# Panasonic focus stacking



## davholla (Nov 28, 2016)

I took some photos of springtails the other day and I was happy with them





EF7A9803Springtail by davholla2002, on Flickr

and



EF7A9809Springtail by davholla2002, on Flickr


Until I saw this
In der Gemeinschaft schmeckt es eben besser :-) Dicyrtomina ornata (Kugelspringer) Collembola
and
Größenvergleich zwischen Dicyrtomina ornata vorne und dem kleineren Sminthurinus aureus hinten (Kugelspringer) Collembola
(Not sadly my photos so you have to look at the link but it is worth it).
on Flickr
Do people think that similar could be achieved with Canon camera and MPE65 mm lens?


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## petrochemist (Nov 28, 2016)

davholla said:


> Do people think that similar could be achieved with Canon camera and MPE65 mm lens?



I think better images are achieved without resorting to the MPE65 Here's an example sadly not mine. Johan usually uses a motorised stage to take 100's of images to stack for his shots. Details will be scattered around his website (where the linked image is).

Personally I don't think I've managed anything up to the standard you shot...


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## Overread (Nov 28, 2016)

There's no reason the MPE couldn't achieve similar shots to the ones you've linked to. 

Consider that in your own the light is fairly flat and lacking in contrast; whilst the linked ones have quick strong ambient and high contrast which add to the pop. This can be achieved with good lighting but also can be a factor of editing and tweaking the brightness and contrast tabs.

Far as I can tell depth of field is a near constant with regard to magnification factor. No matter how you get there (dedicated lens - extension tubes - close up adaptors etc....) once you're at a set magnification the depth of field is also fixed (assuming the same sensor size and aperture). Any variation I think is so small as to be impractical for difference for photographers.

So getting a good angle and focus stacking are going to be key elements if you want a greater depth of field. You might also get that greater depth of field with a smaller aperture and sacrifice fullsize sharpness. Remember at 5:1 chances are you're already wanting to shoot at neat wide open on the lens to avoid diffraction (and its effective aperture is near to f20). So you've actually got quite a few stops of aperture that you could potentailly use if you've got the lighting and don't mind softer results (remembering that at 5:1 its going to be softer than at 1:1)


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