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by Blck-shouldered Kite on Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:44 pm
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  Consider that warping of the transparency may be a cause of scannings not being as sharp as expected.  

1.  I'm wondering if stacking images of the slide might render a sharper digital image of the transparency.  

2.  Of course, one would have to digitize the image using the DSLR and the other appropriate tools for close-up work.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Sun Aug 31, 2014 11:34 am
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Craig or Royce:

Confused as to whether I should purchase the Pro or Prosumer version of Zerene Stacker. Any feedback please?

Robert
 

by Craig Browne on Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:26 pm
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I use the prosumer version,,     http://www.zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker/docs/faqlist#what_are_the_differences_between_personal_and_professional
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:44 pm
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I would think that you want to preserve embedded color profiles which means that you have to use the Pro version.
 

by Craig Browne on Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:51 pm
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Hey Robert,, Not to change the subject, But what happened to your 80-400 loose rubber rings,, Did Nikon fix under warranty.. ?
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Sun Aug 31, 2014 7:51 pm
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Craig Browne wrote:Hey Robert,,  Not to change the subject, But what happened to your 80-400 loose rubber rings,, Did Nikon fix under warranty.. ?
Yes, the zoom ring was fixed under warranty.  And everyone at Nikon was very polite and accommodating.  And everything went very smoothly….that is, right up until I opened the box upon its return.  

When I unwrapped the bubble-wrapped lens, I found that the hood (in reverse position of course) was cocked sideways. I found that the hood was jammed on there enough that I had difficulty removing it.   I called Nikon immediately.  It seemed to me that someone had dropped the lens just before packing it.  But putting it under magnification, I determined there was no fine abrasive marks at the point on the hood where the lens/hood would have taken the impact on any floor or hard surface.  The inside of the hood, right at that point, has a very fine crack through it.  At the time, I was very upset and told Nikon that if they had received the lens in this state from me……they would have voided the warranty.  

Instead, I got the lens back from Nikon……in that state!!!!!  Initially, I was irate enough to insist that they replace my lens.  And I may still insist this.  But I can insist all I want and that does not force them to do anything.  I have talked with the supervisor's supervisor at this point.  I have not talked with the person (people) who make such decisions.  The last time I spoke with Nikon I had agreed to send them an image of the undamaged box.  But when I went to photograph the box……I found that in fact, it was damaged.  

Nikon told me that they would "work with me" regarding the hood.  All I needed to do was send them pictures of the hood crack.  I did.  To this point, Nikon replaced the lens hood and told me that if there was a problem with the lens in any way, that they would "work with me" on it.   I have been shooting ever since and I have to honestly say that I cannot yet see any problem.

The shipping cardboard box did have a crinkle on each of two diagonal corners.  I had sent them the D610, 80--400 AFS and my TC14 EII.  Each was bubble wrapped individually and with incredible thoroughness; each with a 4" thick wrap radius all around each of the three pieces.  In fact, when I began to open the box, it occurred to me that I honestly felt that one could drop this box from a skyscraper and although it would rupture on impact, the camera and optics would be undamaged.  But that was before I discovered the hood cocked sideways.

At this point, Nikon has politely refused to accept that the lens was dropped at their facility immediately before being wrapped.  This is what I initially insisted had happened; that the person packing it, dropped it and then quickly continued the packing without anyone noticing.  They told me, in a very polite manner, that this could not have happened.  Of course, when you think about it…..they have no way of knowing that I did not drop the lens. They did say to me that they believe me that I did not drop it.  

In the end, their contention is that it could have happened in shipping, after the box was left them and it could not have happened at their facility.  As I said, this lens is very sharp and I have to say…….it is still very sharp.  I love it.

At this point, I must say that if you do not video the opening of any box shipped to you……that you are potentially making a mistake.  As I said, in the end, Nikon sent me a new hood at no charge.  They even paid for the packing and very heavy insurance on the way from me to them.  I know because when I tried to pay for $5000 worth of protection, UPS told me that the shipping label that Nikon sent to me was covered for that.   They even expedited the entire operation throughout the repair, because right after they received the lens, I was "short scheduled" for a shoot (of shorebirds) with a close friend of mine who knew where to expect a massive flight of shorebirds headed down the Maine coast.   It was right after that storm that went up the East coast this last August.

You will remember that I did not want to send this lens for this very minor repair.  The Supervisor tried to get the boys in repair to just send me the rubber ring.  Nope!  They refused to.  The Supervisor told me that he would personally follow this entire repair and make sure nothing went wrong. I reluctantly agreed to send it and told the Nikon folks that they were being watched because I belonged to a forum of photographers that will know the outcome of this.  I am serious.  I did not tell them the name of the forum, the same as I will not tell anyone at NSN the name of the Nikon people I dealt with.  I will tell you that they were all exceptionally nice people.  And I do mean exceptionally professional.  When NikonUsa at Mellville asks you if they can put you on hold.  They always clarify that it is only going to be 2-3 minutes and then they wait for your permission.  After they leave you on hold, if it approaches that limit, they always come back to the phone and update you on the status of your request.  That is professional courtesy.  And no, that is not the same everywhere.  In fact, it is quite the opposite (I am not referring to Canon in any way whatsoever).  Most people, when they ask, "Can I put you on hold for a second"……they come back minutes later.  I cannot overemphasize how polite and accommodating NikonUsa at Melville has been.  

I did not pay one single dime for any of this.  Granted, I initially was certain that the lens was dropped.  Now, I am beginning to believe that they may have a point; i.e. that the box was dropped during shipping and that there was enough inertia (my word….not theirs :D ) to jamb that hood so that it was cocked sideways when it got to me.   But you know…..I still have trouble imagining that the cracked hood resulted from dropping that box.  It's a stretch.  

