Nikon D850 RAW VS. In Camera HDR: I just came back from a cruise and had an opportunity to try in camera HDR. I came back to the cruise ship early one day from an excursion and saw a...

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

I just came back from a cruise and had an opportunity to try in camera HDR. I came back to the cruise ship early one day from an excursion and saw a pro taking pictures of this beautiful lady in a wedding dress. Not sure if it was a product shot or if the lady was having her wedding dress pictures taken. I was a floor above and took the pictures with ISO 2500 with available light. I didn't want to interfere with the shoot, not sure if she saw me or not. I wasn't trying to hide what I was doing. I took several shots in .raw first then tried to look at the back of the camera to see what I was getting. Couldn't really tell as it was so dark, then it came to me the Nikon D850 has in camera HDR. I had to fuss a bit to remember what I read then realized it only works with .jpg. Finally got it all working and the shoot looked like it was just about over. First shot is from .raw and second shot is HDR. I had to do a lot of pp on the raw, about 25 min. On the HDR just 5 min with slight adjustments.

Had to hold the camera on a hand rail to keep it still enough for the 3 shot HDR

From .raw

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

IMO the HDR shot looks better. In #1 you can see the high ISO noise but with #2 it's pretty much noise-free, and the colours seem a bit more solid.

My experience of exposure bracketing is that it's easier to get good results from a merge compared to the single neutral exposure, and the results will be better. The only thing that may cause problems with exposure bracketing is subject movement.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Nice shots. What a dress. Looks like one of those in the five figure range!

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

R.G. wrote:

IMO the HDR shot looks better. In #1 you can see the high ISO noise but with #2 it's pretty much noise-free, and the colours seem a bit more solid.

My experience of exposure bracketing is that it's easier to get good results from a merge compared to the single neutral exposure, and the results will be better. The only thing that may cause problems with exposure bracketing is subject movement.

"The only thing that may cause problems with exposure bracketing is subject movement.[/quote]"
or
Your own camera movement. Needs to be done with a tripod to get it right each time.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

Bridges wrote:

Nice shots. What a dress. Looks like one of those in the five figure range!

High dollar for sure.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Jim-Pops wrote:

or
Your own camera movement. Needs to be done with a tripod to get it right each time.

If your merging software has Auto Align you can do bracketing hand-held, provided the shutter speeds are fast enough to eliminate camera shake. But as is the case with single shot exposures, using a tripod is the better option because subject movement becomes the only speed factor to consider.

The slowest shutter speed is with the brightest exposure, but if you don't include that exposure in the merge the only shutter speed you need to worry about is the one for the neutral exposure - just the same as if it was a single shot exposure. (The shutter speeds for the darker exposures will be faster than those for the neutral exposures).

GPS Phil Loc: Dayton Ohio

Beautiful images Jim, I tend to lean to the HDR. I use it on both my Df and the D7100 when I visit the museum's! It opened up a new world for me. So much faster, and much less time @ the PC.

Phil

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

Jim-Pops wrote:

I just came back from a cruise and had an opportun... (show quote)

Jim, fantastic.

Greg

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Jim-Pops wrote:

I just came back from a cruise and had an opportunity to try in camera HDR. ...

Had to hold the camera on a hand rail to keep it still enough for the 3 shot HDR

I have had good success with HDR using my D850, also. For static subjects with camera on a firm foundation, it works quite well. But I wish the D850 took a "3 shot HDR." Although the 2-shot system that Nikon uses does a good job, I feel that a 3-shot system would work even better.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Love the HDR perspective, beautiful.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

cameraf4 wrote:

I have had good success with HDR using my D850, also. For static subjects with camera on a firm foundation, it works quite well. But I wish the D850 took a "3 shot HDR." Although the 2-shot system that Nikon uses does a good job, I feel that a 3-shot system would work even better.

The Sony 3 shot in camera works very well hand held in reasonable light levels - so does the 6 shot noise reduction and 10 shot sweep pano .....

..

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

cameraf4 wrote:

I have had good success with HDR using my D850, also. For static subjects with camera on a firm foundation, it works quite well. But I wish the D850 took a "3 shot HDR." Although the 2-shot system that Nikon uses does a good job, I feel that a 3-shot system would work even better.

Agree three would be better,

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

joehel2 wrote:

Love the HDR perspective, beautiful.

Thank you.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

imagemeister wrote:

The Sony 3 shot in camera works very well hand held in reasonable light levels - so does the 6 shot noise reduction and 10 shot sweep pano .....

..

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

The colors and the lighting in these is Top Drawer . I wish I could see her face though as I am guessing you were emphasizing the dress and not the model. Still is lovely display of a special day for her I am certain. Thank again.