Nice OS Focus Stacking tool.

EDIT: I got in a hurry and put the same image twice

Thanks for pointing out focus-stack.

Easy to build from source and easy to run and quickly see results.

Very quick and easy with focus-stack using SOOC JPEG files

Canon DPP edit of all of the raw CR3 files. Same recipe applied to all. Canon DPP depth compositing tool took about 45 minutes of CPU time.

Default cropping for both programs. Camera did the focus increment. Not very good lighting. F/9.0, exposure time 1/5, ISO 320, 56 mm, EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM,

Thanks again for mentioning focus-stack. I am very impressed with how quick and easy it is.

I think that Canon DPP does a little better because it is working with the raw files. I edited my earlier post to correct my mistake of including the same image twice.
dprevived.com/t/nice-os-focus-stacking-tool/4491/post/53421/

Has anyone who does focus stacking tried the computer-based tethering programs? I know for a fact that DigicamControl allows control of exposure parameters and can increment the focus mechanism on AF lenses when the lens is set to manual focus (at least with the Canons I've tried), and if IIRC, it had a scripting facility. The computer I had it on is dead, so I can't check right now.

couldnt get it to download.

sometimes computers just arnt the right tool for the job. nothing can beat human response. i have a system i built and use a single cnc machine rail with 2 roller bearing cars. 1 has my camera attached via a small tripod head and the rear car has my micro studio attached. 100mm on the left i have a screw drive that attaches to the rear car via an arm and a large 100mm dia incremented control wheel at the front that i turn to move the micro studio towards or away from the camera. 1 turn of the wheel is = 1mm the whole system is super fast and very accurate with absloutly no vibration at all for shooting live subjects. my micro studio has a carasel as the base so i can spin the subject to suit my composition. i have many little tricks and mechonisums to control the position of the live subject to many to list here.
i also use a 7 inch field monitor.

<pre>

pushd ~/src
mkdir focus-stack
git clone https://github.com/PetteriAimonen/focus-stack
cd focus-stack
make
make -n install
install -D build/focus-stack "/usr/local/bin/focus-stack" 
pushd ~/photos
mkdir 2023jul06_focus-stack
pushd 2023jul06_focus-stack
focus-stack --output=IMG_4596-4635.JPG --jpgquality=99 --verbose IMG_4???.JPG

</pre>

pushd is a Korn shell function I have been using since 1987, but did not write. Let me know if you want a copy.
The card reader is on my iMac where I run ksh as my login shell as I do on Linux.

<pre>

cp -i -pX  /Volumes/EOS_DIGITAL/DCIM/100CANON/IMG_459[6-9].JPG  /Volumes/jrm_photos/2023jul06_focus-stack/
cp -i -pX  /Volumes/EOS_DIGITAL/DCIM/100CANON/IMG_46[0-3][0-9].JPG  /Volumes/jrm_photos/2023jul06_focus-stack/ 
exiftool -tagsfromfile /Volumes/EOS_DIGITAL/DCIM/100CANON/IMG_4598.CR3 DC_IMG_4596-4635.JPG
exiftool -imagesize -datetimeoriginal -description DC_IMG_4596-4635.JPG
exiftool -"description=Minolta Lens made in Japan MC ROKKOR-X PG 1:1.4 f=50mm, with Urth adapter for use on Canon, depth composite made on July 6, 2023" DC_IMG_4596-4635.JPG

</pre>

It appears to me that focus-stack might do better with a larger F Number and a larger focus increment than does Canon DPP. Next time I use focus-stack, I plan to set the focus increment in the camera to the default instead of to the minimum and use a larger F Number.

An advantage to focus-stack is it achieves a result in seconds which can be viewed while Canon DPP uses 45 minutes of CPU time to achieve a slightly better result.

A mechanism to move the camera instead of changing the focus on the lens might be superior because it would eliminate some of the changes that a different focus distance introduces. Letting the Camera change the focus distance is easy but moving the camera might be better.
For example:

Helicon is the focus stacking software that came to mind, although I've never used it.

The Olympus TG-5, and I assume TG-6, as very nice focus bracketing feature. It works very well in Macro mode, especially because this is a small-sensor camera with good depth of field. JPEG only.

Fujifilm X-S20 has focus bracketing, manual and auto, but how it works is not clear from the owner's manual, pates 113-114.

fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/x-s20/x-s20_manual_en_s_f.pdf

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That's why I have a DOF app on my phone. The app calculates DOF pretty accurately but when I can't get the DOF I want in a single shot I use focus stacking.

For the type of "close-ups" I do, I rarely need more than 6 or 7 shots in the sequence and the focus stacking in Photoshop does a really good job at aligning and blending the shots to a single image.

I have a new windows 11 desktop and it just wouldnt run .

thanks, i will give it a miss. 35 years ago i would have had a play, but my poor old brain is just not up to the task any more .