Maximum dynamic range single image shooting on R6 Mark II

[Mkiv]

What is the best way to capture the highest possible dynamic range in a single frame(not video)on the Canon R6 Mark II? I’m not talking about HDR processing and compositing of multiple images, rather capturing the highest amount of highlight and shadow in a single frame. My guess would have something to do with custom profiles? I realize that the out of camera image may be flat but that is adjustable in post processing. TIA

[Peter · Accepted solution]

Unlikely that you will capture larger dynamic range with HDR PQ or D+ when you shoot raw. What you get is a different tone curve in some raw converters. For example DPP or Lightroom.

[johnrmoyer · Accepted solution]

if one plans to edit the raw, then there is no reason to enable highlight tone priority nor auto lighting optimizer nor HDR PQ in the camera menus. That can always be done later in the Canon DPP software or maybe in other software. There is also no advantage to enabling Adobe RGB in the camera if one plans to edit the raw file.

Using Av aperture priority will leave the shutter speed and/or the ISO on auto. The camera will choose an exposure which is good when one wishes to document something before it changes, but not good in a studio with controlled lighting. I speculate that enabling those features that I suggest disabling in the previous paragraph will change how the camera chooses exposure.

I suggest that if highlights are most important, use negative exposure compensation and if shadows are most important use positive exposure compensation and adjust brightness, dynamic range, tone curve, and white balance when editing the raw.

[FloridaDrafter · Accepted solution]

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@Mkiv wrote:

 After reviewing your input, I have done some testing. I always shoot RAW in Adobe RGB. I also almost always shoot in Aperture Priority while manually adjusting my Exposure Compensation. I have tried HDR PQ with and without D+ and D+2. I am wondering however, if I am always shooting in RAW, are all of these techniques really capturing more dynamic range? It seems that in my type of photography(photojournalism), that I tend to be more concerned with my highlights not blowing out. On looking at my histogram after shooting with HDR PQ, I noticed that there seems to be a visible limit line on the highlights. Therefore, are HDR PQ and D+ or D+2 just a way of preserving my highlight detail? Or is this method only helping my visual perception of the image on the camera back? Once again, because I am always shooting in RAW, does any of this matter? Is the sensor just capturing everything it can by default when shooting RAW and therefore I should just be concerned with highlight preservation? 

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First, I may not have been clear enough on the specific use of HDR PQ in my comments, so I apologize for that. To be clear, HDR PQ is for displaying on HDR compliant monitors (HDR 10). As Peter mentioned, PQ (Perceptual  Quantization) applies a different tone curve which has greater bit depth, 10 bits IIRC, and applies better transition in colors to reduce banding, "It's using the standardized gamma curve called PQ, which is mapped in a way to put more weight on transitions that the human eye is sensitive to and finds pleasing", so using a Raw PQ or HEIF to convert to JPG defeats the purpose as JPG is an 8bit file. Displays may try to emulate HDR with the JPG, but that's it, which is the case for the back camera display and DPP 4 when you don't have an HDR display. If you plan to use HDR PQ, your camera must be set to HDR PQ for the PQ data to be included in the Raw file, so you can not make a PQ HEIF/HIF from a regular Raw CR3 as the PQ data is not there.

Given your type of shooting (low light), I think you are on the right track to figuring it out ("Aperture Priority while manually adjusting my Exposure Compensation"). As to aRGB, If you are shooting Raw, I don't think color space carries much weight in post as it can be changed, so it's for JPG's, your camera LCD, or maybe the initial view in your post editor and thumbnails. I use "Wide Gamut RGB" once I'm in post, but we all have our preferences 🙂 As for the histogram, it's the same on my R5 and R6II in that it cuts off about a third of my entire scale in the highlights. But once I get the HDR PQ files into DPP 4, my histogram expands to 1023.

To repeat: "Once again, because I am always shooting in RAW, does any of this matter? Is the sensor just capturing everything it can by default when shooting RAW and therefore I should just be concerned with highlight preservation?"

That is correct! Unless you are shooting to display your Raw HDR PQ files on an HDR compliant monitor or distributing HEIF to others that also have HDR equipment, it does not matter. Your Raw files are going to have the best dynamic range they can produce. They just won't have the PQ data.

Newton

[Mkiv]

Thank you so much for your help Newton. I really appreciate it.

Gabriel

[Peter]

Highlight Tone Priority is mainly for JPEG and perhaps also HEIF. For raw shooters it doesn't really matter more than that your camera will light meter differently, around 1 stop darker. The embedded JPEG in the raw file will be brighter. Shooting at ISO 200D+ will be like shooting ISO 100 with exposure compensation set to -1. And shooting at ISO 50 will be like shooting at ISO 100 with exposure compensation set to +1. Photonstophotos shows here that ISO 50 and ISO 100 are just the same, raw wise

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Canon%20EOS%20R6%20Mark%20II

With Hraw you can measure the dynamic range yourself, but I have already done it for you

[johnrmoyer]

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@Mkiv wrote:

Thank you for the info Newton. I have been experimenting with the HDR PQ and Highlight Tone Priority. I did some shooting with these features and then exported to jpg and tiff. The results were good on a non HDR monitor. I usually have to export to jpg for my agency. I am a run and gun photojournalist that usually shoots in Aperture Priority. I am looking for a solution that lets me continue to do that while capturing the maximum amount of highlights and shadows. If the image is flat out of camera I don’t mind because I always post process my files. I use Adobe Camera Raw. As far as Highlight Tone Priority goes do you recommend D+ or D+2? or does D+2 go too far in the noise direction? What do you think of Auto Lighting Optimizer? I have also looked into the “shooting to the right” technique. Some people commenting on my post advise shooting at very low ISO. In a controlled situation that works great. I however often find myself in very dark environments. I am noticing a move within photojournalism where the final image looks a bit underexposed and flat and the highlights are rarely blown out with good detail in the shadows and subdued colors.

