Helicon Soft Forum

I've downloaded a trial version of Helicon Remote to see if I can get working before I actually buy the software. Problem is that the steps between two focus points are just too big. I've already set the Steps option (File>Preferences>Canon dialog) to small, before that I wasn't able to get two focused pictures within one "stack".

Lens: Canon EFS 18-135 mm STM
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal length: 56 mm
Lens is set to AF (no limit switch)

Best result I got so far was with manual settings:

Shots: 7
Interval: 1

The problem is that with these settings I still have blurry parts in the final image so I would either need to change aperture (and lose overall sharpness) or get more shots over the same distance. In EOS Utility I can make much smaller steps but then off course I can't automate the process. Am I overlooking something here? Is there another way to increase the amount of shots?

You need the small step, which you said you've already set, and it should be identical to the small step in EOS Utility. Could you please explain what exactly you mean saying you were not able to get two focused pictures within one "stack"?

Hi Catherine, what happened was that I made a rookie mistake and I must have overlooked something. I double checked and indeed the steps are identical in EOS Utility, sorry for the trouble. I ended up using another lens and that fixed my problem (same amount of steps but the DOF was better as to have more overlap). Also Helicon Focus works like a charm, much better than Photoshop with the same stack of images.

Have you done the essential calibration first?