Handheld burst HDR


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visage356

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Aug 13, 2009
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Hello all.

Just came back from vacation in Australia. Didn't bring a tripod to use with my 500D + 10-20, 18-55, 55-250. Didn't really miss it that much. Even managed to do HDR by bracing cam on sturdy object and handheld panos.

Now, the question:

Is it possible to do a handheld HDR by using a high frame rate e.g. 8fps. With IS on or an ultra wide angle, that 1/4 s should be within limits for a sharp output right? Would more experienced members pls advise?

I ask because a tripod is damn bulky and a pain to bring along and if such a technique can work, will enable more flexible composing.
 

it really depends on how stable you hold your camera... esp on a 10-20mm lens, you can easily go down to 1/10 with no worries, but if you happen to move a bit the linear distortion will be quite noticeable between pictures.

if possible, a light travel tripod (eg. travel angel i think) is recommended, or something to brace your camera on, such as a rock or branch. you can even use someone's shoulder to do HDRs... i've done it before :)
 

Is it possible to do a handheld HDR by using a high frame rate e.g. 8fps. With IS on or an ultra wide angle, that 1/4 s should be within limits for a sharp output right? Would more experienced members pls advise?

If u shoot 3 brackets, do u forsee urself holding out almost a second of successive shots without much movement ?
( using ur example of 1/4 second, and assuming one stop +/- , the other brackets are 1/8 and 1/2 sec )

I would not think the 8fps matter with such a slow shutter speed, but probably gives u more advantage in situations where the brackets are done with higher shutter speeds.

I would go for a tripod. Tiring but essential and important like the lens on the camera. U can shoot long exposures as well.

Ryan
 

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HDR? I would shoot in RAW and work it out from there when i get home. its a much better option than to bracket 3x JPG without using a tripod
 

i'm also using 500D and i wonder how is it possible for you to do an 8fps burst using this cam?

i tried using hdr handheld and got quite a decent output, using only 3 raw shots, tone-mapped at photomatix.

here is the sample of my handheld 3 exposure hdr taken yesterday (26-Dec-2009)
4215597170_00130a82bc_b.jpg
 

i'm always on handhelds for outdoor HDR shots.. as long as it's bright i feel it's ok
 

You can take along something small, like a gorilla pod if weight is a concern.
 

if like what ts said, there is platform to place or support the cam, personally i think 1s on a uwa is not pushing it
 

I've managed to shoot handheld HDR. I usually stitch the result in Hugin, which will give you an exr file to fiddle with. As long as the individual images have significant overlap, the results are fine.
 

Hello all.

Just came back from vacation in Australia. Didn't bring a tripod to use with my 500D + 10-20, 18-55, 55-250. Didn't really miss it that much. Even managed to do HDR by bracing cam on sturdy object and handheld panos.

Now, the question:

Is it possible to do a handheld HDR by using a high frame rate e.g. 8fps. With IS on or an ultra wide angle, that 1/4 s should be within limits for a sharp output right? Would more experienced members pls advise?

I ask because a tripod is damn bulky and a pain to bring along and if such a technique can work, will enable more flexible composing.

The issue here is shutter speed and not FPS. On a bright day with fast shutter speeds (eg. 1/300), no issues. Just set camera to HDR mode or Exposure Bracketing mode; Hold steady and the fast shutter speeds should mean that likely nothing shifted between shots.
On a 1/4 shutter speed as you suggested, the fast fps won't really help. Bracing will help, but its hard to ensure anything w/o the tripod.
 

The issue here is shutter speed and not FPS. On a bright day with fast shutter speeds (eg. 1/300), no issues. Just set camera to HDR mode or Exposure Bracketing mode; Hold steady and the fast shutter speeds should mean that likely nothing shifted between shots.
On a 1/4 shutter speed as you suggested, the fast fps won't really help. Bracing will help, but its hard to ensure anything w/o the tripod.

sometimes cheap tripods will also have some shaking esp the cheaper ones. with the telescopic head(sorry dunno how to describe! the mechanism that moves the head up and down) at max, can get pretty unstable even in light breeze.
 

I've managed to shoot handheld HDR. I usually stitch the result in Hugin, which will give you an exr file to fiddle with. As long as the individual images have significant overlap, the results are fine.
I think you just messed up with panorama and HDR.
 

I think you just messed up with panorama and HDR.

Quite the contrary. Part of Hugin is the excellent autopano-SIFT processor. This will help you extract keypoints from the series of images, and align them.

All you do is shoot a series of stacked, bracketed images, tell Hugin to "stitch" them on top of each other, and export the stack. This removes any potential inter-frame camera movements.

You can, of course, do HDR panoramas, if you should be so inclined.
 

Photomatix Pro will automatically align the source images if you enable the option either by correcting horizontal and vertical shifts or matching features during the HDR generating process.
 

you can do handheld burst hdr

but you will have a chance of shake

given the choice between having a chance, and lowering that chance of losing the photo, i know which i'd choose :)
 

Actually if you know your PP, HDR imaging can be done even with only one well-exposure JPG file.
 

agree with night86mare.
Also shots with the sun in frame & lots of details on the ground to capture.
I like the natural look (dynamic range of human eye) so I don't use HDR on anything else.

I think everyone misunderstood what 1/4 s meant. It means that on a cam like the 7D, assuming a fast shutter speed, autobracket 3 frames will take 1/4 s. So is it feasible to use the autobracket burst to HDR a static scene (IE landscape so no chance of missing a shot) with a UWA or even standard zoom @ wide end with IS? Handheld of course.

And tripod/any type of mounting seriously affects mobility + pain in the ass to carry around.
 

For some cameras, you just turn on the in-camera HDR. :p
 

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