Dual ISO (am I doing it right?)

[kore]

Hi Guys. Before it all, thanks to the ML team for bringing us this.

Question: I'be been doing dual ISO tests and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Is this the correct method?

1) f/6.3 1/200s ISO-100 exposes good the highlights (exterior) and ISO-1600 exposes good the shadows (living room).
2) So I take a dual ISO shot 100-1600.
3) Take that CR2 to cr2hdr.exe
4) Open the DNG result and push up the shadows

The image obtained is the following:


Here is the thing: If I do what I use to do (without hearing about dual ISO) is take a halfway exposure between the exterior and the living room, so ISO-640. Then just open that CR2, push up the shadows, and push down a bit the highlights. This is the result:

The only consistent difference I can notice is the worse highlights recovery (look at some elements outside).

As you can see, there is not a huge difference between both pictures so I wonder If I'm doing something wrong.
Tank you.

[a1ex]

Try to find a subject that requires even more shadow pushing (something that has a lot of noise at ISO 100, but looks fine at 1600).

Otherwise, if the clipped highlights are not very important, it's probably better to use a single ISO.

[kore]

Try to find a subject that requires even more shadow pushing (something that has a lot of noise at ISO 100, but looks fine at 1600).

Otherwise, if the clipped highlights are not very important, it's probably better to use a single ISO.

Thanx Alex, you're always there. Just needed to make sure I wasn't doing it completely wrong. I'll keep testing it in real scenarios.

Thanks!

[jpegmasterjesse]

And you want to consider how aggressive your ISO range is.  One fantastic tool is the Expose to the Right module (Ettr).  When I enter a new setting I try that to see if my guess about how dynamic the scene is is correct.  Often ISO 100 will satisfactorily cover it!  In scenes where it can't - Dual ISO is a lifesaver.

One of my go-to settings is -1 EV on Av with the recovery ISO set to +2.  In most situations this produces perfect highlights and great midtones.