# Dynamic Range



## edgley (Sep 21, 2010)

I have just read a fascinating article in OP about dynamic range, and how to use it.So I have been playing, and have some questions. As you lot are, mostly(  ), forgiving of stupidity, I thought I would post them on here.

My D3'' has, rounded up, a range of 9; 4 above and 5 below.Do I have the following right then?

When I compose a shot with a high dynamic range:

[li]I am set to manual, and have my aperature set to 8 so I have the "best" set for my lens, and everything should be in focus[/li]
[li]First spot meter on an area that is a midtone, ie. something that is in the middle of the brightness range[/li]
[li]Use the aperture setting to change the value so that the bar in the view finder showing exposure is in the middle[/li]
[li]Move the detecting area to the brightest area, and check that it is not more than 4 stops higher - more than 4 bars showing on the view finder[/li]
[li]Then move to a dark area and check that it is less than 5 below the centre point in the view finder[/li]
[li]If it is more than 4 above, or 5 below, recompose the shot to remove the areas that are out of the range.[/li]

Is that right?
Thanks,Simon.


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## rccoleman (Sep 21, 2010)

[quote author=edgley link=topic=11'99.msg7464'#msg7464' date=1285'79511]
I have just read a fascinating article in OP about dynamic range, and how to use it.So I have been playing, and have some questions. As you lot are, mostly(  ), forgiving of stupidity, I thought I would post them on here.

My D3'' has, rounded up, a range of 9; 4 above and 5 below.Do I have the following right then?

When I compose a shot with a high dynamic range:

[li]I am set to manual, and have my aperature set to 8 so I have the "best" set for my lens, and everything should be in focus[/li]
[li]First spot meter on an area that is a midtone, ie. something that is in the middle of the brightness range[/li]
[li]Use the aperture setting to change the value so that the bar in the view finder showing exposure is in the middle[/li]
[li]Move the detecting area to the brightest area, and check that it is not more than 4 stops higher - more than 4 bars showing on the view finder[/li]
[li]Then move to a dark area and check that it is less than 5 below the centre point in the view finder[/li]
[li]If it is more than 4 above, or 5 below, recompose the shot to remove the areas that are out of the range.[/li]

Is that right?
Thanks,Simon.
[/quote]

That's an interesting approach, but I believe that you'd have to use setting B2 to adjust the exposure meter to show you something as far off as 4 stops up and 5 stops down without a bunch of additional fiddling. If you set it to 1EV, you'd lose a lot of precision when making individual adjustments to shutter and aperture, but you may get the resolution that you need for the exposure bar to do what you're describing.

Rob


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## edgley (Sep 22, 2010)

You made me get my manual out &lt;blush&gt;

I have b2 set to 1/3, so I was off in what the meter was showing me.

So how should one make sure that the DR is within the range of the camera?


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## rccoleman (Sep 22, 2010)

I usually just take the picture and look at the histogram. I'm intrigued by your suggestion, though, and I'm trying to think of a way to make it into a useful trick.

Rob


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## sizzlingbadger (Sep 22, 2010)

Way over complicating it...  Set the aperture to the DOF you require for artistic reasons. Set the shutter so that the camera meter reads about central (vary it a bit by eye using experience if you like) take the shot. Look at the histogram and check the range - adjust the shutter (EV if you are Aperture Priority) or recompose as required.

I really see no point in making it any more complicated IMHO.


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## Graeme Brown (Sep 22, 2010)

Nikon spent a gazillion dollars developing their matrix metering system which is probably the best on the market so you don't have to think about this stuff.

Do as Mr Badger above mentions, or for an even easier solution use Aperture priority, take a shot look at it, and then adjust the exposure compensation. Repeat as required until you get the result you like. The next time you look at a similar scene your brain will now be calibrated to tell you "ah yes, I need +1.5 for this shot"


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## stasber (Sep 22, 2010)

[quote author=Graeme Brown link=topic=11'99.msg74725#msg74725 date=1285144315]Your brain will now be calibrated to tell you[/quote]

Camera profiling. Lens profiling. Monitor profiling and printer profiling. And introducing psychological profiling. Nice. :icon_mrgreen:


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## RikkFlohr (Sep 22, 2010)

This article details how I set exposure/bracketing in the field. Not counting the time it takes to do the math on my fingers, I can usually set exposure and bracketing bias in just a few seconds. http://bit.ly/d2aGsy


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