Speed of FB Tube vs Helicon Remote

[gianni333]

I saw a video of the FB Tube and it looks like the shutter has to be pressed until the stack is complete. This would mean that I would need to touch the shutter button of the camera, which wouldn't be good for the image quality I guess. It would also require to stay around while the camera is shooting the stack, instead of starting it and coming back when the stack is done.

Is that the case or can the tube also be used to shoot time lapse focus stacking, so that it takes a stack of X images every x seconds similar to the timelapse stacking of helicon remote?

Also does the FB Tube have the 4 second delay after each image taken like helicon remote ? On the videos on youtube it seems to be a lot faster

[Stas Yatsenko]

Initially the main idea behind the tube was providing possibility to shoot a stack at a high speed, it's been initialy intended for handheld shooting and shooting in the field. This doesn't mean that it doesn't work for in-studio shooting, but the tube does not control the camera, therefore it cannot calculate and communicate the number of shots to the camera. When shooting with the tube you can only control shooting process manually, by depressing the shutter release button or through a remote control.
If shooting speed is not crucial for you and if you need to set the number of shots, the time interval between shots from the app, Helicon Remote will work better for you. With Helicon FB Tube you will need to control it all manually, however with Helicon Remote shooting speed is much lower.

[gianni333]

Thanks for the explanation. Shooting Speed is important to me since I'm making hundreds of stacks in a day and these 4-5 seconds delays after each shot add up to quite some time

So if I have a IR remote for the camera that would take a picture every X seconds (or set the camera to timelapse mode) and I have the tube attached and set it to e.g. 10 shots at interval 1, then I would not have to press and hold the shutter button, but could let/ IR remote / timelapse run, is that right?

[Stas Yatsenko]

Yes, we have customers who use the tube with remote shutter releases, remote timers, intervalometers.

[dfwjr1973]

On the note of using the FB Tube for timelapse with focus stacking... After shooting a stack, and the shutter is released, does the FB Tube return the focus to the initial position for the next stack?

I just ordered mine for the specific purpose of focus stacking macro photography timelapses but now am curious if this is the right device for me as I have an intervalmeter making the timelapse shots over a period of days... if I have to manually return the lens to the initial focus then this won‘t work unattended...

Thanks.

[Catherine]

No, unfortunately, the tube does not return focus to the initial point.

[dfwjr1973]

Then, how exactly does this "Yes, we have customers who use the tube with remote shutter releases, remote timers, intervalometers." work?

[Catherine]

It works like normal shooting with remote shutter release, but the tube sends a command for the lens to shift focus with each shot. However, you will need to return focus to the initial point manually, which may not be quite suitable for your specific application indeed.