a6000 HDR and DRO

[Rich]

Am a little confused by these settings.  Currently I have both on AUTO, but I see that you can set levels on each one independently -- like a level 4 on HDR and a level 2 on DRO.  First, whats the difference between HDR and DRO?  Are there preferred settings for either when shooting landscapes?  Can I mimic their results in post processing by tinkering with RAW files?  If I can do so, I won't use the in-camera functions because I like to shoot in RAW format and edit from there but can't shoot RAW when DRO/HDR is on.

 

I am a new user of this camera and sure do like it so far.  Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions............

 

Rich

[Stu3133]

It would seem that the camera does a pretty good when using DRO or HDR versus post processing.

This link gives a bit more info.

 

https://williamporterphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/sony-a77-expanding-dynamic-range-with-dro-or-hdr-or-not/

 

Personally I'm a fan of both....I think it's easier to add a bit contrast, possibly, in post processing than trying to fix washed out skys and draw detail out of shadows.

The HDR setting is great for reducing noise in low light situations.

[Golem]

HDR is always a multiple frames technique. DRO

is single shot. That difference alone can dictate

which gets used when.

 

HDR originated as a technique in post. Building it

into cameras came later. Post is still the utmost.

 

DRO is a different animal. DRO can shoot in the

RAW-plus-Jpeg mode, to give you a choice after

the fact as to which version serves the scene.

 

DRO is verrry effective but can't do miracles. HDR

can be pretty damnt miraculous [to coin an irony].

 

Frinstintz, this nite scene is in-camera HDR. DRO

just won't go this far for ridiculously expanded DR:

 

 

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Here's a coupla more in-camera HDR nite scenes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Golem]

While not recommended for action subjects, HDR can

sometimes deliver, altho you hafta have a somewhat

repeatable action and accept that your hit ratio can be

pretty slim:

 

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There's no PhotoShop "cut-and-paste" skies here. These

are real-time scenes. However the rejects were numerous.

 

The big drag when using in-camera HDR for scenes like

these is the delay between takes. It can often be 30 sec

[or more] and seems like eternity sometimes. Also, there's

only 3 exposures per HDR image. With HDR in post you'll

shoot as fast as your camera and scene conditions allow

bracketed frames. So you can bracket more than just the

3 exposures that make up an in-camera HDR.

 

OK so I didn't show you DRO samples. Well, I shoot at

DRO5 nearly all the time but I don't turn it off-and-on to

produce "with-and-without" examples. HOWEVERRRRR ....

I have seen the with-and-without DRO and while it IS quite

obviously a major difference, I've had no reason to save

both versions and so I have no A-B examples in my storage.

 

 

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The only time I see my shots without any DRO is when I do

an HDR and DRO of the same scene. The playback/review

shows it, cuz the DRO shots look like they should, but the

HDR shots display in pairs: a non-DRO/non-HDR version,

plus the full HDR version are displayed for every HDR take.

So I can easily testify that the DRO version is waaay better

than the non-DRO/non-HDR frame that accompanies the

actual HDR frame.

 

The thing about the limits of DRO is this: even tho I call the

results a major difference, and even tho it saves shots that

might be total rejects without any DRO, nothing it does is so

dramatic as HDR. With HDR you get results that can be very

distinct even without seeing a with-and-without comparison.

 

DRO use isn't obvious in any examples unless you have that

with-and-without comparison to demo the difference. So IOW

the lack of DRO samples is cuz it would show/prove nothing,

in any single frames, about the degree to which DRO actually

does expand dynamic range. IOW, verrrry useful, but not on

a truly jaw-dropping, astounding, or miraculous level.

 

BTW, HDR can further be exaggerated for a painterly or a

more graphic image. DRO doesn't go there. The Big Thing

about DRO [vs HDR] is that it works in a single shot.

 

 

 

 

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[wedge]

I don't use the in-camera DRO anymore, since I realized that it does exactly the same thing as the High Dynamic Range sliders in Capture One.  So leave that off in the camera, and you can do a better job fine tuning in post.

 

Another in-camera HDR sample:

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[Stu3133]

Of course, if you are quick you can see the non DRO image on the screen, momentarily, before the adjusted DRO image appears.

Its quite a difference if using level 4 or above.

[Gilgenberg]

in short
if you shoot raw you don´t need DRO, better to do it in post

 

HDR needs 3 shot´s i think, you also can do it in post by bracket shooting and rendering the 3 shot´s together with software,

 

than you can choose the bracket between +/- 1EVF(+1,0,-1), 2EVF (+2,0,-2), 3 EVF (+3,0,-3) maybe also more fine levels are possible...have the A7 so i don´t know exactly the A6000

 

so you know what the different levels in HDR means

 

but you must like this effect, it do not look naturally most of the time

[Golem]

....................... ...... ........ ...

 

so you know what the different levels in HDR means

 

but you must like this effect, it do not look naturally

most of the time

HDR in post can look as natural as you choose,

since you can select the degree of adjustment.

 

"Natural" would not mean "same as unadjusted

single image". It would mean "as it looked to the

eye-and-brain at the scene", given that the brain

does huge amounts of "post" to the image from

the retina, to enable us to "see" anything at all.

 

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