why is my point and shoot making batter captures than a DSLR

[chadfx]

I've had good results with Helicon Focus...I hope you will as well.

Cheers and good luck!

[Ron]

Hi Morgan, another thing to look at is image stabilization. This should be switched off. Image stabilization tends to alter the focal length giving inconsistent results.
 

[Marcel]

Hi Morgan, another thing to look at is image stabilization. This should be switched off. Image stabilization tends to alter the focal length giving inconsistent results.

Image Stabilization doesn't alter the focal length (if it would do this, you would see the image wildly zooming when you look through the viewfinder with IS enabled).

But your advice is good anyway. When you are using a tripod Image Stabilization should indeed be turned off.  Otherwise the Image Stabilization would try to correct a non existing movement, and this actually adds blur to the photo.

[morganW]

ack, my results are getting worse. I shot at ISO 800 and F11. I also added a few shots that I ran through focus stacking. One limitation I have is that I don't have a remote shutter release and my D3200 does not support Halcion remote so I was jogging the image every time a little. This time I added even more cameras (up to 160 I think)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68078527/DSC_0023.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68078527/DSC_0042.JPG

[voudas]

i think this iso6400 on such a dense dx sensor is killing you... there are NR algorithms kicking in even in RAW, smoothing out micro details. Add all this grain to that and i think it's obvious that you'll get worse results. u need more light...

[chadfx]

You can get by without a remote, just set the self timer to 2 secs...you can also use mirror lock up, which can help eliminate any other vibrations. although if you use live view, you don't need to worry about that aspect

iso800 is probably not going to help you, though...just use a good tripod, make sure everything is stable after you tweak focus and fire off the self timer.

[Marcel]

I agree with the previous comments, the ISO is giving problems.  If you are on a tripod there is no reason to use anything other than ISO100.

Pressing the shutter with your finger  moves the camera,  it's definitely a big no. The self timer advice works but it's a bit slow.

Your example DSC_0042 has a tiny horizontal blur, I am not sure if it is from pressing the shutter or because of the mirror slap (I tjink mirror slap because it's the same direction as the mirror)  But this kind of blur can already have negative effects.

On some Nikon cameras shooting in Live View doesn't automatically mean it uses mirror lockup. The D800 for example slams the mirror up and down before doing a show when in Live View. I don't know if the D3200 does the  same.

And take a look at your photos at 200% zoom. If it's anything but super sharp and clean (no noise) then Photoscan will continue to give problems. And ALL of your photos need to be that way to get perfect results. If you have 3 or 4 bad photos you'll get noisy patches at places.

It takes a lot of patience,  but you'll get there.  And having a perfect scan gives a lot of satisfaction.

[chadfx]

"On some Nikon cameras shooting in Live View doesn't automatically mean it uses mirror lockup."

oh, right...the Canon's can do that as well. I think it depends on what sort of live view focusing option you choose. on the Canon's they call it Quick Focus I think, so it flips the mirror back down to focus via phase detection, then flips the mirror back up so you can use live view. although in this case I would highly recommend using manual focus, so I believe you shouldn't get any mirror slap. some live view modes have an extra 'quiet shutter' mode, which also might be useful

[Marcel]

"On some Nikon cameras shooting in Live View doesn't automatically mean it uses mirror lockup."

oh, right...the Canon's can do that as well. I think it depends on what sort of live view focusing option you choose. on the Canon's they call it Quick Focus I think, so it flips the mirror back down to focus via phase detection, then flips the mirror back up so you can use live view. although in this case I would highly recommend using manual focus, so I believe you shouldn't get any mirror slap. some live view modes have an extra 'quiet shutter' mode, which also might be useful

Yes,  on the 5D MKIII the Quick focus mode +Silent shutter is awesome. Silent shutter has the same effect as using Mirror Lockup on this camera (and sounds so nice and gentle ).
The D800 slams the mirror around, probably because it needs to do the metering just before taking the shot and the mirror needs to be up for this.

