Hey folks,

I read a small blurb about the HDR function in the D800. The article said it takes 2 raw shots combined into one.

When I do HDR, I shoot five.

Anyone know more about how the in camera HDR works and why exposures are limited to two?

Thanks, Beck

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

From what I've read I believe it takes 2 exposures, 2 stops apart, in one raising of the mirror, then combines them into one JPEG. I don't know if there's an option to retain the 2 raw files if shooting in raw mode, but HDR output is jpeg only. This IMO makes it really an enthusiast and not a professional feature (maybe they're playing to KR directly?)

I wish Nikon would add a feature that shoots an entire exposure bracket (with adjustable exposure increments past 1 stop) without unnecessarily slapping the mirror around. Bracketing for HDR I don't want to re-adjust AF and I don't want to re-adjust meter reading, so no need to drop the mirror. Olympus had this right years ago. Nikon is still thinking in terms of traditional exposure bracketing for film and not really in tune with what people are doing these days regarding this feature.

Larry - a Bay Area Nikonian
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>From what I've read I believe it takes 2 exposures, 2 stops
>apart, in one raising of the mirror, then combines them into
>one JPEG. I don't know if there's an option to retain the 2
>raw files if shooting in raw mode, but HDR output is jpeg
>only. This IMO makes it really an enthusiast and not a
>professional feature (maybe they're playing to KR directly?)

Agree with this Larry. It's called HDR because it uses the HDR approach of multiple images at different exposures. But "multiple" in this case is only 2, so it's usefulness is limited. If you have a difficult contrast range it should give you a somewhat better result but is no substitute for more exposures where 2 doesn't cover the exposure range of the scene.


>I wish Nikon would add a feature that shoots an entire
>exposure bracket (with adjustable exposure increments past 1
>stop) without unnecessarily slapping the mirror around.
>Bracketing for HDR I don't want to re-adjust AF and I don't
>want to re-adjust meter reading, so no need to drop the
>mirror. Olympus had this right years ago. Nikon is still
>thinking in terms of traditional exposure bracketing for film
>and not really in tune with what people are doing these days
>regarding this feature.

Agree with this also. Bracketing without the added mirror slaps would be desirable. I often use manual focus anyway for HDR brackets. I also wanted bracket increments of greater than 1 stop available. I was disappointed when I saw that Nikon still limits brackets to a one stop difference. Often times one stop over/under doesn't cover the range and 2 stops over/under would work fine. Instead I have to do five or more one stop increments to get to the ends of the range.

John

Thanks guys. When I first saw this was available, I was excited but after reading I just couldn't see this as a serious feature.

Beck

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>Thanks guys. When I first saw this was available, I was
>excited but after reading I just couldn't see this as a
>serious feature.
>
>Beck


Larry and John are quite right. When you consider the price and spec of the camera, this seems nothing more than a gimmick, and I'm not sure who it is aimed at. Anyone who is serious enough about their photography to spend this amount of money on a single camera would surely know how to bracket exposures for HDR already, and wish to process them with available software for the effect they desired...


Cheers!

Lee

I will stick to multiple images and doing the HDR in software during post processing.

Shoot nature with respect and don't trample it or startle its inhabitants.