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Bracketing for HDR by changing shutter and ISO?

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trwalp

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When shooting interiors (with outdoor daylight visible in windows) I shoot HDR, bracketing by changing shutter speed only. ISO, WB and aperture remain static.

I've been exploring some software to control my D800 and automate the process. One, Helicon Remote, works on an Android tablet and connects via USB. Testing it tonight I discovered that by default they want to change ISO and shutter speed at each extreme rather than just change shutter speed. I've written to ask why they don't allow for changing shutter speed only, but I'm curious what affect a raised ISO will have in HDR blending (noise, obviously, but then maybe it's less noticeable or masked out by HDR software).
 
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SoCalWill
Each frame you merge in an HDR reduces the ISO noise by one stop; three frames @ ISO 125 results in an image with the noise of an image shot at ISO 32. So it makes no sense to blend in frames with raised ISO, unless it's just to maintain hand-held ability.
Each frame you merge in an HDR reduces the ISO noise by one stop; three frames @ ISO 125 results in an image with the noise of an image shot at ISO 32. So it makes no sense to blend in frames with raised ISO, unless it's just to maintain hand-held ability.
 
Solution
SoCalWill said:
Each frame you merge in an HDR reduces the ISO noise by one stop; three frames @ ISO 125 results in an image with the noise of an image shot at ISO 32. So it makes no sense to blend in frames with raised ISO, unless it's just to maintain hand-held ability.
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I agree. You'd probably be just as well off doing tone mapping on a single raw file. However, you still will have some advantage of reducing noise — even when changing ISO — when blending multiple files together. Just not as much noise reduction as doing multiple shots at base ISO.
 
trwalp said:
When shooting interiors (with outdoor daylight visible in windows) I shoot HDR, bracketing by changing shutter speed only. ISO, WB and aperture remain static.

I've been exploring some software to control my D800 and automate the process. One, Helicon Remote, works on an Android tablet and connects via USB. Testing it tonight I discovered that by default they want to change ISO and shutter speed at each extreme rather than just change shutter speed. I've written to ask why they don't allow for changing shutter speed only, but I'm curious what affect a raised ISO will have in HDR blending (noise, obviously, but then maybe it's less noticeable or masked out by HDR software).
Click to expand...
I find with almost everything I do, changing one variable at a time gives more consistent and more predictable results. Photography is one of those areas.

However sometimes, I may change mutliple parameters at once, but deep in my mind, I'm sure I'm thinking about the consequences of each step separately. Thinking about your scenario, I can't think of a good reason to increase ISO unless it was for the whole set. And I would automatically decrease ISO for the whole set if it was possible.
 
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