Hi Rob,
Not only does it align the images it also
creates high and low pass filters and removes
islands. The program is maintained by the
author who is a member of the Microscope
Group to which I subscribe. This software is
not as easy to use as Helicon Focus, but once
mastered it can do much more. I use it mainly
for combining up to 100 or so images done at
very high magnification in the microscope
where depth of focus can be a micrometer or
less. The program comes with a set of macros
which can be tweaked to suit individual
images, but the defaults handle 99% of mine.
The beauty of this program is one can talk to
the author if there is a problem and he can
usually solve it in a few minutes.
The subject has to be dead still for the
duration of the experiment. But Alan is
working on a 'plugin' to make through focus
'movies.' These would be very useful in the
microscope. I use a modified webcam for this,
but the resolution is limited to 640 x 420.
Using the *ist D they could be made at much
higher resolution -- for low magnification
work of course. A 640 x 420 image will image
lines 180 nanometres apart using high NA
objectives so there is no need for more
pixels (they would be a nuisance) until you
get down to 10X and 20X objectives.
CombZ is free as you may know. Pick it up at:
http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZ5/combinez5.htm
and let me know how you get on. Alan is one
of the real experts in this field.
Don
Rob Studdert wrote:
On 12 Feb 2006 at 0:40, Don Williams wrote:
After Godfrey set me right I made another set
of images -- like I did a week or so ago
(without making a silly mistake) when testing
a Macro Converter. This time I used the Sigma
50/2.8 EX Macro alone. The nearest flower was
110 mm from the front edge of the lens mount
and the furthermost was 330mm. This makes the
depth of focus 220mm. I used CombineZ 5 this
time to stack 21 images. The aperture was 3.5
and exposure 150s using the Vivitar TTL
730AFPK flash pointed up with a white card
reflector at 45 degrees or so.
The picture is here:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/mimosa/HOLD/cz-002.jpg
Hi Don,
Very interesting, CombineZ 5 appears to have done a very good job here, this
opens up many possibilities. Layering images manually is a bit tedious and
error prone and I'd never even consider layering 21 images manually. Does the
application also compensate for small lateral shift, magnification and rotation
errors?
Cheers,
Rob Studdert
HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA
Tel +61-2-9554-4110
UTC(GMT) +10 Hours
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/
Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
--
Dr E D F Williams
__________________________________
http://www.kolumbus.fi/mimosa/index.htm
http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams
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