Posted by Dottie Short on March 22, 2013 at 1:45 PM
I love being able to shoot HDR with my new 5DIII, but I just realized that the composite image is a jpg. Since I shoot all raw this is a bit discouraging.
My question is if I convert the HDR jpg immediately to a DNG within LR4 will this help keep the image from degrading through the editing process?
I came across something a while back that might give you an approach to consider if you have Photoshop. It is described in a blog post by photographer Cole Thompson on 2/15/13. See http://www.photographyblackwhite.com/, and scroll down to his 2/15 post. He briefly describes using Photoshop's HDR function to merge an original and a copy of a single 8-bit image file to create a 16-bit image file. He comments that the end product was superior to the initial 8-bit file in a number of ways, though it's also clear he did this as a last resort and he is not touting it as an alternative to (or the equivalent of) shooting RAW/16 bit in the first place.
As you learned, the HDR camera function only outputs JPEG image files.
Unfortunately, converting a JPEG file to DNG will not be of any benefit to you and will only result in a larger image file.
See Adobe exec. John Nack's comments on converting JPGs to DNG files for more info.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on March 23, 2013 at 4:16 AM
I have a 5D3 too, that's really just a convenience having it in-camera. You almost wonder what Canon was thinking: "let's provide a way to create an HDR image right on board, and then we'll compress it and toss away data and smoosh it down to an 8-bit image before our customer actually GETS it". Awesome idea Canon! Right up there with my 5D3's button to rate images and print direct from the camera with no post production. Anyway, once it's a JPEG, damage done. Converting to a DNG will simply put the squashed 8-bit JPEG into a roomy DNG container, but that's it.
IMO we haven't improved on the good ol' standards of Photomatix or Nik HDR or SNS-HDR or Capture One. I've gotten used to Photoshop's HDR capability in CS6 too, but it has a user interface that still leaves you scratching your head what to do next. I'm still a Photomatix guy, now that I've got the thing figured out and can make an image that looks real.
If I have a JPEG file that I want to work on, which is rare, I save it as a PSD file and then use adjustment layers as needed. I never saw any advantage to DNG's: I would either go straight to TIFF or PSD, since both of these file types are 'lossless'. Once I am done, I save a JPEG, keeping the PSD (or TIFF) with layers intact.
Discussion
4 repliesMy question is if I convert the HDR jpg immediately to a DNG within LR4 will this help keep the image from degrading through the editing process?
Any other comments/suggestions are welcomed.
Thank again,
Unfortunately, converting a JPEG file to DNG will not be of any benefit to you and will only result in a larger image file.
See Adobe exec. John Nack's comments on converting JPGs to DNG files for more info.
IMO we haven't improved on the good ol' standards of Photomatix or Nik HDR or SNS-HDR or Capture One. I've gotten used to Photoshop's HDR capability in CS6 too, but it has a user interface that still leaves you scratching your head what to do next. I'm still a Photomatix guy, now that I've got the thing figured out and can make an image that looks real.
--P