Fujifilm Introduces GFX-100S and more...

Adobe has now added GFX 100S support in LR and ACR.

E.J. Peiker wrote:It also has higher dynamic range, a very easy to use focus stacking function

E.J., if you have a moment, could you describe how the focus stacking function on the Fuji MF cameras works?  I've looked at the process that Nikon has implemented and it's...less than ideal.  I'm wondering whether anyone has, to date, implemented this feature in the manner it should (IMO) work.

There are two methods, one method you choose a starting point and it racks out the lens in steps until the lens reaches infinity. You can leave this system on all the time because if the focus is already at infinity for your focal length, then it will just take a single shot. The other allows you to pick a starting point and an end point. You can select a step size that is largely undefined similar to Nikon's system. I have found that a setting of 5 is VERY conservative for landscape photography and in most cases a setting of 8 is just fine (with lens at f/6.3 to f/9). For macro work I would tend towards something more like a setting of 3 or 4.

Question regarding the initiation of any individual set of images: does the process begin immediately upon initiation (e.g. click the shutter button or whatever the trigger is) and the shutter for the first frame begins immediately or is there an innate delay?

Kerry wrote:Question regarding the initiation of any individual set of images:  does the process begin immediately upon initiation (e.g. click the shutter button or whatever the trigger is) and the shutter for the first frame begins immediately or is there an innate delay?

You can program it any way you want - initial delay, delay between shots, no delay, etc...

And just so I understand, "no delay" means that the sequence is initiated immediately?

Kerry wrote:And just so I understand, "no delay" means that the sequence is initiated immediately?

Yes

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Kerry wrote:And just so I understand, "no delay" means that the sequence is initiated immediately?

Yes

It certainly sounds as though the Fuji approach to this is more complete than any other automatic focus stacking protocol I've seen.

My apologies for pestering you with questions, but when you wrote in an earlier note that you've found a sensitivity (or whatever it's called) setting of 8 to be sufficient at middling apertures, what focal length range are we talking about?  And is this assuming a very near foreground object?  I've been manually focus stacking landscape images for roughly 15 years now and I've found these variables, along with the aperture of course, to be critical in determining the number of frames in a given stack, so I have to assume they'd be factors here as well.

Kerry wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Kerry wrote:And just so I understand, "no delay" means that the sequence is initiated immediately?

Yes

It certainly sounds as though the Fuji approach to this is more complete than any other automatic focus stacking protocol I've seen.

My apologies for pestering you with questions, but when you wrote in an earlier note that you've found a sensitivity (or whatever it's called) setting of 8 to be sufficient at middling apertures, what focal length range are we talking about?  And is this assuming a very near foreground object?  I've been manually focus stacking landscape images for roughly 15 years now and I've found these variables, along with the aperture of course, to be critical in determining the number of frames in a given stack, so I have to assume they'd be factors here as well.

Since the camera adjusts the amount it moves the focus motor based on focal length, it doesn't matter what focal length.  If you are worried, just drop it down to 5 and never worry about it again and yes that includes a close foreground object.  Lets say you are shooting at 23mm (18mm FF equiv) at f/5.6 with initial focus at 2 feet - expect to get about 45 frames at a setting of 1, at 5 you get 19 frames and at 8 you get 13 frames.  Now doing the same thing at 64mm (~50mm FF equiv) you get 116 frames with a setting of 1, 67 frames with a setting of 5 and 39 frames with a setting of 8. 

I set it up using electronic shutter so that there is no shutter shock with an initial delay of 2 seconds and then no delay between the shots in the stack with a setting of 8.  I generally just let the system run out to infinity or manually end the sequence using the menu button based on the image review on the rear screen ending the sequence by hitting the menu button when it's obvious that focus is beyond the far range of what I need.  In landscape photography, however, that would be at infinity so I just let it go.  Don't let the maximum frame count in the set-up scare you.  I have mine set to 200 but realize it stops right after a shot is taken at infinity focus regardless of maximum frames set.  That is why I just leave the function on all the time in landscape photography because if it only needs one shot, it only takes one shot.

Note that this is all with the GFX 50S, they may have tweaked the algorithms some for the smaller pixel pitch on the 100S which would mean more frames.

There's also a fully automatic mode where you just set initial focus and it takes care of everything without a step setting based on whatever Fuji thinks is an acceptable circle of confusion which is unspecified.

On my Sony cameras I do it manually as well since they don't have this facility and I take far fewer frames than what the Fujis take.  But realize DOF is narrower for the same field of view due to using a longer focal length to achieve that equivalent angle of view.

Another nice thing compared to a DSLR for this sort of thing is that you can see each frame in either the viewfinder or the rear LCD, depending on which you were using when you initiated the stack (it won't automatically shift the image from EVF to rear LCD once you start the sequence - if you were looking through the viewfinder when you started the sequence, that's where you will see the images, if you had removed your eye (recommended) before initiating the sequence, you will see them on the rear LCD.

The only system that is better in some regards is the Phase One system (who invented the feature to begin with years ago).  In their system, the metadata of the sequence records the beginning and end of the sequence so an aware RAW converter like Capture One knows which images are from a stack and automatically groups them.  But their system is a bit harder to use on camera but does the same thing as Fuji's.  Note that Fuji has tweaked and improved the system several times through firmware updates adding functionality over time.

Hope this helps.

That's a *big* help, thanks for taking the time to provide all of that detail.

The method as you describe it, with the various options, is really how it ought to work in all systems that include this feature and since a firmware update is all that would be needed to make Nikon's system work this way, there's really no good reason why it doesn't...other than that they just haven't bothered to program it.

So the unspecified "sensitivity" setting is variable depending upon focal length...that's interesting and a critically important piece of information. I am typically photographing in settings where objects--foliage, flowers, etc.--are subject to movement, so executing the sequence as quickly as possible is a priority. That ideally means firing off no more frames than is necessary. (It would also be helpful to be able to begin the process (remotely) immediately, which is why I perseverated on that point earlier in this thread.)

Out of curiosity, have you experimented with the fully automatic version of the Fuji system, to see whether the pre-programmed C of C, whatever it actually is, is sufficient for your needs?

Kerry wrote: Out of curiosity, have you experimented with the fully automatic version of the Fuji system, to see whether the pre-programmed C of C, whatever it actually is, is sufficient for your needs?

It's a fairly new addition via FW and I haven't thoroughly tested that but, knowing Fuji, it should be very good.