Which Resolutions/Aspect Ratios Support HDR Photos?

[GunnerBAC]

Hi! I'm trying to figure out which resolutions/aspect ratios support HDR photos and what settings have to be enabled in order to engage HDR for those particular resolutions/aspect ratios..

Also, which resolution/aspect ratio would be better for real estate photos and which one would be better for mapping?

My questions are in regards to the Evo 2 Pro (6K) drone with the following resolutions/aspect ratios:

5472*3648 (3:2)
5472*3076 (16:9)
3840*2160 (16:9)

 

[herein2021]

Hi! I'm trying to figure out which resolutions/aspect ratios support HDR photos and what settings have to be enabled in order to engage HDR for those particular resolutions/aspect ratios..

Also, which resolution/aspect ratio would be better for real estate photos and which one would be better for mapping?

My questions are in regards to the Evo 2 Pro (6K) drone with the following resolutions/aspect ratios:

5472*3648 (3:2)
5472*3076 (16:9)
3840*2160 (16:9)

I am not sure that I understand what you are asking; the EVO II 6K does not create HDR photos unless there is a setting somewhere that I have not found. It does offer the ability to shoot brackets, but it will not automatically merge them for you (as far as I know).

As far as aspect ratios and HDR...the two are not related; one is simply how large and what dimensions you want the footage to be and the other (HDR) is a method used to take multiple images with different exposures and then merge them to theoretically get more dynamic range than the sensor itself offers. I say theoretically because most HDR is poorly done and results in ghosting, color loss, sharpness loss, and other issues.

I personally don't think I have ever shot an HDR photo with a drone that I ended up using for a project. Most HDR looks very fake to me also, and since I live in FL there's not that many HDR situations here such as sunsets behind mountains so its pretty rare that the DR in a scene here will exceed the DR of the sensor and even if it did, I am not inclined to spend the extra time and effort manually exposure blending multiple exposures for personal use. For clients, I've never had a client that was not satisfied with whatever came out of a single image. The only time I could see myself taking multiple exposures and manually hand blending them (much better than HDR), is for a high paying project or for a print that I intend to sell.

To get the highest resolution images out of the sensor you should always shoot at the 3:2 aspect ratio since any other resolution is just a crop taken from the 3:2 starting point which means you are getting less resolution with any other ratio.

 

[GunnerBAC]

I am not sure that I understand what you are asking; the EVO II 6K does not create HDR photos unless there is a setting somewhere that I have not found. It does offer the ability to shoot brackets, but it will not automatically merge them for you (as far as I know).

As far as aspect ratios and HDR...the two are not related; one is simply how large and what dimensions you want the footage to be and the other (HDR) is a method used to take multiple images with different exposures and then merge them to theoretically get more dynamic range than the sensor itself offers. I say theoretically because most HDR is poorly done and results in ghosting, color loss, sharpness loss, and other issues.

I personally don't think I have ever shot an HDR photo with a drone that I ended up using for a project. Most HDR looks very fake to me also, and since I live in FL there's not that many HDR situations here such as sunsets behind mountains so its pretty rare that the DR in a scene here will exceed the DR of the sensor and even if it did, I am not inclined to spend the extra time and effort manually exposure blending multiple exposures for personal use. For clients, I've never had a client that was not satisfied with whatever came out of a single image. The only time I could see myself taking multiple exposures and manually hand blending them (much better than HDR), is for a high paying project or for a print that I intend to sell.

To get the highest resolution images out of the sensor you should always shoot at the 3:2 aspect ratio since any other resolution is just a crop taken from the 3:2 starting point which means you are getting less resolution with any other ratio.

Thanks for the info. I saw info posted about HDR in video mode so I was trying to figure out if HDR was available in photo mode as well..

Here is the thread that had the video HDR info:
Post in thread '10 Bit supported resolutions' 10 Bit supported resolutions

 

[herein2021]

Thanks for the info. I saw info posted about HDR in video mode so I was trying to figure out if HDR was available in photo mode as well..

