Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo Revealed as 5th Extension of 2022

Skylum Software has announced that Focus Stacking is coming to Luminar Neo as part of the optional Luminar Neo Extension Pack.

Thus, you will soon be able to use Luminar Neo to stack together up to 100 photos to extend depth-of-field – regardless of your aperture settings.

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What is Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo
Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo Compared
Is Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo worth it?
Conclusion

What is Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo

Focus Stacking is the fifth of six new Luminar Neo Extension Pack extensions. Other extensions include HDR Merge, Noiseless AI, Upscale AI, and Background Removal AI. As an extension – you must first own Luminar Neo to use Focus Stacking. Read Luminar Neo Extension Pack Review | Luminar Neo Review

Noiseless AI in Luminar Neo – Read Noiseless AI Review

Focus Stacking comes in handy when you need superior depth-of-field at any aperture. In many cases, sufficient depth-of-field can be found by dialing in a sufficiently small aperture such as F11 and beyond.

However, it’s not always practical to use smaller apertures. For instance, you may shoot handheld in low light, necessitating large light-soaked apertures. Alternatively, you might wish to avoid image-degrading diffraction – an unavoidable consequence of using smaller apertures. Read What is Aperture in Photography.

But with Focus Stacking, you can have your cake and eat it. Set your lens’s aperture to whatever you wish and shoot multiple photos, each slightly refocused further towards the distance. You can then use Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo to merge these partially focused photos to create a single all-in-focus image.

Specifically, Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo will merge up to 100 photos. Furthermore, it will carefully align each photo to match the others – handy if you shoot your photo stack handheld.

HDR Merge in Luminar Neo – Read HDR Merge Review

Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo Compared

Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo finds itself in good company. Both ON1 Photo Raw and ACDSee Ultimate include Photo Stacking – as do many cameras. For instance, my Olympus M5ii performs focus stacking in-camera – thus no need for external software.

How well Focus Stacking performs in Luminar Neo remains to be seen, and I look forward to testing it in the coming weeks.

Is Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo worth it?

Perhaps. You can only buy Focus Stacking as part of the Luminar Neo Extension Pack. Therefore, the value of Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo cannot be assessed in isolation. But if you’re also looking for HDR Stacking, an AI photo denoiser, an AI Photo Upscaler, and more – the Luminar Neo Extension Pack is of decent value. Read Luminar Neo Extension Pack Review

Conclusion

Focus Stacking is number 5 of 6 extensions promised in 2022. And whether Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo is worth it depends on how much you want HDR Merge, Noiseless AI, Upscale AI, and AI Background Removal.

In isolation, Focus Stacking is a useful but commonplace tool. If you are using a photo editor such as ON1 Photo Raw or ACDSee, you already have it. And if you are using a modern camera, Focus Stacking may be a built-in feature you already own.

Nevertheless, the advantage of Focus Stacking in Luminar Neo is that it will work with photos taken with any camera. Plus, it’s integrated into the Luminar Neo – helping you to contain your digital photography workflow to a single photo editor (if you’re using Luminar Neo, that is).

But for now, we must reserve judgment until Luminar Neo’s Focus Stacking goes into production. Don’t forget to Subscribe if you want to be notified of deals and discounts on camera gear and software.