Nikon D850 focus step size at 1:1 magnification

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:16 pm

It is amazing how Nikon always seems to just miss the boat on these details in recent years. In the film days it was Nikon which had the sensible professional tools and Canon that kept missing the boat on things like mirror lock-up.

ray_parkhurst · Post by **ray_parkhurst** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:19 pm

leander wrote:Yeah!! but....cables and a tablet and I have to put on my glasses and I had to get a special stylist because the software on the tablet doesn't expand so you have to push buttons that are microscopic.... it would be a pleasure to do focus stacking in the field with the camera controlling everything. It's possible...it appears Nikon has taken a stab at it but for people that do a lot of this the 200mm macro is a better lens to use (over the 105) - better Bokeh, better subject to lens distance. I'm just wishing I suppose.

I love my AF200, though I wish I used it more. The lens that stays on my D7000 is a 28-105 AF Macro, swapped for the Laowa 60mm when I want to do something serious (wonderful wonderful lens). The 200AF or the 70-180AF go with me to the beach or on hikes, which seems a rare experience these days.

billjanes1 · Post by **billjanes1** » Sat Sep 16, 2017 7:18 am

ray_parkhurst wrote:
Lou Jost wrote:
On page 217 they discuss the focus shift (stacking) feature. It can not be used with live view
Well, that's $3500 I don't need to spend then.
I had no interest in this feature anyway, so no harm no foul in my case. All I care about is:

FF
EFCS (or better yet full electronic shutter)
No AA filter
Decent tethering

Far as I know, this is the only camera that offers this particular feature set other than the 5DSR.

Just because focus stacking is not available in live view, that does not necessary mean it can not be used with the electronic shutter. The mirror could be kept up and the electronic shutter activated many times with out updating or even showing the image on the LCD of the camera. We will have to wait and see.

Bill

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Sat Sep 16, 2017 7:52 am

Just because focus stacking is not available in live view, that does not necessary mean it can not be used with the electronic shutter.

But Ray said

Nikon has enabled a fully-electronic shutter that operates only when the camera is in Live View mode

Anyway we'll soon know for sure.

ray_parkhurst · Post by **ray_parkhurst** » Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:26 am

Lou Jost wrote:
Just because focus stacking is not available in live view, that does not necessary mean it can not be used with the electronic shutter.
But Ray said
Nikon has enabled a fully-electronic shutter that operates only when the camera is in Live View mode
Anyway we'll soon know for sure.

I was writing what I read in a review, which may wrong. Has anyone received their D850 yet?

Steve S · Post by **Steve S** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 4:19 pm

Both the Manual (p212) and the Menu Guide (p80) state that Silent Photography is an available option with Focus Shift Shooting. Five release modes are available, continuous shooting at 5fps or with a selectable delay for flash recharging. You initiate the focus-stepping sequence from a menu page by selecting the Start option and pressing the OK button, after which the camera starts the sequence after about a 3s delay. It's going to take some practice to take hand-held sequences this way!

Given sluggish delivery of the D850 we all have time to RTFMs, totalling 674 pages.

As to EFCS with mechanical curtain ending the exposure, it's available in Q and Q-continuous mode as well as Mup, and an exposure delay of 0.2s to 3s is available. See d5 and d6 options. This looks pretty good.