A few HDR shots of mine :)

[stealthwolf]

Hello. I used a fuji finepix s700 which comes with a hdr function.

What does the HDR function do on a camera? Does it automatically take pics at diff exposure levels? Does it combing them? What format does it store the pics in?

I did some googling over the weekend and managed to make some HDR images but only of the interior of my house. Nothing special.

[08micsta]

Hello stealth. The camera does not take the hdr picture. It takes a variety of pictures at different exposures. Exposure is your lighting. It usually take the pics in threes. One pic dark. One pic normal. One pic over brightened. It stores them as normal pics on the camera. When you copy your pics to the pc you load those three pics into a program like photomatix pro. It combines them. And makes them one picture. You dont need a hdr function to create hdr pics.

[08micsta]

Most cameras will save a hdr pic in .jpeg format. As said previously. Your camera does not create the hdr pic. It simply takes a few pics at different exposures. It depends on your camera. My camera has a hdr function. But cant save in .raw which is the ideal format for a hdr shot. Whereas my  dads canon automatically saves his shots in .raw or .tiff when he puts it into hdr mode. When in doubt. Read the manual. Mike

[stealthwolf]

Most cameras will save a hdr pic in .jpeg format. As said previously. Your camera does not create the hdr pic. It simply takes a few pics at different exposures. Whereas my  dads canon automatically saves his shots in .raw or .tiff when he puts it into hdr mode.

Thanks Mike. Haven't come across HDR cameras before so didn't know what they did. I read that RAW/TIFF file formats are best as you can create HDR using the images alone. I used photomatix pro over the weekend and made some HDR images though not enough variation in brightness since it was an indoors shot.

I know my camera doesn't have any HDR function and I've been manually shooting at -2/0/+2 exposures.

[08micsta]

Raw and tiff are the best formats as they are mostly uncompressed unlike a jpeg which is compressed. Looking at the pics you wont notice a difference in quality from that of a jpeg but when creating hdr shots raw etc gives you the most range and quality. On photomatix. After creating the hdr. Click on tone mapping. And have a play with  those settings. You can get some very different looking versions just by moving a few settings. Mike