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Tonal range

Discussion

3 replies
Posted by Josh Anderson on October 3, 2006 at 5:17 PM
What is the tonal range that your eye can see, compared to the tonal range that can be recorded by the camera?

Thanks in advance.
Posted by Michael E. Gordon on October 3, 2006 at 5:42 PM
At a minimum about 12 stops, although you won't be able to find concensus on this. Some sources say 1:1 billion! Google "dynamic range of human vision".
Posted by Jim Jirka on October 3, 2006 at 5:44 PM
I was going to say 10 stops. I believe you will find it quite difficult to measure a range since the human eye and brain auto adjusts for brightness levels.

Posted by Neville Bulsara on October 4, 2006 at 12:38 AM
If I'm not mistaken, it's around close to 20 stops.

Neville Bulsara
http://www.nevillebulsara.com
Travel and documentary photography