EOS R6 M2 : few questions after reading the manual

1. Dual pixel: I can see if using DPP, etc. it offers some low-light + ultra fine correction opportunities. Question is: is it common to set it to Enable?

2. Highlight Tone Priority: How many use it?

3. HDR photos : can some suggestions be given when switching to HDR might be better? I apologize: I never shot anything using HDR and tried it but confused a bit (it all looks the same ..LOL)

4. Similarly : focus bracketing: any real use case please?

I ask since I've used Canon's 5D Classic and these weren't there. Other differences: I got a hang of it but these even after I tested, can't seem to figure it out.

I will skip no. 1,2,3, please wait for other knowledgeable folks to chime in.

Let's see no. 4 which I also have on my EOS R6 M1. This feature is very useful when you'd like to have your entire image in focus, no DOF, no OOF parts either.

Here's an example with four pictures where I used focus bracketing.  First three pictures show oranges in a sequence where only the lower, the middle and the upper orange is in focus. The fourth picture shows all the oranges in focus. (Click on each image for a larger view, please.)

Focus bracketing will also work well for landscapes where you'd like to see everything sharp, e.g. mountains in the background to bushes in the foreground. Also a nice feature for those who shoot macros of insects that are very close to the lens.

Needs some practice to set it up in-camera, best is to experiment till satisfied with the results! Hope this helps!

bmninada wrote:

1. Dual pixel: I can see if using DPP, etc. it offers some low-light + ultra fine correction opportunities. Question is: is it common to set it to Enable?

2. Highlight Tone Priority: How many use it?

I do. Works well now that ALO can be combined. Well it can on my R3, I assume you can do both on the R6 II.

3. HDR photos : can some suggestions be given when switching to HDR might be better? I apologize: I never shot anything using HDR and tried it but confused a bit (it all looks the same ..LOL)

4. Similarly : focus bracketing: any real use case please?

I ask since I've used Canon's 5D Classic and these weren't there. Other differences: I got a hang of it but these even after I tested, can't seem to figure it out.

RLight wrote:

bmninada wrote:

1. Dual pixel: I can see if using DPP, etc. it offers some low-light + ultra fine correction opportunities. Question is: is it common to set it to Enable?

2. Highlight Tone Priority: How many use it?

I do. Works well now that ALO can be combined. Well it can on my R3, I assume you can do both on the R6 II.

3. HDR photos : can some suggestions be given when switching to HDR might be better? I apologize: I never shot anything using HDR and tried it but confused a bit (it all looks the same ..LOL)

4. Similarly : focus bracketing: any real use case please?

I ask since I've used Canon's 5D Classic and these weren't there. Other differences: I got a hang of it but these even after I tested, can't seem to figure it out.

Apologies - ALO?? Also - can you explain?

bmninada wrote:

RLight wrote:

bmninada wrote:

1. Dual pixel: I can see if using DPP, etc. it offers some low-light + ultra fine correction opportunities. Question is: is it common to set it to Enable?

2. Highlight Tone Priority: How many use it?

I do. Works well now that ALO can be combined. Well it can on my R3, I assume you can do both on the R6 II.

3. HDR photos : can some suggestions be given when switching to HDR might be better? I apologize: I never shot anything using HDR and tried it but confused a bit (it all looks the same ..LOL)

4. Similarly : focus bracketing: any real use case please?

I ask since I've used Canon's 5D Classic and these weren't there. Other differences: I got a hang of it but these even after I tested, can't seem to figure it out.

Apologies - ALO?? Also - can you explain?

https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/auto-lighting-optimizer/

It’s usually on be default. You can increase or decrease its intensity both before the shot or after if you shoot RAW. Useful for Straight out of camera jpegs or those who prefer Canon color.

Thank you all - I've decided to opt only for HDR and that too as a custom setting along with focus bracketing with appropriate other settings which I'll use specifically for landscape photography.

Rest of the settings - I'll not use.

Debating still if dual pixel RAW is worth it, will report after few weeks of trying with it ON and OFF.

Better off doing a regular exposure bracket and doing the HDR compositing in your software at home. You have more control over the output or may just find one of the source images is acceptable. You can also bracket up to seven shots.  Although the R6II seems to have added a lot in HDR worth exploring.  HDR PQ looks interesting.

Focus bracketing is awesome.

One source image. 85mm at f/2.

38 images stacked.

Since digital cameras allow immediate inspection of the result, you can very well use both focus stacking and HDR in camera. Not all images need the utmost of "control" to be useful. I've used in-camera HDR a few times, when contrast was too high to capture in one shot. Worked fine.
If the subject doesn't move, you have the chance to try a few settings on location too.

bmninada wrote:

1. Dual pixel: I can see if using DPP, etc. it offers some low-light + ultra fine correction opportunities. Question is: is it common to set it to Enable?