Here is the thread that had the video HDR info:
Post in thread '10 Bit supported resolutions' 10 Bit supported resolutions

Ok that makes sense now. Yes the EVO II 6K does offer HDR video in a format called HDR10 (vs HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, etc.). The catch is you can only use it when the exposure mode is set to auto which of course is an awful combination. If you are shooting HDR you want the absolute highest quality available and the last thing you want is your exposure changing uncontrollably mid clip.

Fortunately it is not all bad news; you can just as easily shoot in 10bit ALOG (4K30FPS) and simply convert to HDR10 color space in your NLE. With this approach you get the benefits and consistency of manual exposure along with the dynamic range and color space of HDR10.

With that being said, the HDR workflow is not even close to worth it in my book. I have never shot or edited HDR footage simply because my clients aren't willing to pay for the extra work not to mention to color grade HDR footage properly you need an HDR monitor and the only people that would be able to view the additional HDR color space would be people with HDR devices.

I always keep in mind the fact that I am not shooting the next Hollywood blockbuster and instead am shooting footage that will mostly likely never leave YouTube and will also most likely be viewed on a 5" cell phone screen.

For photography, the EVO II 6K (as far as I know) only offers AEB which is a fancy way of shooting 3 or 5 shot bursts of images with over/under EV values that you can then combine later in the editor of your choice. IMO both methods of increasing the dynamic range of the drone footage is overkill and not worth the additional work for 99% of the content produced by drones.

 

[GunnerBAC]

Ok that makes sense now. Yes the EVO II 6K does offer HDR video in a format called HDR10 (vs HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, etc.). The catch is you can only use it when the exposure mode is set to auto which of course is an awful combination. If you are shooting HDR you want the absolute highest quality available and the last thing you want is your exposure changing uncontrollably mid clip.

Fortunately it is not all bad news; you can just as easily shoot in 10bit ALOG (4K30FPS) and simply convert to HDR10 color space in your NLE. With this approach you get the benefits and consistency of manual exposure along with the dynamic range and color space of HDR10.

With that being said, the HDR workflow is not even close to worth it in my book. I have never shot or edited HDR footage simply because my clients aren't willing to pay for the extra work not to mention to color grade HDR footage properly you need an HDR monitor and the only people that would be able to view the additional HDR color space would be people with HDR devices.

I always keep in mind the fact that I am not shooting the next Hollywood blockbuster and instead am shooting footage that will mostly likely never leave YouTube and will also most likely be viewed on a 5" cell phone screen.

For photography, the EVO II 6K (as far as I know) only offers AEB which is a fancy way of shooting 3 or 5 shot bursts of images with over/under EV values that you can then combine later in the editor of your choice. IMO both methods of increasing the dynamic range of the drone footage is overkill and not worth the additional work for 99% of the content produced by drones.

Got it! So I'm assuming that HDR would never be needed for mapping/surveying then right?

 

[herein2021]

Got it! So I'm assuming that HDR would never be needed for mapping/surveying then right?

I have never used drones for this purpose but speaking from a photography standpoint I don't see why it would be needed. The simple act of pointing the camera towards the ground reduces the DR of the scene since less of the sky and sun is in the frame. At most you might have some deep shadows on the nearside of buildings depending on the time of day which can be easily fixed by shooting at a different time of day or on an overcast day. I don't see any scenario where you would want to take brackets of images for a mapping or surveying project. You would end up with exponentially more images without contributing much if anything to the quality of the results.

 

[GunnerBAC]

I have never used drones for this purpose but speaking from a photography standpoint I don't see why it would be needed. The simple act of pointing the camera towards the ground reduces the DR of the scene since less of the sky and sun is in the frame. At most you might have some deep shadows on the nearside of buildings depending on the time of day which can be easily fixed by shooting at a different time of day or on an overcast day. I don't see any scenario where you would want to take brackets of images for a mapping or surveying project. You would end up with exponentially more images without contributing much if anything to the quality of the results.

Ok! Thanks for all your help!