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Apple photos.app included with macOS seems to do well at converting the Canon HIF to a pleasing JPEG. GraphicsMagick also seems to me to do a pleasing conversion. 

I am assuming that one has limited time to get the photo and that getting a photo for documentation is more important than getting a perfect photo. This is what I have done and I do not claim it is the best way to do things, but I hope some of it might be helpful anyway. Using the software built into the camera seems important to me under these circumstances so I would keep at least some settings on auto.

If editing a RAW instead of sharing out of camera JPEG or HIF: In DPP, it seems better to me to disable the HDR PQ and use the dynamic range adjustment ( https://cam.start.canon/en/S002/manual/html/UG-04_EditImage_0040.html "Adjusting Dynamic Range" ) and if that is not enough, then use curves. It seems to me that the problem with the DPP conversion from HIF to JPEG is that it follows the HDR PQ standard more closely than the other programs so that the other programs give a more pleasing to me result. On my iMac screen, the HIF is stunning and Photos.app converts to a pleasing JPEG.

For a Northern Cardinal or a red flower in sunlight, I use exposure compensation of -2/3 EV and if backlit, a positive exposure compensation. This seems to work  better for me than the Auto lighting optimizer and is a quick turn of one wheel on the camera before the bird flies away. The negative exposure compensation seems to work better for me than the Highlight Tone Priority. I speculate that Auto Lighting Optimizer, Highlight Tone Priority, or Peripheral Illumination Correction enabled in the camera might result in the camera choosing a different exposure than otherwise when any setting is auto, so I disable all three in the camera menus and only apply them later in DPP if desired.

I suggest auto ISO, possibly limiting the range, to take full advantage of the knowledge embedded in the camera software instead of a fixed ISO. I base this on the assumption that getting a photo to document something is more important than getting a perfect photo. In post processing, noise reduction loses detail for very high ISO. Down scaling the image followed by unsharp mask makes it look good again. The downscaling also helps with motion blur if one had to make the photo with slow shutter in a very dark setting.

As an example, here is a fox that would come to my house every night. I put a spoon full of grape jelly on the stump to attract birds, but the fox liked it too. The photo was made through double paned glass in a door and the only illumination was porch light far from the fox. The camera is an EOS R5 which was new to me and I was still learning how to use.

F Number	5.0
ISO	25600
Shutter Speed Value	1/83
Focal Length	286.0 mm
Focus Distance Upper	10.47 m
Focus Distance Lower	8.99 m
Lens Model	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Edits in DPP as shown by exiftool from the saved recipe dr4 file:

• LuminanceNoiseReduction : 12
• ChrominanceNoiseReduction : 12
• DLOSetting : 40.7646484375
• GammaContrast : 0
• GammaColorTone : 0
• GammaSaturation : 1
• GammaUnsharpMaskStrength : 3
• GammaUnsharpMaskFineness : 4
• GammaUnsharpMaskThreshold : 3
• GammaSharpnessStrength : 4
• GammaShadow : -2
• GammaHighlight : 0
• GammaBlackPoint : +0.000
• GammaWhitePoint : -0.367
• GammaMidPoint : +0.000
• GammaCurveOutputRange : 0 16383
• CropAspectRatio : 5:4 
• CropX : 1087
• CropY : 192
• CropWidth : 4000
• CropHeight : 3200

Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), May 22, 2021

https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2021May26_birds_and_cats/2021may22_fox_IMG_1313c.html

[Peter]

Raw at ISO 100.

[Mkiv]

Hello Peter, thank you for your reply. I commented on FloridaDrafter’s advice above.

[shadowsports]

I was already thinking in line with what Peter replied.  I was going to say RAW and IOS 200  🤣

In this scenario, this one leg of the exposure triangle allows the sensor to capture and perform at its max capability.  Of course aperture and shutter speed are important too as the better an image is exposed originally gives the most control in post.  You can also use a histogram and zebras if your camera supports the latter to achieve the best exposure for your shooting conditions.    Although white balance is a function of color, its accuracy helps with perceived clarity overall.  It will not pull more DR from the shadows, but it's accuracy does affect the characteristics of the final photo making it look more visually pleasing.           

[Mkiv]

Hello Rick, thank you for your reply. I commented on FloridaDrafter’s advice above.

[rs-eos]

Check out the Zone System.

[Stephen]

Do you guys know of any helpful YouTube videos that break this down visually - for those of us who have a hard time digesting so much technical information all at once without actually seeing it in action? I'm sure the Community would appreciate that! 😊