A of right now, only DPP4 (and the body itself) can use DPRAW. So having it enabled is mostly for future proofing, hoping for 3rd party support. Personally, I shoot mostly in CRAW, I fail to observe differences between DPRAW, RAW and CRAW, so I pick the option that gives me the smallest filesize

2. Highlight Tone Priority: How many use it?

HTP just fakes the ISO you see in the EVF, it's practically the same as dialing in negative exposure compensation and brightening it in post.

For the things I shoot, mostly insect macros, I want the opposite: preserve detail in the shadows and on dark exoskeletons. So I try to use positive EC on the body or flash.

3. HDR photos : can some suggestions be given when switching to HDR might be better? I apologize: I never shot anything using HDR and tried it but confused a bit (it all looks the same ..LOL)

There are 2 HDR modes: one that takes multiple pictures and blends them and the other that will give you H(E)iF files for a single exposure instead of JPEGs. I really want to like the HEIF option, since in theory it will give you much-better-than-JPEG quality for the same filesizes. And on modern displays the PQ curve gives you eye-searing highlights.

But the ecosystem isn't there yet, in very stupid ways. Adobe tools look at the filename, not at the file itself. So you have rename IMG_7896.HIF to IMG_7896.HEIC for ACR/LR/PS to even notice it, it's 2023, not 1993! And then you'll discover that there's no actual support for preserving the tonemap and curve, so anything you export will be non-HDR. ACR gained rudimentary support for HDR last month, so maybe we'll see it in LR/PS in 2024.

See https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4673868 and https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/ for more in-depth background.

4. Similarly : focus bracketing: any real use case please?

Others have shown examples of using it for focus stacking, but there's another, related use as well: Quickly taking a number of pictures with a different focus distance. If you're shooting something where it's hard to control the subject distance or lock focus on a specific feature, you can focus slightly in front and then have it automatically take a lot of pictures where it shifts the focus each picture. You can then pick the one with the best focus and discard the rest.

Dual pixel RAW

It gives

1. fine-tune apparent resolution (using depth information)

Above point can possibly be obtained using focus braketing

1. shift the camera viewpoint slightly

Above point - not sure: very rare it'll be required and probably even if executed the word "slightly" normally means: barely noticeable. LOL. I checked some articles and there was this use case where eyes were brought into focus. Really it's like potato / poh-tah-toh.

1. reduce ghosting

I think majority of software gives already sufficient controls to tackle this anyways.

However, one can not use:

1. HDR shooting
2. Multi Shot Noise Reduction
3. Multiple exposures
4. RAW burst mode, continuous super hi-speed drive modes
5. focus bracketing
6. electronic shutter
7. one-touch image quality setting

Thus - personally I feel Dual pixel disadvantages out-weigh the benefits.

HDR PQ

This basically effects the gamma curve of the input signal for displaying HDR images. HDR PQ settings enable the camera to produce HDR images conforming to the PQ specifications, It can capture as HEIF or *RAW images.

Nice Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiAC7Ef0rEo

However - there are limitations.

• Expanded ISO speeds (L, H) are not available in HDR shooting - {This probably can be a show-stopper for some but for most the suggested max out is 12,800 ISO starting from 100. Thus it's not a show-stopper probably for most}
• Some scenes may look different from how they appear on an HDR display device {This is a big-ticket item. If in an HDR display photos look different usually creates problems especially if commercial.... }
• Unused signal values are roughly indicated by image areas in gray in the histogram {This can confuse many ....}
• Disp. performance] defaults to [Smooth] {This is a good thing actually}
• DPREVIEW R5 though: User reports by turning this ON and using the mobile App (iPhone) fails to download RAW files using this option.

Thus - personally I'd test this out (last point) and also any other transfer capabilities like direct from camera to cloud / FTP / etc. and then try opening the files. I'd also verify test shots by trying to load them into both computer / TV displays as-is before deciding if this is worth it. A professional photo print if worth it would be the final step.

HDR Mode

This most already know. However, its clearly mentioned HDR images are captured as HEIFs or JPEGs. So: not *RAW. As others above suggested, using exposure bracketing seems most apt here.

Auto Lighting Optimizer

Brightness and contrast can be corrected automatically if shots look dark or contrast is too low or high. The use case probably will be photos having high contrast i.e. high back-lit areas.

However, the biggest limitations are:

1. Noise may increase.
2. Even if exposure/flash exposure compensation used to darken the exposure, the image may still come out bright.
3. Different shots may need AUTO vs LOW vs HIGH vs Disable. As these are menu items hidden away and needs change POST photo, its cumbersome.

Thus - personally I don't see use case for it, except probably in rare occasions.

Highlight Tone priority

Mostly used to to control over-exposed highlights. Need to take photos (test) of whitish objects and then decide if worth it. I feel there are sufficient controls in post processing software to take care of this.

As it seems mostly used when using HDR PQ = Enable and after going thru some articles, etc. the effect is extremely subtle, personally - I think its best to just keep it off.