In-Camera Focus Stacking

In-Camera Focus Stacking

Years ago, I was asked by the folks at Canon what features I’d like to see in future cameras, and one of my suggestions was an automated focus-stacking capability—dramatically increasing an image’s depth of field by combining multiple captures taken at different focus points. I’ve been using and writing about the manual technique, for both landscape and macro subjects as small as snowflakes, for several years. Now the industry has incorporated in-camera focus stacking features in a number of ingenious ways; it’s offered in cameras including Panasonic LUMIX, Olympus OM-D, Nikon’s Z 6, Z 7 and D850, and Canon’s new entry-level, mirrorless full-frame EOS RP camera.

I got my hands on a Canon EOS RP and started experimenting with its In-Camera Focus Bracketing feature. The method incorporated into the EOS RP moves the focus elements inside the lens at incremental distances based on the focal length, aperture and camera settings. In the camera’s menu for focus stacking, the photographer can control three variables: Number of Shots, Focus Increment