90d too dark in HDR

[Jlames]

I’m really having issues with the 90d In-camera HDR. My subject is an interior room in afternoon light with large windows for natural light. Using a manual lens, I’m setting up for AV assuming if I set the ISO to 100 and the f-stop to 8, I’ll only need to be concerned with shutter speed. Using spot metering, I note that the dark is coming in at 0”8 and the bright is at 1/5, I’ve set up for both 3 and 5-shots at +-2ev and the resulting hdr image in both shots come out well-exposed for the highlights but too dark in the remaining areas. Am I doing something wrong or is the hdr function known for this?

Sent from my iPad

[Jlames]

And here we are!

[Jlames]

AS you can see, the camera is capturing the bright spots well but nothing else.

[jrhoffman75]

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@Jlames wrote:

And here we are!

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Did you try what I suggested above? Spot meter on the railing area outside. Then spot meter on the kitchen cabinet below the water bottle. What is the exposure difference in f/stops? That will need to be the bracket range you select. 

All the HDR tool does is combine three images with three different exposures.

[Jlames]

So now we're back to spot metering! In following the Canon video directions fo0r full HDR, it's supposed to be set the HDR to the number of stops under and over in the red dropdown menu (+-2),  point the camera and take the picture. If I'm spot metering, I'm doing the work that the camera is supposed to or ami I missing something? I'm jusat not getting it.

[Waddizzle]

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@Jlames wrote:

Ok, that makes sense but please understand; I'm really a newbie at this but not an idiot. I'm trying to understand how things work and following the "YouTube experts", I'm doing exactly what they say. Spot-metering came from https://youtu.be/Mp6jvdGwC8A but the question I'm still having an issue with is, if I set the aperture and the iso at fixed numbers and the only variable for the camera to calculate, how does it know where to start if I don't tell it what the "ideal", ambient shutter speed should be? And please, bear with me while I try and work through this. I appreciate your patience but, as I said, I'm well-educated biut that's sometimes a barrier. Knowing the answer has never mattered because if I can't understand how the answer got to be the answer, I'm still stuck. 

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There is a major difference between what you are doing and what is shown in the video.  A good understanding of the "Exposure Triangle" would help you to better understand the video.

The video shows two approaches to capturing the exposures.  One approach uses AEB, Automatic Expousre Bracketing, which he calls "semi-automatic". The second approach he calls "manual", where he manually sets each exposure.  Both of these approaches capture the images, which are later processed in a computer.

You are using what is best described as a "fully automatic" HDR mode, where the images are processed in the camera.  Doing so gives you far less control over the process of capturing the various exposures.

[Jlames]

And yes, I understand that. I'm working on a better, working understanding of the triangle and thus my ability. I simply thought the camera would be capable of doing a better job at least close to what's advertised. To me, what the camera produces, unless I'm doing something horribly wrong, is unusable. So, I'll simply, keep working on my manual technique from the basics up with help from people like you. Thank you again.

[Waddizzle]

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@Jlames wrote:

And yes, I understand that. I'm working on a better, working understanding of the triangle and thus my ability. I simply thought the camera would be capable of doing a better job at least close to what's advertised. To me, what the camera produces, unless I'm doing something horribly wrong, is unusable. So, I'll simply, keep working on my manual technique from the basics up with help from people like you. Thank you again.

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I think I figured out what is confusing you.  He is not using Spot Metering for automatic exposures.  He sets the camera to M mode, and dials in his own exposure.  He is not using automatic exposure, so metering mode is irrelevant.

He uses Spot Metering because he is using the camera as if it were a light meter.  That's the only reason he uses Spot Meteriing mode.  He is measuring ambient light.

[Waddizzle]

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@Jlames wrote:

And yes, I understand that. I'm working on a better, working understanding of the triangle and thus my ability. I simply thought the camera would be capable of doing a better job at least close to what's advertised. To me, what the camera produces, unless I'm doing something horribly wrong, is unusable. So, I'll simply, keep working on my manual technique from the basics up with help from people like you. Thank you again.

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Take a look at this series of videos about the basics of photography.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp-znpQge8HxrllwXwn9B0Xxf1f7BQnXC 

Remember, he uses Spot Metering only so that he can use the camera as a light meter.  He does not use Spot Metering to capture photos.  He is in Manual shooting mode, so the automatic metering system is taken out of the loop.

He meters the scene in Av mode, which provides you with shutter speeds.  Make sure the ISO is set to 100, and the Aperture is set to f/8, when you spot meter the scene.  

John is describing the same process the guy used in the video.

Make sure that you are in Manual shooting mode, because that is the whole point of using the camera as a light meter.  So, that you can figure out what shutter speeds to use in Manual mode.

[jrhoffman75]

You’re not getting it.

You set +-2 stops. How do you know that is a sufficient bracket range?

If you follow my advice, lets say the spot meter on the fence says f/16. Then meter the kitchen cabinets and its f/2. That is a 5 stop range. Switch to HDR mode and select +-3.

That is how HDR works. You need to know much range you need.

For your camera you could alternatively select +-2, +-3 and +-4 and see what you get.

If you then still not getting anywhere give Canon a call at 1-800-OK-CANON.

[Jlames]

OK; makes sense. But if it's a 5-stop range and thew HDR onbly allows me a choice of 1, 2 or 3, where do I get the other 2 stops?