I currently run a Sony 6400 with the 90mm f 2.8 Macro G series (135mm equivalent). I think my next purchase will be a flash and a diffuser. I still need to figure out how to do successful focus stacks. I have been trying to use Photoshop, but I have failed every time.
oblique eagle
@cursive robin your photos are stunning, I love them!
If you want any personal help with image stacking let me know :)
cursive robin
If you want any personal help with image stacking let me know :)
I'll be taking you up on that.
oblique eagle
Perhaps
cursive robin
Limey Bubbles
gaunt gull
shot from samsung galaxy a12
beautiful
upbeat sail
What program are you using here to stack
low shuttle
i need a macro lens for Christmas mas ong 😭😭
oblique eagle
@upbeat sail Affinity Photo, and Helicon Focus 8
@low shuttle which system are you using? And are you looking for 2x macro?
upbeat sail
Thank you!
oblique eagle
Swordslash, I do take an insane amount of photos
Last pass was about 400 photos
Your results may wary based on amount of data you feed the machine
upbeat sail
Damn
oblique eagle
I made a coded liniar rail thing just for taking focus stacking
It's a little overkill on the stepper motor and driver, but the brains are just a cheap Arduino clone. But I should make it WiFi with a ESP-32 or Pi-Pico W
Then again.... It works so,
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
leaden wave
Here they come
The first picture got roasted by an Instagram filter as it was 10x better than the one I edited ( the one that I posted) and if I would post the Instagram picture it would be compressed due to Instagram. Yay ;c
cursive robin
Just needs to be brightened up in some areas. Maybe made a smidge cooler. The yellow in the droplet looks off to me.
Nice shots
leaden wave
Thanks
low shuttle
<@456226577798135808> which system are you using? And are you looking for 2x mac...
i havent really thought that much tbh but like any professional camera could suffice
untold whale
dry parcel
Beach macro
cursive robin
Chalky Percher
sour sleet
Ah yes. The thread for me. One of my first macro shots from about.. 10 years ago now. Does this require a NSFW tag? 
crisp island
Ah yes. The thread for me. One of my first macro shots from about.. 10 years ago...
What a dox, now we know you live in usa, probably around midwest 
sour sleet
What a dox, now we know you live in usa, probably around midwest <:RockSus:99778...
You got it. xD
crisp island
You got it. xD
Also did you use panasonic or olympus to take that?
sour sleet
Also did you use panasonic or olympus to take that?
It was an Olympus Pen EP5. Such a fun-sized little camera to play with.
crisp island
Nice, I recognized file naming convention since I have old olympus too
but like almost 10 years older
sour sleet
I miss the ease of using the little Olympus sometimes.
crisp island
Oh no did you sell it?
sour sleet
Yeah. it was just sitting around and I traded it in for a 100mm 2.8 macro lens that I use a lot more.
I'm not rich enough to have multiple toys. 
crisp island
I miss the ease of using the little Olympus sometimes.
I have 30 different modes available and still haven't discovered visible difference between most of them to this day
sour sleet
Pretty sure the 100mm weighs more than the entire PEN does. lol
crisp island
according to specs by 255g heavier
I have a lens which is heavier than pen and 100 2.8 combined 
sour sleet
#goals
shadow idol
sour sleet
cursive robin
Love the lighting on this one.
sour sleet
Wish I would have focus stacked this one.
And had my little LED box light to blast some light under it.
sour sleet
I can't wait for October. I'm going to go mushroom hunting as much as humanly possible.
cursive robin
What do you use to focus stack?
acoustic breach
all this talk of stacking on the server keep reminding me i need to get a helicon licence
cursive robin
all this talk of stacking on the server keep reminding me i need to get a helico...
Well, you can also stack in photoshop. I have used it acouple times. There is also another one that I see mentioned a lot called "zerene stacker" which seems to do a good job. But, I too, feel the need to throw money at a stacking software.
acoustic breach
oh i know i used to use photochop but its very bad, especially for the project im doing rn and i had a very good experience with helicon
photochop also just takes a lot longer vs with helicon where i can just use it directly through the capture one plugin
cursive robin
I haven't used Helicon. The Photoshop way is a little complicated. Is Helicon more user friendly?
I had read that, too. Helicon is about 4 times faster than photoshop and twice as fast as Zerene
acoustic breach
idk about user friendly i had no problem with the complexity of photochop stacking, its just annoying because theres a lot more clicking involved than necessary, but i find helicon pretty simple and its a lot faster
especially when working with capture one
but the stuff i do rn is pretty small stacks of around 5-20 photos
acoustic breach
for now tho, second free trial and when i have a bit of monies ill get a lifetime licence because those are lovely and i really appreciate when companies do them
sour sleet
Helicon is pretty nice. I’ve tried photoshop, Zerene and Helicon as of yesterday. Helicon is a winner at the moment, for me.
cursive robin
The background isn't all that interesting (dirty water), but the color on this Ditch Jewel drew me in.
sour sleet
Oh cool. That orange is amazing.
sour sleet
I have a cheap diffuser that goes onto the lens.
untold whale
ah okay
untold whale
👍 sweet
sour sleet
I should maybe look for a smaller flash. I should weigh this thing.
4.5 pounds. lol
My wrist is dying.
The bugs are still a bit out of focus even with f/11.
It's a bit breezy out and I was shooting at 1/250. Maybe that's it.
pliant cradle
The bugs are still a bit out of focus even with f/11.
no, you jsut fucked the focus
XD
sour sleet
Okay. Thanks.
sour sleet
I'll probably stick to f8. 
sour sleet
Spider. It's tough to get the eyes in focus sometimes. lol Christ. This was my best out of about 10 shots. However the R7 eye-af spotted his little eyes at least.
sour sleet
I think I need a better diffuser.
All these images just scream 'flash' and I hate it.
sour sleet
Waiting for a real diffuser to arrive. This cheap one isn't cutting it. The light is still too harsh on the eyes.
sour sleet
AK Diffuser is the one I'm going to go for.
But they are pretty similar. It was a battle between the two.
Just not sure if I want to get it now or in Spring. Time is running out for macro and bugs.
cursive robin
Depending on where you are, yeah.
Yeah the pope one seems a little harder to get close. But the AK is more expensive and takes more time. It's also designed for one set up, but the pope hood you can use it with just about anything (if you get the magnetic one)
I think I'll go with a pope hood, eventually.
sour sleet
That's fair. I only have the 100mm macro, and I don't think I'll get any other macro since it's decent. So I really only need it for one set up.
One day if I have extra play money maybe I'll pick up both.
untold whale
I had the ak diffuser in mind too
pliant cradle
Anyone got free background cards to download and print?
That’s not how it works?
queen iron
That’s not how it works?
Not?
So how it works?
I've just got these 4 cards
And I wonder if there is more cards like this
ember mirage
Equipment, technique, subjects, everything macro
ember mirage
What bellows do you use? I was thinking of getting the Nikon bellows but I'm not sure
acoustic breach
i want to play around with bellows eventually
never used them tho. my latest purchase was a rail which i haven't even had time to use ;-; but soon
@oblique eagle here's the macro forum thread
oblique eagle
Which background do you think is the best for macro?
Black or white?
Or completely dependent on the subject
ember mirage
@oblique eagle There's a company that makes these tiny little blurry background cards that you can use for macro lol
It's awesome for field macro because you can just slide it in your bag
John Abbott uses them quite a bit, if you browse his portfolio website you can see lots of examples of it
kinda ruins the illusion once you know tho
That said I would be hard-pressed to guess which ones are using a background and which ones aren't
wanton axle
desert bramble
