Focus Shift Shooting Nikon Z Series

In previous videos I have talked about using focus stacking in your landscape photography. Well, the Nikon Z series cameras have a way to automate this using their Focus Shift feature.

In this video I talk about how to configure Focus Shift shooting on your Nikon Z series camera for landscape photography and how to blend the images in Photoshop. These settings apply to the Nikon Z6, Z6ii, Z7, and Z7ii.

Content:
00:00 - Intro
02:03 - Focus Shift Options
05:58 - Taking a Focus Shift Shot
07:55 - Post Process Stacking
14:32 - Wrap-up

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[JamesWilson]

Wish more content was like this: less about making a lengthy video and more about information. Thank you!

[swcargill]

Thank you for the concise and easy to follow instructions especially the PS part. Instead of just saying stack your images in PS and your done.

[Gary_Foto]

Thank you. You made this whole process super easy for a guy like me who knows zero about Photoshop.

[thomasgrahamdavies]

This is something new to me (as merely a keen hobbyist). Thank you very much for this, it's going to be a massive help.

[cmichaelhaugh]

Very helpful. I’ve tried this a couple of times on the fly without really understanding the settings. Now I really need to do a couple of disciplined tests using your advice.

[jesusalvarado]

Thank you for putting together this helpful video! Very informative!
Got yourself a new subscriber!

[parthmaniar]

Thank you very much for the guidance, testing, and willingness to share information.

[amandaonus]

Thank you Jeffrey. Your video is so helpful. I have spent a day trying to sort it out and yours is the first complete video, showing the whole process. Cheers Mandy. P.S. do you have a video showing how to save the focus stack to MY MENU? Many thanks

[sonyapozzebon]

cool and thankyou for the process in photoshop it was easy to follow

[pamdobbs]

Thank you! That was great teaching. I really want o try this na that also means I need to actually try Ps as well.

[kellyhorne]

Thank you, your tutorial was so easy to follow and understand. I have done several focus stacking images with flowers setting up in my little studio but want to get out and do landscapes. Very helpful tutorial.

[mr_sharur]

❤❤❤❤❤❤ I’m so glad that I found this video, mega helpful

[AccessiblePhotography]

Hello from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Really liked this video. I have just ordered a Z series camera and although focus shift is available on my current camera I wanted to see what it was like in a Z. Your explanation and walk through is really good. Not too fast; very clear; very well explained. Subbed straight away. Twice! As I was in my personal account initially and now in my public face account 😊.
Your final crop really made the image. Liked that a lot. I am off now to watch 5 tips for autumn photography. I have missed peak colour due to illness but there are still some leaves up. Bye for now.
Alastair

[MarkRomine]

Nice explanation! The problem that I run into with focus stacking with my Nikons is when there are moving objects due to a breeze, like tree limbs, leaves, plants and gases. PS does not seem to be able to get those alignments right and they often look funky. It seems that this process works best when every items in the scene is perfectly stationary.

[Al-pwpj]

Thank you for the explanation it was very helpful. I would like to know how do you handle in Photoshop objects in the background that are moving such as leaves.

[EelkoA]

Hi ! Nice video, question, which Z camera support focus stacking / shifting and are there ones who also auto stack them for you or not?

[carlmcneill]

I've used the focus shift for macro but not for landscape. One of the 3 things that effects depth of field is the distance to where the focal point is from the camera. That depth of field changes the further away the focus point is moved. As far as I know Nikon cameras shift the focus on an even amount throughout the shift phase instead of increasing the depth of field as it focuses farther away. If you're shooting macro that depth of field isn't going to change that much but if you're focusing on a rock or log at the minimum focus distance and then moving it through the scene, you may only have inches of depth of field at the start. But by the time you're halfway through the scene the depth of field may be several years deep until you reach infinity. I think what I need to do is try focusing manually where I think I need to focus and then try focus shifting. Then compare both photos. I don't want to take more photos than I have to because things might move on me. And sometimes I bracket my shots. I think Nikon needs to have one mode for landscape and one for macro. The one for landscape should adjust the depth of field accordingly depending on the focal length and aperture settings instead of shifting the focal point the same amount for every shot. I hope I'm making sense. I used to have a Tamron 24-70mm that had some focus breathing. I traded it in on the Nikon lens. So far I don't see much focus breathing but I haven't done much focus stacking with it.

[HaggenKennedy]

Hey, Jeff, nice vid. Thanks for sharing this with us. May I ask, though, how do you record the camera menu? I'd like to do that, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Do you use an external device like an Atomos, or do you just use the PC/Mac? Maybe you've even already done a video on this... if so, could you maybe point me in the right direction? Thanks!

[hendrickziegler]

In case any Nikon dev engineer takes a look on this video: Maybe try to copy Panasonics system just a bit :) There you just activate focus stacking and start the process like a normal photo with the shutter button. This means that you can also use it without a tripod (unlike Nikon). Also, it starts from the desired main subject and then focuses in front and behind the subject. This helps with ensuring that whatever subject caught the eye in the first place is dead sharp in any case.

Taking 20 shots with a Z7 is nice and achieves the same result in the end - but at that moment you will have filled your memory card with 2GB of images for just one photo. And it requires way more processing power to combine 20 shots.

[manueldame]

Hey Jeffrey, thanks for your videos they are like master class to me. Question I have plan to buy the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D but it does not have any comunication with the camera (z5) do you think the focus shift shooting works as well. Thanks in advance