HDR Merge function in LR 6 How do you like it?

How many of you are using the HDR Merge function that is in LR 6? Do you like the way it works and do you use in conjunction with other HDR processing software like Photomatix?
I am really interested in getting into HDR photography and learning more about it, right now I'm just fiddling around with single shot photos with the Snapseed app on my cell phone and uploading those to my Instagram but I would really like to learn the proper way to do create HDR photos in large format on my computer and have the ability to print those out instead of the lower quality that I'm using from my cell phone. I'm upgrading my laptop, my camera and will probably be upgrading to LR 6 since I'm only working off LR 3.6 right now. I know the new laptop I just ordered that will run Windows 10 will probably not work with my current version of LR. I'll be upgrading my camera as well from a 50D to the new 80D.

I've heard really good things about the Photomatix software for HDR and I have read that LR has a new HDR Merge function but know nothing about how good it is, so for those of you that have used it do you like it or do you just use a separate program like Photomatix for creating your HDR photos?

Thanks in advance for your replies

For the very mild 3 shot bracketed HDR's I do Lightroom works great. There are always artifacts left over that I have to address in PS though.
I have Photomatix and never use it.

I've had good results with LR's HDR overall. Sometimes there are artifacts like FarmerTed mentions, and the ghosting reduction is not as good as some other software. I typically bracket 5 shots, even with my Phantom 3 drone.

Photomatix was the one of the best in the early days, though it is very easy to over do it and get grungy results. Photomatix hasn't been updated in quite a while.

I have also had good results with Nik's HDR, part of the Nik Suite (now owned by Google and not updated in a long time.) The Nik Suite is free so worth a try. I find Nik HDR more realistic than Photomatix, but again, it's easy to over do it.

I use LR HDR quite frequently and love it. I bracket whenever I shoot a dynamic scene with this LR HDR in mind. I bracket to try and get at least one shot with no clipping in the highlights and at least one shot with good detail in the shadows. Depending on the light this could mean a 3, 5 or 7 shot bracket and may use exposure compensation. In LR HDR what I like is that it will take my RAW files and merge them into a kind of 'super' RAW file so that now when I edit I still have all the power of editing a RAW file but with the extended dynamic range. So far it's the best I've used for the realistic looking HDR images, not the over 'baked' candy coated stuff HDR has unfortunately been kind of associated with.

Ron

Sample...

that's pretty neat

I haven't actually tried LR for HDR, just never got round to it - now I must!

thanks

Dermit wrote in post #18241162
I use LR HDR quite frequently and love it. I bracket whenever I shoot a dynamic scene with this LR HDR in mind. I bracket to try and get at least one shot with no clipping in the highlights and at least one shot with good detail in the shadows. Depending on the light this could mean a 3, 5 or 7 shot bracket and may use exposure compensation. In LR HDR what I like is that it will take my RAW files and merge them into a kind of 'super' RAW file so that now when I edit I still have all the power of editing a RAW file but with the extended dynamic range. So far it's the best I've used for the realistic looking HDR images, not the over 'baked' candy coated stuff HDR has unfortunately been kind of associated with.

Ron

Sample...

Hosted photo: posted by Dermit in
./showthread.php?p=182​41162&i=i65184117
forum: HDR Creation

This is a wonderful shot and a very good example of how HDR should be used. Thankfully the "candy coated stuff " is long gone. Sure, if you seach for HDR on Google images you will find some but the garish HDR is hard to find on POTN.

As I don't have LR, I use the inexpensive SNS-HDR for my bracketed shots as it generates a very natural looking image.

I have been using LR HDR merge for real estate pretty much since it became a part of LR and I have learned how to batch process with it (sort of) which makes it more useful for volume work. But the color shifts and the bias toward the dark end have constantly annoyed me. So I am changing my work flow and I am returning to LR-Enfuse. I am now shooting a 5 shot, 2 stop bracket preceded by a flash bounced from a wall into a room. Then the the flash exposure and the first of the ambient brackets are blended manually in PS. If that does not produce a result I like, I will then blend the full bracket in LR-Enfuse. I am no longer using LR HDR. When I need a blended result LR-Enfuse give much cleaner results and most of the time the flash/ambient shot is all that is needed.

The first shot is LR-Enfuse. With LR HDR, windows around the doors are terrible. This shot required very little manipulation after the initial Enfuse blend. The second shot is a flash/ambient manual blend in PS.

I compared LR HDR against Photomatix and found Photomatix to be vastly superior.

rwmson wrote in post #18330104
I compared LR HDR against Photomatix and found Photomatix to be vastly superior.

LR HDR is very easy to use but most of the dedicated HDR apps are more versatile.