HDR Programs To Use

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HDR Programs To Use

Postby jojo » Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:03 am

Looking at HDR programs and trying to choose one....which one would you recommend to be the best performer between HDR Efex Pro 2, Photomatrix or Oloneo?

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby Merlin_AZ » Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:13 am

I use Nik and like it.
Best thing is to download the trials and see which one gives you the look you want.

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby NLAlston » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:24 pm

You may have gotten your hands on one, now, but I would like to mention one that did not fall within your list of choices. It is The Topaz Adjust plugin, by TopazLabs. If you haven't purchased one, yet, you might want to download the demo and kick its tires. It (IMO) does a really great job.
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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby gpsmikey » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:34 pm

While I have not used the HDR feature in the Topaz Adjust plug-in, I have in general been happy with the Topaz plugins and use them quite a bit (remask works well too for a quick cutout).

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby jojo » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:36 pm

Thank you I will try Topaz....John

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby NLAlston » Mon Sep 03, 2012 10:11 pm

gpsmikey wrote:While I have not used the HDR feature in the Topaz Adjust plug-in, I have in general been happy with the Topaz plugins and use them quite a bit (remask works well too for a quick cutout).

mikey


You've got to try it, Mikey. You just may like it :D.

Also, like yourself, I have utilized just about every plugin that Topaz has. And my favorite two happens to be Adjust, and ReMask.
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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby heckydog » Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:45 am

I've had Topaz Adjust for a while and it does some interesting, and very cool, effects. However, I don't think it's a true HDR program.

For HDR I believe you must take three photos of your subject/scene. Each one with a different exposure, +1, -1, and normal. The HDR software then combines them to give the best exposure for each area of the photo. Topaz Adjust works on just a single photo.

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby gpsmikey » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:33 am

Joe is correct in that true HDR is done with multiple exposures, but you can indeed get some interesting effects with just one sometimes. I am going to get a graduated ND filter for my camera soon which will sort of accomplish one of the things you can do with HDR and that is to lower the total dynamic range between the sky and the foreground although the graduated ND filter does have a more limited application (you need to have a scene where the horizon is basically a fairly straight line for the graduated ND filter to work right). On the other hand, true HDR using multiple exposures gets tricky when things are moving around in the image ... like waves :lol: This could all be simplified a whole lot if they would just come out with a sensor that had the dynamic range of your eye with 24 bits / pixel :twisted:

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby NLAlston » Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:05 am

heckydog wrote:I've had Topaz Adjust for a while and it does some interesting, and very cool, effects. However, I don't think it's a true HDR program.

For HDR I believe you must take three photos of your subject/scene. Each one with a different exposure, +1, -1, and normal. The HDR software then combines them to give the best exposure for each area of the photo. Topaz Adjust works on just a single photo.

Joe


You are absolutely correct, when you say that Topaz Adjust is not a 'true' HDR treatment. I think that going 'full throttle' (three different exposure settings) would, indeed, yield the most optimum results. But Topaz Adjust does a remarkable job of giving a pseudo HDR effect of single photos.
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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby BarbaraC » Tue Sep 04, 2012 1:30 pm

My only problem with pseudo-HDR is that it seems to have become somewhat of a fad, and there's just so much of it out there. When I first saw it, I was fascinated, but these days, I just think, "There it is again." :shock:

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby NLAlston » Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:58 pm

BarbaraC wrote:My only problem with pseudo-HDR is that it seems to have become somewhat of a fad, and there's just so much of it out there. When I first saw it, I was fascinated, but these days, I just think, "There it is again." :shock:

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yes, I agree: saturation of this has, indeed, become an issue. However, when a pseudo treatment of a photo has been effectuated within the right photo, by the right user, you know that it is something which has been set apart from the mediocre; something which makes it special, and sets it apart from what you might normally see.
I never tire of viewing HDR treated photos which had been tastefully done.
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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby gpsmikey » Tue Sep 04, 2012 5:48 pm

" tastefully done." - I knew there was a catch :D

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Re: HDR Programs To Use

Postby Jim Adams » Fri Sep 13, 2013 1:16 pm

Thirteen months since your original post I'm guessing you've had plenty of HDR practice. I've used 5 different
programs and can't find anything as good as Oloneo. Photomatix is the most popular but I could never get the
colors and tones correct. Where Oloneo is lacking is where Photomatix shines, unfortunately. That would be
with ghosting and chromatic aberrations. I'll still take Oloneo any day and live with it's limitations. The ghosting
problems with Oloneo are worst with trees blowing in the wind and reflections on moving water. Those types of
shots are best avoided. A person walking through the scene is easier for Oloneo to figure out. If you import RAW
images into Oloneo the chromatic aberrations (green and purple edge artifacts) can be disturbing. The best way
to overcome this problem is to run all the RAW files through Camera Raw (or any other Raw processor) , remove
the chromatic aberrations and output a Jpg or Tiff that you will import into Oloneo. I use the image processor
in Photoshop for this task and walk away for a few minutes while the entire folder of RAW images is being converted.

I like Oloneo so much that I even use it when I don't necessarily need it because I can't get the same colors
and hues in Camera Raw or Photoshop. SNS-HDR would be my second choice behind Oloneo but it is much slower
and I need speed as I'm dealing with many scenes. Give it a try if you are more patient than me.

I have found that with Oloneo you need to utilize the full range of photos from dark to bright. If you don't
use the dark files your final image will lack contrast and if you eliminate the light files you will have noise
in the shadows and deep blue skies. I normally have 7-9 shots one stop apart. That fills up cards and hard
drives fast.

One final thing I found out from experience is if you are going to try to shoot an HDR Panorama sequence
you'll need very fast cards or the buffer will become full before you can complete all your shots.
Even for a single HDR scene you want get all your shots as fast as you can. Shadows may not appear to be moving
to the naked eye but they will look strange in an HDR composite if there is too much time from start to finish.

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