Dynamic range

[igercelman]

I have 10D. I have a problem. If light condition is very hard(contranst) I could not catch shadow or highlight detail.

I make a mistake or in that light conditions, I think digital is not goog as film.

Whats your idea or any suggestion?

[robertwgross]

We can't prove these numbers exactly, but it has been said that good negative film can handle about eight stops of dynamic range. Good slide film can handle about five stops of dynamic range. A good DSLR camera can handle about six stops.

So, if you have a scene with hard lighting and many stops of difference between light and dark, you can try to shoot it with negative film, slide film, or a digital camera. One of these might give the best results (neg film).

But if you have to do it digitally, then I suggest you see if a graduated neutral density filter can help. For a typical scene with bright sky and dark foreground, it works. If the scene is very complex, then it becomes difficult.

You can also composite two frames together in your editor. With the camera on a solid tripod, expose one frame for the bright and another frame for the dark. Then add them in layers in Photoshop. I have some Canon utility program that does it also.

---Bob Gross---

[igercelman]

Thanks robertwgross. Do you know what is dynamic range of 10D? And wich DSLR is the best for about dynamic range.

[Ken Fong]

I found this article interesting...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml

[robertwgross]

No, I don't know the exact dynamic range of a 10D, but it falls into the category of a "good DSLR", especially if you shoot in RAW format.

---Bob Gross---

[rdenney]

igercelman wrote:
Thanks robertwgross. Do you know what is dynamic range of 10D? And wich DSLR is the best for about dynamic range.

One test I saw rated the 10D with a dynamic range of 7.5 stops. From my own images, I think that's about right.

I basically agree with Bob, though my numbers might be a bit different. The negative film I use seems to have about a 9-stop range, and when I use slide film it is Velvia, which is narrow at maybe 5 stops. The 10D is between slide film and negative film in terms of range and latitude. But the 10D is more like slide film in that it abhors overexposure. It is much easier to pull up shadow detail than it is to pull down highlights, and if the highlights are blown out they are gone forever.

Of course, part of the trick to photography is making sure that the 7.5 stops of scene luminance that you want is within the 7.5 stops of sensor range available. Digital photography is no worse than film photography in that regard.

By the way, the 10D has been reported to have about as wide a dynamic range as is available at any price.

Rick "who thinks of the 10D as being like ultra-wide-latitude slides" Denney

[robertwgross]

Yes, dynamic range can be tricky. When I go to the field for nature photography, I am carrying my EOS D60 and the old EOS Rebel G for Velvia film, and I swap lenses back and forth all day. When I get into shooting something specific at all angles, I have lost track of whether I have the digital camera in front of me or the film camera. So, sometimes the limited dynamic range of the Velvia will show up on the slides, because I was not thinking enough on how to adjust.

When I do shoot Velvia, I normally bracket the exposures by +1 and -1, so I normally end up with three identical slides that are just a hair apart to the eye.

It is much easier with the digital camera. I just do it in the image editor software.

---Bob Gross---