FOCUS STACKING with A Nikon D850

Hi Tom, very good explanation of this feature. I have the D850 over one Year now and I really love it. I use this function from time to time. It is much easier than manually. But always keep in mind, don’t shoot to close, leave a bit space around for cropping because the different focuses changes the view a bit. I did this mistake in the beginning. On landscape it is not so important but I also love stairs and staircases and there it really matters. It sucks If you loose the corners especially when you figure it out at the end of stacking and editing.

You mentioned apps that allows this for cameras without this feature. Can you name them? Also, would have loved to see the post-production part

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Tom. I've done macro focus stacking with a focusing rail, but haven't done it in a landscape setting. Good info. One question: I see a debate over using rule of thirds grid versus the PHI grid based on the Fibonacci Sequence. They're similar, but somewhat subtly different. Do you concern yourself over these differences, or just let your trained eye determine composition?

Thanks Tom. I’ve had my D850 since they first came out. I shoot only landscapes, and have tried this feature awhile ago. It works but seems more geared towards macro, or the type of image you were shooting with the huts. Personally I prefer to be in control. Using AF with back button focusing I usually take 3 shots: infinity, a third from bottom of the frame, and finally to closet object to the lens. Works a treat every time.

Thanks, that's an excellent and very useful video, not only for Nikon users but for owners of other brand cameras as well.
I own a Fuji X-T3 which has this same feature and while I haven't done a lot of serious work with it yet I have played around with it quite a bit and so far I'm very impressed.
Among Fuji users there's quite a bit of confusion about the effects the Focus Width Step settings make to the number of images captured. From experiments I have done so far this setting has a huge effect on the number of images captured, particularly when using long focal lengths where the natural depth of field is so shallow.
With the X-T3 my experiments seem to indicate that a setting of 10 moves the focus point with each shot by a distance equivalent to the depth of field of the lens at whatever aperture the lens is currently set at. I have found that using a setting towards the higher end, but less than 10 (around 7 or 8) produces the necessary number of images to get a good stack on most occasions but macro shots sometimes require a much lower setting.
You are right about Photoshop. Most times it will produce a usable stack but often needs some manual blending to get the best results. I haven't tried the other software packages.

waste of time if you ask me

Thanks Tom, I've used this before, but still nice to have this as a reference.

Nicely shown and explained Tom thanks. For the benefit of others the two pieces of focus stacking software mentioned were Zerene Stacker and Helicon Focus. Note l have no affiliation with either product.

Hi Tom, I’m using a Nikon D750 so I don’t have this feature; I focus stack manually. When I do landscape photography and I need to focus stack, I usually just take 3 – 4 photos. Now, if and when I upgrade to D850 (which takes up so much storage per photo), I only want to take as many photos as necessary when I do focus stacking. That said, how do you replicate taking just 3 – 4 photos with automatic focus staking (with the foreground all the way to background still in focus)? Do i Set the number of shots to 4, and then set the focus step width to the highest possible number (10)? Are there disadvantages to this approach? Thanks.