There seems to be a lot of people excited and curious about the Pentax K-x and its built in HDR mode, but there are few examples online that actually show a comparison between a normal jpeg, a Pentax K-x HDR photo, and an auto-bracketed exposure post processed with Photomatix. Well, here it is…
Note: click on each image to see it larger.
First we will look at a standard jpeg of the scene.
A single JPEG shot with the Pentax K-x
Next this is the same shot using the Pentax K-x and its built in HDR mode. (hand held, HDR strong or HDR 2)
The same shot taken with the Pentax K-x's built in HDR mode
And finally the same shot but using auto-bracketed exposures at +/- 3ev and post processed in Photomatix. (hand held)
Using auto-bracketing and Photomatix
Discuss.
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I like the 2nd image ( in camera HDR). It’s a feature that’s worth trying if you have a tripod.
The in-camera HDR has a much more natural look. The 3rd is immediately identifiable as processed outside of the camera.
Yes the second picture ha a more natural look but a lot more people like and expect the HDR look(third picture) when you say it’s a HDR picture…thanks for doing this test I also wondered how the in camera and auto bracket HDR pictures would look in a comparison but I don’t have a tripod yet
I’ve been doing my own shadow recovery for a long time. Just create a duplicate layer, take the top layer and desaturate it, invert the layer so that it’s a negative, then set the layer properties to overlay. Still needs some tweaking though…
But I like HDR a lot better.
I run Linux, so if any of you are cheap like me, I want you to know that there are plugins for it that will do hdr.
Thanks for this post, I like the edge that photomatix puts in the last image. Too many hdr shots I see are devoid of any true black, and this leaves the images looking way too cartoony and no where near natural, in my opinion.
I don’t understand how you can do hand-held in-camera HDR with the k-x. Even with a tripod, most HDR mode photos I take with my k-x are misaligned. How do you do it?
“The in-camera HDR has a much more natural look. The 3rd is immediately identifiable as processed outside of the camera.”
what nonsense! photomatix gives ALOT of control and control is all that matters. hdr should not be done automatically, it is a highly selective process. if you do not decide how much dynamic range is stuffed into your image and how it manifests – you have everything but an image. light and shadow form your motive, bring about depth. too much dynamic range and everything is compressed into neutral grays – as it happened here: the image looks bloodless, flat, empty, compressed, dull, boring. in photomatix you have that control and it is *needed* to make good pictures. the autor simply chose to go for that horrible overdriven look, it has nothing to do at all with “outside processing.”
I rather like the first and third. I find the second too washed out. More importantly, though, I would insist in Mike’s question: how did you manage to get a non-blurred HDR picture hand-held? In my own experience, the slightest vibration between shots spoils the result…