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LX 7 HDR
- Thread starter Tracey41
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hydrospanner
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How do you intend to use it?
It's not as good as doing a 9 shot RAW series from a tripod and putting them together in post, but then again it does let you gain HDR benefits with far less fuss.
The HDR works, but it's not going to knock your socks off, and the JPEGs (the LX7 can't produce HDR files in RAW) will definitely need a little massage in post to bring out their best (the colors tend to be somewhat flat, and the image overall will be somewhat low-contrast & washed out), but if you're going to HDR to address a need (making sure you get as much tonal information as possible in a very high contrast scene) instead of to get a desired look, it does work.
The big thing it allows you to do is to gather the three exposures effectively all at once, allowing you to do it without a tripod. Make the HDR mode one of your custom shooting modes to put this to its full effect, allowing you to be shooting, decide you want to do an HDR shot, and have everything set up with the twist of a dial, then get right back into a normal mode all within 5 seconds.
It's not as good as doing a 9 shot RAW series from a tripod and putting them together in post, but then again it does let you gain HDR benefits with far less fuss.
The HDR works, but it's not going to knock your socks off, and the JPEGs (the LX7 can't produce HDR files in RAW) will definitely need a little massage in post to bring out their best (the colors tend to be somewhat flat, and the image overall will be somewhat low-contrast & washed out), but if you're going to HDR to address a need (making sure you get as much tonal information as possible in a very high contrast scene) instead of to get a desired look, it does work.
The big thing it allows you to do is to gather the three exposures effectively all at once, allowing you to do it without a tripod. Make the HDR mode one of your custom shooting modes to put this to its full effect, allowing you to be shooting, decide you want to do an HDR shot, and have everything set up with the twist of a dial, then get right back into a normal mode all within 5 seconds.
I agree. Unless I am missing something the HDR mode doesn't save RAW files and all you end up with is an in camera processed JPG.
GWing
Well-known member
I suspect a real HDR composite would yield a great photo but I"m pretty happy with the results from the in camera HDR on the LX7.
Here's one I took on the night the New SF Bay Bridge opened last year.
Here's one I took on the night the New SF Bay Bridge opened last year.
hydrospanner
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The camera doesn't know or care what you do with the files, but yes, it can also do them in-camera, thus the HDR mode.
AnalogJ
Forum Enthusiast
Wow, that's great.
Cyril Catt
Veteran Member
As hydrospanner and GWing have stated, the HDR mode is a quick and convenient way to achieve some High Dynamic Range effect, though not quite as good as a more careful capture and combination of several RAW files.
It is not the same as the HD (High Dynamic) mode provided as a firmware upgrade for the LX3, which helped with backlit subjects by setting ISO at 400 and altering response curves to tone down highlights and enhance shadows, without using flash, as shown in the examples below.
LX3 without HD mode or flash
LX3 with HD mode (and without flash)
The HD mode helped to get shadow details in situations like this, though reducing IQ slightly.
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Cyril
It is not the same as the HD (High Dynamic) mode provided as a firmware upgrade for the LX3, which helped with backlit subjects by setting ISO at 400 and altering response curves to tone down highlights and enhance shadows, without using flash, as shown in the examples below.
LX3 without HD mode or flash
LX3 with HD mode (and without flash)
The HD mode helped to get shadow details in situations like this, though reducing IQ slightly.
--
Cyril
morepix
Veteran Member
And yes, it can do HDR either way, either in-cam or separate exposures tone-mapped with HDR Efex Pro or Photomatix or whatever's your favorite flavor. It's limited to 3 exposures (if you do it with bracketing, more if you want to use manual exposure for as many as you like). Unlike some grander cameras, you can set the bracketing range up to as much as +3 EV.
In my experience, +2 EV is enough for most situations. But you probably have your own ideas about that.
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David
www.pbase.com/morepix
In my experience, +2 EV is enough for most situations. But you probably have your own ideas about that.
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David
www.pbase.com/morepix
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hydrospanner
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On this note, I'm guessing you can set up a Custom slot to do a 3-shot bracket, yes?
I may enter this in my C2 slot.
morepix
Veteran Member
Indeed you can, and that's exactly what I've done.
