Does Fujifilm DR200%/DR400% have any downside if I'm already shooting at a higher ISO?
Asked 4/25/2012
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On Fujifilm cameras like the X-Pro1, enabling DR200% raises the minimum ISO to 400 and DR400% raises it to 800. I understand these modes help protect highlights, but they also seem tied to ISO and processing. If I already need ISO 800 for my exposure, is there any downside to leaving DR400% enabled? Also, why wouldn’t the camera always use the extended DR setting whenever ISO is already above base ISO?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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On this model Fuji's extended DR function doesn't really alter the dynamic range of the sensor (if there were a way to increase DR it would be on all the time).
Instead it gives you more room to recover highlights (which to most people makes it seem like dynamic range has increased) which is done by underexposing the shot. The reason for the increased minimum ISO when using, say DR400%, is that this mode uses the same amplification as ISO200 (it's not possible to underexposure a base ISO shot without changing shutter speed or aperture). This produces a signal underexposed by two stops, which is corrected in software. The advantage to correcting in software is that you can detect when highlights would be clipped and prevent this from happening.
So to answer your question, there is indeed a difference between shooting at ISO800 and shooting with DR400% and ISO800 - the former uses hardware amplification only, the latter uses software amplification only (DR200% uses half hardware, half software). Using software amplification carries with it increased shadow noise. This is because amplification happens post readout so you amplify the read noise, which doesn't happen if you amplify before readout.
If your sensor has very low read noise anyway then the increase in noise when using this approach can be pretty small. But there is still some noise penalty which is why (in addition to the inability to use wider apertures/longer shutter speeds) this setting isn't always on.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
14y ago
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Fujifilm’s DR modes don’t truly increase the sensor’s native dynamic range. Instead, they protect highlights by effectively underexposing the image and then correcting the darker midtones/shadows in processing.
So if you already need a higher ISO, using DR200% or DR400% is generally not a major drawback and can help reduce blown highlights. That’s why some users leave it on often.
The tradeoff is that because the image is being pushed in software after underexposure, you can still end up with more visible noise or less detail in darker areas compared with a normal exposure when highlight protection isn’t needed. In other words, it’s helpful for high-contrast scenes, but not automatically better for every scene.
That’s also why Fuji doesn’t just force it on whenever ISO is above base. The camera still has to decide whether highlight preservation is worth the tonal tradeoff for the particular scene. Auto DR is therefore best understood as using a scene-dependent choice rather than simply enabling the highest DR mode whenever ISO allows it.
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