E.J….what do you think? 

I will say it again….the lens seems perfectly ok and as sharp as it was when it left me.  But I am still shooting and inspecting. 
  
Robert   


Last edited by Blck-shouldered Kite on Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:27 pm, edited 4 times in total.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:03 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:I would think that you want to preserve embedded color profiles which means that you have to use the Pro version.
E.J., would you please take a few minutes to explain what that means?  What are imbedded color profiles and they are not preserved in any but the Pro version?

Thank you.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:19 pm
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The link provided above shows the differences between the pro version and the lesser version. Not sure I understand the question, why would you not retain the color profile that you were working in regardless of whether it's ProPhoto, Adobe RGB, or sRGB, or whatever you are using. Your images always have a color profile associated with it. Rather than going through a long explanation, there is tons of information on color profiles, color management etc on this site and many others. Simply Google color management.
 

by DChan on Sun Aug 31, 2014 11:49 pm
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Even editing in Photoshop it also would ask if you want to work in the embedded color profile.

Pick the pro version of the program if you have doubt.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:14 pm
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Re-read this thread and then downloaded the Zerene program for a 30 day trial.

Is it true that you cannot stack RAW files?
 

by Craig Browne on Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:21 pm
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Yes,You need to use tiff"s


Last edited by Craig Browne on Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

by Royce Howland on Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:55 pm
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You would not want to stack RAW files anyway. Many stand-alone apps like Zerene Stacker are excellent at the post-processing job they're built for. But they are not excellent at RAW conversion, which would have to be done internally in the app in order to take RAW files as input. For most purposes it's better to convert the files first in a tool designed for that purpose, such as Lightroom / Adobe Camera Raw, Capture One, or some other good one. I always convert to 16-bit TIFF's, and feed those into the next tool in sequence...
Royce Howland
 

by E.J. Peiker on Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:13 pm
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I was just starting to type basically the first and third sentence that Royce wrote :D
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Mon Oct 20, 2014 4:42 am
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1.  Has anyone purchased/used this equipment?

http://www.cognisys-inc.com/stackshot/stackshot.php

2.  Right now am leaning toward the Novoflex Castel-L Focusing Rack.  Hate to spend that kind of money but it seems that this may be analogous to a tripod; i.e. the temptation to buy cheap is there, but a cheap tripod is regretted down the road.

  
 

by Larry Shuman on Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:58 pm
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I don't understand something. I thought in photo stacking I had to keep the camera/lens locked down in order to preserve image registration. Once that has occurred all I had to do was refocus thru the image. The only use for a focus rail would close focus. I think I might be missing something here.

Larry
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:15 pm
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Craig Browne wrote:http://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker .  Hey Robert you are going to love photo stacking its addictive,, Here is a video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ruemLw ... QykUrj-S2I   Micheal Erlewine  photo stacking on youtube he  has something like 23 videos on photo stacking, Macro lens selection, I think he bought every macro lens for Nikon, The music in the videos may put you to sleep, But the guy really is the grandmaster of Nikon Macro or close up photography..

Larry,

Yes, you are right.  And I also thought that it simply required locking everything down and then focusing incrementally , closer and closer and taking a shot on each focus change.  But there can be a lot more to it........if you desire.  That is about all I know.

Above is what Craig Browne posted in this thread.  If you click on the links below, you will see what he means. 

Hope that helps you too Larry. 

Robert 

http://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker#st ... eLBuy.dpuf


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ruemLw ... FtaoR.dpuf
 

by Larry Shuman on Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:11 am
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If you move the camera to focus closer wouldn't the focus registration be messed up? I use a D3 for stacking. I shoot groups of flowers using the D3/70~180 setup. I adjust the image to inside the frame of all 51 sensors. I then move my single sensor across the image taking a shot at seven to five points and use photoshop CS6 to auto-align and auto-blend.I cannot zoom the image otherwise it would be out of registration. I  crop it as needed.  It seems to work quite well.
 

by DChan on Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:12 am
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Moving the camera also changes the field of view.
 

by Larry Shuman on Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:47 am
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I now understand after thinking about this a little. The use of a rail is to set really close focus first. Once that is completed and the setup is locked down then the focus stacking work begins. It takes awhile for the gray matter to fully charge some times.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:09 am
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1. :) Don't count on what I am saying when it comes to anything to do with stacking.

Regarding stacking, I am an absolute newbie, just beginning to learn the very basics.

2. My First Attempt:
Tried my first shot a couple of weeks ago on a bumblebee on a sunflower head, after dawn on a cold morning.

There was no rail involved. I just "hassled" the tripod into position, taking about 5 frantic minutes. Then I gained each exposure with the same technique I think you mention Larry….by just incrementally focusing closer and and exposing on each incremental change.

I am certain there was no movement at all. Since it was not long after first light……the air was dead still and the light was diffused. It was quite cold enough to assure that the bee was not going to move.

At first, it seemed to be working, but when I combined everything in the Zerene 30-day trial download, it was quite full of "artifacts". So, as I said, I am just learning.

3. Zerene:
This week, I repeatedly conversed with Rik Littlefield at Zerene systems. He told me:

"Prosumer and Professional have exactly the same technical capabilities. The only differences are in terms and conditions of the license agreement." ….and that Prosumer would be a good starting point for me.

4. Dchan brings up a good point I think: Moving the camera in, changes the FOV. So, now I am re-confused…... LOL

5. Oh well. At my age I think I am beginning to accept there are few big endeavors that culminate in sudden, overnight gains. It seems that most anything really worthwhile, begins with incremental gains and requires these all along the way. Stacking is going to be that way….for me anyway. And I accept that. The big challenge for me is going to be maintaining interest, for this style of shooting is tedious for me.
 

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