Jpg vs Tiff Vs Raw

[zincozinco]

Does it really matter if you throw 7 different exposed images into photomatix what they are?

lets close this thread - I just found a plugin that does it straight from aperture so i wont be converting - raw to hdr finally lost taht one step of exporting from aperure....

[cb1]

what software is it?

[joooowan]

i export jpeg to photomatix and thats where all my HDR comes from.

[cb1]

yeah same here, i go straight to photomatix

[kirkt]

Why not just do the experiment? Shoot an exposure sequence that properly captures the dynamic range of the scene - once in RAW mode and once again in JPEG mode. Open your RAW converter and export the RAWs to JPEGs and 16bit TIFFs, with no processing, all zero'ed settings and linear tone curves. Then assemble the same scene into 4 HDRs - 1) Straight RAW; 2) 16bit TIFF from RAW; 3) JPEG from RAW and 4) JPEG straight from camera. You may want to turn off all picture styles or adjustments to sharpening, contrast and saturation that you may be applying to the in-camera JPEG sequence.

Remember when shooting your sequence to fix your WB to something appropriate (NOT AUTO WB).

Then run all 4 HDR datasets through the same exact tonemapping settings in whatever app you use and compare the results. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Then report the results here for the rest of us to learn from your experiment.

I think you might find that using straight RAWs, depending upon the RAW converter that may be built into the HDR app you use, will sometimes give undesirable results, especially with noise.

If you have a bunch of memory available, use 16 bit TIFFs. If not, use 8bit JPEGs or TIFFs. I usually linearize them from within dcraw or ACR, but, whatever settings you use, apply them uniformly and do not change the image (i.e., exposure adjustments, etc.).

Have fun,

Kirk

[Kevin]

This is copied from HDRsoft FAQ section, you may want to take some time to read through all FAQ's, lot's of good info there.

› Do I need to process bracketed RAW files to TIFF format first?
Yes, it is recommended to first process your bracketed RAW files in your favorite RAW converter, and then combine the converted TIFF or JPEG files in Photomatix. This is particularly recommended with Exposure Fusion, given that Exposure Fusion is intended for images that have been fully processed, either in-camera or through a RAW converter.
When generating an HDR image, having Photomatix directly process the RAW files is theoretically better for the accuracy of the 32-bit HDR image produced -- the data in RAW files represent the linear luminance values captured by the camera sensors, which is exactly what is needed for an HDR image. Also, the calculation of HDR values can rely on the exposure information retrieved from EXIF data when RAW files are used.
However, the RAW conversion of Photomatix is not as good as the RAW conversion done in Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, DxO or other applications specialized in RAW conversion.
This is why you should process your bracketed RAW files in an application that is specialized in the RAW conversion task. Then, use the converted output as source images for Photomatix.
If you have Lightroom, it is easy to integrate both processes with the Lightroom Export Plug-In.
When using a RAW converter with files intended for HDR merging, you should disable sharpening and uncheck all tonal and exposure-related automatic settings (especially the Exposure adjustment setting but also adjustments for contrast, shadow, etc.) which should be set to zero. This does not apply to files intended for Exposure Fusion, though. For Exposure Fusion, it is better to process your RAW files using the auto-settings of the RAW converter.
As a side note: Though shooting in RAW is definitely better than shooting in jpeg for the dynamic range, this is not really relevant anymore when several exposures are used -- if your bracketed shots properly cover the scene's dynamic range, jpegs will work as well as RAWs for creating an HDR image.