JimRPhoto Loc: Raleigh NC

My request for advice is specific to the Canon 5D Mark ii, as I know that different generations have different specs. On a recent visit to a local historic building, I took my photos with the 5Dii, and my wife used her iPhone 11. In my photos, if the walls of the building were in shadow and I exposed for the detail of the wall, the sky is completely white. With her iPhone, the exact same vantage point and subject shows the detail of the wall in the shadow, but the sky is a beautiful blue with white clouds. Is there a way I can change the settings to help with this and provide more dynamic range? [Now, I know I can expose for the sky and later make the wall lighter in PP, but that’s not my question. My question is a question about the camera itself, and settings.]. [It’s not a lens issue - I use “L” lenses.]. Thank you for your advice.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

You mean have your DSLR work like a phone camera?

(Sorry, had to say that - see other thread on phone cameras not being as good as a "real" camera...)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You expose for the highlights with digital cameras.

With EOS DSLRs, you capture in RAW and push the highlight to the right, without blowing the highlights beyond recovery in post processing. In post you balance the shadows to highlights as desired for your composition, possibly even creating a 1-image HDR by manufacturing the -1 and +1 brackets from the SOOC original.

Without providing your image for detailed technical analysis and discussion, consider trying for ISO-100 unless forced off the camera's base ISO. For Canon EOS DSLRs, consider Evaluative Metering and the meter pegged to +0.7 to +1.3 to the right of the 0-mark, shooting RAW. If you can't test a few exposures, looking at the blinking highlight warnings to confirm the exposure, use the slightly conservative +0.7 and just focus on the composition and focusing on a quick moving subject.

Examples and discussion of ETTR, most based on EOS cameras:

ETTR in Practice

ETTR in Practice II

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

For in camera JPEGs you have the option to use the HTP function of your 5D. It moves in the direction you want to go but not to the same degree as the phone camera.

User ID

Phones behave in mysterious ways. Some “real cameras” will shoot HDR in a blink, by their own Ai decision, such that the user isn’t aware it happened.

That happens only in the hyper auto “green” mode, but phones are in green mode continuously so mebbe your wife’s phone pic is HDR.

The in-camera HDR of the 5D2 is not capable of that. All it’s good for is slightly improving back-lit shots. Later EOS SLRs have a more normal, Sony-ish HDR, but the version in the 5D2 isn’t even worth the space it occupies in the menu.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I am presuming from your question that you are asking about camera-produced JPEG images. If so, the other thing you need to do in this situation is to reduce contrast in your picture control settings. High contrast settings eat away at available dynamic range. Just be sure to put it back when you are shooting in flatter lighting situations.

JimRPhoto Loc: Raleigh NC

Thank you Paul, long shadow, Larry, Ysarex and User ID. All your responses have been helpful. And, yes, I would want my captures as taken, to be at least as good as, or better than, an iPhone. If we can’t do that, why not just switch to iPhones. (I’m not suggesting we do.). Paul, I have always used JPEG, and I do know that you can recover detail in shadows so you should expose for the highlights, rather than have them blown out. But my initial question is what can be done “in camera” to get shots that don’t need a high degree of PP. If I had a rifle that kept missing the mark, I’d get rid of it. I don’t think we should expect that every shot we take needs post processing. As a former “slide” shooter, you got what you got, and you learned to optimize. I have reset some of my settings as per the suggestions you all have recommended. Thank you all for your advice. And Paul, I did check your ETTR links and will save them for future use. JimR PS: Paul, your post on the Chicago river bridges was really good. Thank you.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Hey Jim, I gave the 'perfect' answer for your high-contrast situation, specifically RAW with ETTR and post processing. Embedded in that first response was a trueism that applies to JPEG and SOOC too. The single most important approach in digital is always to expose for the highlights and push those highlights to the right without blowing-out the critical highlights. Larry gave the good idea to step forward and take the bright aspects out of the frame. If that's not an option or not applicable for the composition, you need to expose for the highlights.

For the original iPhone vs DSLR question, someone above (I think) mentioned the 'intelligence' of the iPhone. I'd agree. It may not be capturing a dynamic HDR in 1 shot, but all the software in the phone is translating the image data from the sensor to the JPEG and doing things the DSLR is not also doing in the camera. That is, the iPhone processes within the phone like DSLRinosaurs typically need to post-process on a computer. Whenever you 'auto tone' on your computer, you'll always see the software bringing down the highlights and brightening the shadows. The iPhone knows to do this in camera while also trying to not overexpose the highlights it detects in the frame.

In my ETTR examples, note that I 'tolerate' slightly blown highlights. In reality, these bright reflective spots, like the car chrome in the sun or the whitest tops of clouds, letting these go 'pure white' in the highlights lets you maximize the shadows and gives a more nature overall image as you're eye wouldn't see the highlights in those reflections either. So, if capturing a portrait, none of the highlights should be overexposed as the entire face / portrait is 'critical' to the successful image. But for a landscape, if the very edges / tops of the clouds in the background are just blinking in the highlight warnings, that's going to be a far better result than seeking to have not blinking highlights anywhere in the image. This is ETTR.

As a JPEG shooter, consider your customizations to your camera. My suggestions to any SOOC JPEGs are the following updates:

Customize the camera's 'standard' picture profile by increasing the saturation, contrast and sharpening. Then, use +0.3 EC (Exposure Compensation) and / or shoot with the camera meter at +0.3 over the 0-mark. Looking at your EOS 5DII manual, it looks like sharpness would be +4 and Contrast and Saturation would be +1 over the 0-mark on the in-camera scale. See if these changes give your JPEGs more 'pop'.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I will state at the first of this post that I am not familiar with Canon cameras, so I can't say how or even whether this is available on your camera. But at least some Nikon cameras offer a function called "Active-D Lighting." I didn't use it for a long time, until I had opportunity to learn how it works...and I still don't use it all the time. It is a function designed to extend the dynamic range of JPEG photographs.

It works by gently flattening each end of the sensor's response curve. In doing so, it enhances both shadow detail and highlight detail in the captured image. The amount of adjustment is adjustable, and it can be quite helpful. I suspect your wife's IPhone is doing something similar.

Check your manual and see if there is a similar capability available in your camera.

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

If you really want to keep shooting camera JPEGs: It's been more than a decade since the 5dmkii. In that time the camera manufacturers have continued to work hard on their in-camera processing software. The iphone camera and software of 12 years ago couldn't produce the iphone image you're looking at now. Might be time to have a look at the options in today's cameras as a whole lot of improvement has taken place.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I'm not sure the function is 100% the same for Canon, but the EOS version is 'Safety Shift' that overrides the camera exposure in Shutter or Aperture priority shooting.

JimRPhoto Loc: Raleigh NC

Thanks much, everyone. Yes I think this Mark ii came out in 2008 so it has been a while. I bought two bodies, used, starting about 6-7 years ago and have not experienced the stark comparison I mentioned in my original post above, until this week. It was truly startling to see how much better a simple iPhone photo was than a comparable one. Ysarex your comment is most valid. I have seen a few Mark iii cameras on this site, but hesitated to replace my two almost perfect condition Mark ii cameras. I will need to rethink that. By the way, from what I have followed, since I don’t do video or action sports, or macro (often) I think the Mark iii would be the perfect upgrade for me. Thank you all again. JimR