Focus stacking software comparison, Zerene and Affinity.

[footman]

Affinity Photo image

Zerene image

I'm just getting started back into macro and doing some focus stacking trying out Zerene and Affinity Photo for comparison. Both these images have had the same post processing in Lightroom, they've only been cropped with no further pp. To my eyes the Affinity image is sharper with more definition, also the colours appear slightly "stronger". Considering the price differential, Zerene is £74 and Affinity is on special offer at £24 I'm leaning very heavily towards Affinity.
Be very grateful for comments.
Edit: TBH I can't really see much difference when viewed here....

 

[Brian G]

Affinity Photo image

Zerene image

I'm just getting started back into macro and doing some focus stacking trying out Zerene and Affinity Photo for comparison. Both these images have had the same post processing in Lightroom, they've only been cropped with no further pp. To my eyes the Affinity image is sharper with more definition, also the colours appear slightly "stronger". Considering the price differential, Zerene is £74 and Affinity is on special offer at £24 I'm leaning very heavily towards Affinity.
Be very grateful for comments.
Edit: TBH I can't really see much difference when viewed here....

From these examples I'd say that the Affinity stack looks very slightly more saturated, but there is very little to choose between them.
I've only recently started experimenting with focus stacking but I find that Affinity does an excellent job.

 

[Bitterend]

I now use Affinity Photo, mainly because I couldn't justify the cost of Photoshop; which I used for many years. I am quite impressed, it does evrything I ask of it, but I found it to be a steep learning curve.
I am now looking for a replacement for Lightroom since Google changed their maps and Adobe will not support the new mapping in the stand alone versions.

 

[Brian G]

I now use Affinity Photo, mainly because I couldn't justify the cost of Photoshop; which I used for many years. I am quite impressed, it does evrything I ask of it, but I found it to be a steep learning curve.
I am now looking for a replacement for Lightroom since Google changed their maps and Adobe will not support the new mapping in the stand alone versions.

I'm in a similar position.
I could never get on with Photoshop but I find Affinity is somehow more "user friendly."

My alternative to Lightroom is On1 Photo raw 2020, which is very LR - like in it's controls and appearance, and in my opinion gives better results than LR.
However since it seems to be important for you, it's gps mapping facility is definitely not as good as Lightroom, although it's been a couple of years since I last used LR.
I used to think LR had the best highlight recovery, but On1 is even better, however you need to adopt a different workflow to get the best from On1, compared to LR.

Alternative raw processors are very much a personal choice, but all the alternatives can be downloaded for a free trial,

 

[footman]

Affinity purchased this morning. I'd love to ditch my Adobe subscription, I only really use Lightroom so it's a waste of money in that sense. Foolishly I let my yearly subscription renew this year and I'll be damned if I pay them 50% of my whole years subs!
I'll have to make a decision over the next year as to what application I use instead of LR ( I still have a paid for LR6), learning new software is a real chore at my age

 

[LCPete]

Thanks for the comparison it does look like affinity is a bargain
I also recently bought it for £24 and have been a subscriber to adobe CC for ages but now I’m retired I can’t afford or justify paying for CC so went for affinity
I’m still learning how to use it at the moment I’m not the quickest learner! But am impressed with affinity
I haven’t tried the stacking thing with affinity yet but hope to be able to go out soon with the camera when the restrictions are lifted a bit

 

[Hanley]

I love Affinity Photo, I find it much easier than Photoshop.
I still have the Adobe 'all apps' package but I tend to use Affinity for most of my deeper edits.

The offer price is a bargain.