A tip: Despite the fact that I almost invariably shoot raw, I've chosen JPG for this custom setting because there's so much other processing to be done in PP. That, however, may or may not suit you. But by all means, go for the custom setting, whichever way does suit you.
Hi Tracey,
As you probably already know, the LX7 does not have automatic bracketing which will make HDR photography more difficult as ideally you want at least 3 exposures of a static scene. The LX7 does however do 1920 x 1080 pixels at 60fps which could be useful for you.
You can effectively make HDR photos from video (and without a tripod) or using the burst mode (the LX7 does 11 fps) using a Lightroom plug-in called HDRinstant . You just need to film a scene then run the plug-in in Lightroom to create an HDR image.
Hope this helps!
Andy
As you probably already know, the LX7 does not have automatic bracketing which will make HDR photography more difficult as ideally you want at least 3 exposures of a static scene. The LX7 does however do 1920 x 1080 pixels at 60fps which could be useful for you.
You can effectively make HDR photos from video (and without a tripod) or using the burst mode (the LX7 does 11 fps) using a Lightroom plug-in called HDRinstant . You just need to film a scene then run the plug-in in Lightroom to create an HDR image.
Hope this helps!
Andy
Timj351
Senior Member
The LX7 actually does have auto bracketing and it is under the same button as burst shooting and timer. It is the bottom button on the round key pad. You can use it to take three exposures at up to three stops difference. The problem is that since it is on the same button as the timer you can't use the timer during auto bracketing, which is often what you want to do. Fortunately, it still takes the shots at up to 11fps.
-Tim
hydrospanner
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Thanks for the response.
Wouldn't the extra work involved, and especially due to the nature of the work, be all the more reason to shoot RAW in this case?
morepix
Veteran Member
Sure, you could look at it that way. I use JPG mainly to avoid making possibly different adjustments to the multiple images in the HDR series. But why not?
Another issue that niggles at me re multi-image HDR is: besides the exposure range of +2 or +3 EV is whether to use exposure comp (bias) for the three images. I often feel the bright image of the three is more exposure than is needed, and the dark image less, which suggests using maybe 1 EV negative exposure comp. However, I do real HDR infrequently enough that I've never given this issue serious research. One step a person might take is to spot meter the dark area and the bright area of the scene, and on the basis of that set an EC adjustment. Someday ...
hydrospanner
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Forgive me if I'm being a bit dense, but wouldn't trusting the in-camera processor to handle all three JPEGs identically be far more of a leap of faith than just shooting RAW and leaving it's integrated circuits out of the equation? I'm not doubting that your methods work, I just don't understand the concept behind your decision.
That being said, I've found the JPEG rendering of the LX7 processor to be excellent. I prefer the SOOC output, in JPEG, from my LX7 to the same output from my D300 (and I like the D300 too). In fact, for most of my use, I shoot in RAW+JPG, have my Eye-fi send the full res JPG to my phone, and keep the RAW in camera. From there, I can touch up, share, or store the JPGs on my phone as I see fit.
Usually, once I get back to my computer, I'll evaluate the JPEGs on a larger screen, while importing the RAW files from the card manually. More often than not, I'll touch up a RAW "to taste" in ACR without referring to the JPG, then compare the two, only to find them to be near identical, or even preferring the camera's processing to my own. If this happens, I just discard the RAWs and keep the JPEGs anyway, for shots that don't require significant attention in post (crop, sharpening, NR, etc.).
morepix
Veteran Member
- OK, the concept is probably faulty. No argument.
- When I had a D300 a long time ago, I thought it was the cat's meow. Then I downsized and got rid of all my Nikon gear. Still, I'm surprised, and even a little pleased, that you prefer the output of the LX7.
MustangJoe
Well-known member
Hi Tracey,
I have an LX7 and shoot a lot of HDR images however I don't use the built-in HDR mode. I shoot raw files then process them with a program called SNS HDR in combination with Lightroom and Photoshop CS6.
Here are some of my LX7 HDR images.
As someone else has mentioned, you can auto-bracket the exposure up to 3 EVs however I normally use a 2 EV bracket. Unlike my old LX3, you can't use the self-timer with auto-bracketing, which is a bit of a disappointment. It would've been nice if Panasonic had added remote triggering capability when they made this change.
Joe
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