Has anyone here tried Macro Studio for focus stacking? I’d be interested to hear how you think it compares to Helicon Focus, particularly the quality of the finished stacks, handling of fine detail and halos, processing speed, and ease of retouching. If you’ve used both, which do you prefer and why? Any side-by-side examples would be great to see!

Just stumbled across this announcement of a new Laowa 35mm 1:1 lens: https://www.venuslens.net/product/acris-35mm-f-2-8-1x-macro-apo/ AF and weather sealing included!

Went on a macro walk again today for the first time in a while. The variety of insects has become noticeably sparser, but I still managed to find this weevil. A very cooperative model, as it turned out, since I was able to capture a few different perspectives. For the first two images I used the sky as the background, and for the last three the surrounding vegetation, resulting in totally different visual styles. Why f/5.6 one might ask? Well, at 2:1 magnification the Laowa tends to be sharpest at that aperture, and I can keep the ISO and flash power reasonably low. Handheld brackets of 50-90 frames. Sony A6700 + Laowa 90mm + Godox V1S + AK Diffuser f/5.6 - 1/160s - ISO 200 MacroStudio + Photoshop + ON1 Photo RAW

I shot these images two years ago, when I was just starting out with macro photography. There are only a few places in Austria where this beautiful beetle can be found, one of them being right here in Vienna. It was obviously resting on this tiny Xerolenta obvia snail shell, which made for a rather nice composition. For both single shot images I used the evening sky as the background. Sony A6700 + Laowa 65mm + Godox V1S + DIY Diffuser 65mm - f/11 - 1/160s - ISO160

The Laowa FF 45mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro 1-5X APO has finally arrived on the channel! I took it straight out into the field to see how it performs in real-world conditions, putting its unique fixed working distance, internal zoom and APO optics to the test on some tiny subjects. If you've ever wondered whether a dedicated high-magnification macro lens is worth the investment, this review should help you decide. I'd love to know what you think once you've watched it. Would you add this lens to your macro kit, or are you happy sticking with a traditional 1:1 macro lens? Have fun, and I'll see you in the comments! 📷🕷️🐞