Anybody try false color with HEIF files?

[GeorgeHudetz]

It’s an amazing combination. Of course, you can ETTR without false color, but it makes it so easy. Then load that HEIF file into LRC, turn on “HDR” mode (which requires a 10-bit panel, such as a MBP) and behold. Particularly for a sunrise or sunset shot. The highlights are so much more intense - the whole scene just looks so much more realistic than what we have become accustomed to when crushing everything down into 8 bits. It reminds me of what Jon Snow on Game of Thrones said after riding a dragon for the first time - “I’ll never look at my horse the same way again.” And yes, you can do it with a raw file as well, of course.

Sadly the GoT analogy holds more than we want it to - it would seem that the likelihood of other people seeing the brilliance of your 10-bit sunset image are only barely better than riding a dragon, at least for now. Why can’t we have nice things again????

 

[CharlesH]

Welcome to the club!

 

[GeorgeHudetz]

Yeah, I remember you talking about it, Charles. That, plus lusting after a certain newly released MF body, made me curious enough to experiment with HDR. It may drive me to get a new monitor for the office. Plus, between HDR and Denoise, I’m considering moving to LRC from CaptureOne. C1 is increasingly feeling like they are falling behind.

One of the things that I puzzle over is - if we were to all start sharing HDR files (and that requires that they would be easy to consume) does that make a high dynamic range sensor more, or less, important? I feel like we obsess over DR because we need to lift the shadows & blacks so much to make the 8-bit images look something like what we remember. But, with a 10-bit file, will we be lifting shadows less?

Of course, printing is another matter, but it’s an interesting question. And maybe the future “print” will be a framed HDR display on the wall.

 

[CharlesH]

It may drive me to get a new monitor for the office. Plus, between HDR and Denoise, I’m considering moving to LRC from CaptureOne. C1 is increasingly feeling like they are falling behind.

Fortunately I've done video HDR for some time and I have the Pro Display XDR monitor, so when LR introduced HDR for photos I was all set. I use MBP so I have HDR with my laptop when I travel. (And my iPhone and iPad.) I got C1 with the Panasonic S1RII trial offer. It does really nice images, but I didn't fall in love with it, cancelled my subscription and went to just LR. LR pushes the envelope; as example they have a new capability, AI Color Balance for mixed light source environments.

One of the things that I puzzle over is - if we were to all start sharing HDR files (and that requires that they would be easy to consume) does that make a high dynamic range sensor more, or less, important? I feel like we obsess over DR because we need to lift the shadows & blacks so much to make the 8-bit images look something like what we remember. But, with a 10-bit file, will we be lifting shadows less?

You still obsess over everything with HDR photos. There is just a lot more range to be obsessive and strive to create outstanding images. HEIF is good for a quick look, but I work with RAW so the wider dynamic range is available. And yes, I like false color to expose as high as possible without saturating.

Of course, printing is another matter, but it’s an interesting question. And maybe the future “print” will be a framed HDR display on the wall.

I don't have that framed HDR display on the wall yet, but have thought about it. Maybe if I can find a used Pro Display XDR. In terms of sharing HDR files, this is evolving. Instagram has HDR, and LR has Lightroom Web, and there are a few others around. I'm not much for social media so I've not investigated any of these.

 

[HarisO]

I shoot mostly portrait and I find HDR quite the challenge to be honest. I'd like the "oomph" from HDR, but at least for me it's difficult to get that wow effect without struggling with eihet underexposed subjects or issues such as skin tones being far away from anything resembling human skin.
Case in point, I was at a massive photography event in Japan today and decided to shoot using HEIF. I definitely struggled to get usable photos out of it. Thankfully I still had the RAWs to work with, so I could fix most of it, but my general feeling was that HEIF for portrait is a science in itself. I'll try the false colour approach today and see if that gets me better results.

 

[GeorgeHudetz]

I shoot mostly portrait and I find HDR quite the challenge to be honest. I'd like the "oomph" from HDR, but at least for me it's difficult to get that wow effect without struggling with eihet underexposed subjects or issues such as skin tones being far away from anything resembling human skin.
Case in point, I was at a massive photography event in Japan today and decided to shoot using HEIF. I definitely struggled to get usable photos out of it. Thankfully I still had the RAWs to work with, so I could fix most of it, but my general feeling was that HEIF for portrait is a science in itself. I'll try the false colour approach today and see if that gets me better results.

I hate to ask an obvious question, but are you editing the HEIF files in an application that is HDR enabled? I know when I load the HEIF files into LR (which defaults to SDR) they initially look very drab. But when I click the “HRD” button they come alive. Also, If the HEIF format is set to HDR, it’s recorded in hybrid log gamma - which is why your minimum ISO is 320 - and I do think that requires special handling in post, although I’m at the limits of my knowledge here. Again, LRC seems to know all this and the HEIF files - when they are rendered in HDR mode - look quite good right out of the box, with great color. At least for the landscape images I create.

Anyway, apologies if you know all this already, but it’s worth mentioning. I’m sure Charles could elaborate further.

What event are you at?

 

[HarisO]

Yeah, I am using HDR in Lightroom. But again, maybe it's because I am simply struggling with exposure with the HEIF workflow -> like I know you are supposed to overexpose by 1 stop, but maybe sometimes overexposing more (or less) might be better. That's why hopefully trying false colour will help me get things more right.
I am at Comiket 107.
This is one of my shots from yesterday where the skin colour was recoverable after some minor retouching. But unfortunately the sky was horribly overexposed because, well, I overexposed everything. Worked pretty good for the subject and everything else, but I didn't consider that even in 10-bit some things might be too far gone...
Again, I am sure if I get to grips with false colour it'll help me. In this case HDR detracts from the picture.
(This is btw. not the HEIF I got from the camera but the RAW. I just edited it to look like the HEIF + some adjustments to get skin colour to look normal and not completely flat)

• Panasonic DC-S1RM2
• 35mm F1.2 DG II | Art 025
• ƒ/1.2
• 35mm
• 1/320s
• ISO 640