My experience is that without using Mirror Lockup only a very small percentage of the shots has a tiny blur,  but it is enough to ruin a scan. That's why I always have it on,  despite the hassle of having to press the shutter release twice.
 It also depends on your camera model,  a camera with a cropped sensor has a smaller mirror so there is less shake.

[Lambo]

I have a Nikon D5100 and as far as I know, mine or the D3200 don't have mirror lock up and the silent shutter only removes the little beep at the beginning when the camera focuses before the shot. So that will not help at all unfortunately. Please let me know if I am wrong because I would like to know.
I haven't seen if shooting with the Live View on helps the shaking at all but I will try. I normally dont like using it since I shoot people and they are always moving a little bit and the Live View delays the time when the shoot happens somehow.
You should buy 1 of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YW79F4/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That way you can shoot without having to be touching anything.

By the way, on Nikon Hacker's website there is a script that creates an updated FIRMWARE file for the Nikons that you can use to look through Live View and see exactly how the picture is going to come out since it takes into account the ISO, exposure, etc. Pretty helpful for some people.
Leo

[morganW]

WOOT! Best scan yet. I left the studio and took it outside for more light and apparently that made all the difference. I shot at F11 and ISO 200, 130 pics or so. I noticed that all out of focus area of the photo are still noisy in the mesh, I just did another outdoor shoot pushing the extremes to see the difference: Outside, 200+ pics, F40 and ISO of 100 on tripod, no finger touch. I will report the results. Thanks everyone. At this point I feel confident that used properly, a DSLR with a macro lens IS superior to a Point and Shoot' ...As a side observation, I think I have shot over 2k  in pics of this model testing the different scenarios:)

[morganW]

@Lambo, thanks for the tip, and yes there is NO live view for the 3200 so Halcion remote doesn't work with it either:( I just ordered a remote shutter release, the D3200 only has a 10 second delay which is getting brutal!

[Marcel]

Looking good!

It seems the recessed areas also have a bit more noise. This could be because the photos are a bit dark there, and dark areas in photos generally have higher ISO noise. (and the ISO noise leads to noise in the mesh).

When you take your pictures it can help to use Exposure Compensation to make them a bit brighter, the camera usually doesn't make them as bright as possible. But be careful that you don't overexpose.  The histogram will show if the exposure is correct.

If you are rotating around your subject it can be easier to photograph in M mode, especially if the background has some bright spots. If you rotate the subject itself,  then A mode us probably easier.

[David Cockey]

Hi Morgan, another thing to look at is image stabilization. This should be switched off. Image stabilization tends to alter the focal length giving inconsistent results.

Image Stabilization doesn't alter the focal length (if it would do this, you would see the image wildly zooming when you look through the viewfinder with IS enabled).

But your advice is good anyway. When you are using a tripod Image Stabilization should indeed be turned off.  Otherwise the Image Stabilization would try to correct a non existing movement, and this actually adds blur to the photo.

Image Stabilization doesn't alter the focal length but it does shift the optical axis of the lens relative to the sensor. That's how it eliminates/minimizes blur due to motion. PhotoScan attempts to correct for any deviation of the lens optical axis from the center of the senor with the calibration parameters
cx, cy
Principal point coordinates, i.e. coordinates of lens optical axis interception with sensor plane.

[Marcel]

Hi Morgan, another thing to look at is image stabilization. This should be switched off. Image stabilization tends to alter the focal length giving inconsistent results.

That's interesting to know, does it effect the alignment/scan quality? I don't have any IS lenses anymore myself so I asking out of curiosity.

Image Stabilization doesn't alter the focal length (if it would do this, you would see the image wildly zooming when you look through the viewfinder with IS enabled).

But your advice is good anyway. When you are using a tripod Image Stabilization should indeed be turned off.  Otherwise the Image Stabilization would try to correct a non existing movement, and this actually adds blur to the photo.

Image Stabilization doesn't alter the focal length but it does shift the optical axis of the lens relative to the sensor. That's how it eliminates/minimizes blur due to motion. PhotoScan attempts to correct for any deviation of the lens optical axis from the center of the senor with the calibration parameters
cx, cy
Principal point coordinates, i.e. coordinates of lens optical axis interception with sensor plane.