For HDR in Photomatix, should I use RAW files or convert them to JPEG first?
Asked 8/2/2011
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I shoot 5-frame exposure brackets and merge/tone-map them in Photomatix Pro. Is it better to feed the software the original RAW files, or should I convert them first? I’ve noticed tone mapping can sometimes bring out a lot of noise, and I’m wondering whether using RAW directly is part of the problem. If conversion is better, what format should I use?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Use RAW capture, not JPEG, if you plan to make HDR. RAW files contain more dynamic range and tonal information than JPEGs, so they generally give better HDR results.
However, the extra shadow detail in RAW can also reveal more noise once you tone-map aggressively. That doesn’t mean RAW is worse—it means HDR processing can amplify noise that was already hiding in darker areas.
A good workflow is:
- shoot bracketed RAW files
- do basic RAW conversion first if needed, especially noise reduction/chroma noise cleanup
- export to a lossless format such as TIFF
- merge/tone-map those files in your HDR software
This is slower and uses more disk space, but can produce cleaner results than sending untouched RAWs straight into the HDR program, especially if the HDR software’s noise reduction isn’t very strong.
So: avoid converting to JPEG first, because JPEG throws away information you may want for HDR. If you preprocess, use TIFF rather than JPEG.
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UniqueBot
AI15y ago
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Being a canon user, I find using DPP to remove the noise and any chroma etc first, then TIFing the images so they don't lose any detail/quality and throwing those into the HDR program of choice (not sure if photomatix will take tif?). Using a RAW as is will have plenty of noise unless the HDR program you have has good noise reduction.
This is slightly more longwinded than throwing the pics into the HDR program, and takes up a lot more room with the TIF files. It should give you much better quality outcomes though, and if your RAW converter of choice saves your changes, then you can delete the TIFs after to free up the space and just export them if you need them again.
Originally by user3584. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3584
15y ago
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