Dual ISO - massive dynamic range improvement (dual_iso.mo)

[dfort]

Just updated and built the latest cr2hdr. Here is the zip file containing cr2hdr.exe, dcraw.exe and exiftool.exe.

https://bitbucket.org/daniel_fort/magic-lantern/downloads/cr2hdr-Windows_2015-10-01.zip

More boring stuff to do, create a Mac binary--as soon as my system finishes installing El Capitan.

[DeafEyeJedi]

Excellent progress as usual, @dfort!

[dfort]

Ok boys and girls, here's the latest cr2hdr for Mac (new and improved 20-bit version) from the unified branch:

https://bitbucket.org/daniel_fort/magic-lantern/downloads/cr2hdr-Macintosh_2015-10-01.zip

Also bundled with the latest dcraw (Revision: 1.476) and exiftool (10.02).

[Danne]

cr2hdr with the cream on top  . Thank you dfort for compiling, and thanks A1ex.

[DeafEyeJedi]

Tested and confirmed it is in fact creamy as it gets and special thanks to @a1ex for getting this done!

[JADURCA]

Thanks!!! These days I was wondering were to find the latest versions inside this forum. And you just post them!!! Great!!!

[lamhk51]

Hi all,

I'm a landscape photographer and impressed by the dual-ISO features in ML.  However, the effective resolution of the post processed photo will be affected.  Therefore I will still use the GND filter to adjust the DR issue.  I want to check whether there is a simple multiple ISO setting feature that just take first half with ISO=100 (example) and second half as ISO=1600 to act like a Hard GND filter?  If not, I will study the code and see how could have such feature to be developed.

PS: I'm new to the forum but would like to contribute too.

Regards,
lamhk

[Sapporo]

Would never had been able to take this picture without Dual ISO

http://kameratrollet.se/2015/10/02/manuppgang-over-angelholm/

I also tried two different exposure and to add the moon in the other one, but the Dual ISO image was the best.

[JADURCA]

@ Sapporo - Beautiful picture! What was your ISO setting (100-1600)? What about shutter speed, aperture and lens used?

[DeafEyeJedi]

Excellent shot of the Moon @Sapporo!

[Sapporo]

http://regex.info/exif.cgi is a good tool. 0.4 sec, f/2.8, 200 mm and ISO 3200. I think I used ISO 100 as a recovery ISO, but I am not sure.

[Danne]

kanonbild Sapporo

[Sapporo]

Tack (Thanks) Danne, DeafEyeJedi and JADURCA.

[NitromanX]

Whoop whoop ... a new updated version of crdhdr for Mac ... Thanks !

But how do i install it please ? Do i need to dump the older stuff first, if so ... how ?

Any ideas DeafEyeJedi (you always seem to know all the answers !)

[dfort]

@NitromanX a little more information would help.

How are you using it? Command line, cr2hdr-r or the Lightroom plugin?

Where do you have it installed? If you are using it from the command line type "which cr2hdr" to get the installed path.

You can dump the old one or simply overwrite it with the new one.

Finally, from where did you download the new updated version? There's a chance that you don't really have the updated version.

[NitromanX]

Hi dfort ! Sorry, i forgot there are other ways than just using it as a Lightroom Plug In - which i do.

I'm not much of a computer whizz so don't use Command Line.

From what i remember i just added the plug in to Lightroom. However, when i downloaded the latest version from here 1.10.15 6.15pm : https://bitbucket.org/daniel_fort/magic-lantern/downloads/cr2hdr-Macintosh_2015-10-01.zip

It contained other stuff like cr2hdr, dcraw, exiftool and the folder called lib. Not sure what all that stuff is ?

Is this the right download and what do i do to install in to Lightroom as a new Plug In (to replace older version) ?

Thanks for your help ... you guys are great.

[dfort]

You downloaded the command line tools. I actually did a small update to the plugin pull request this morning so I posted a new version. Look in here for the latest:

https://bitbucket.org/daniel_fort/magic-lantern/downloads

or here:

https://bitbucket.org/daniel_fort/lr_cr2hdr/downloads

[NitromanX]

Fantastic dFort ! That is awesome ...

I've just downloaded the LR Plug in from the new url will try it out asap.

What has changed from original Lightroom Plug In ?

Can i also ask what advantages the LR Plug in may have over the actual stand alone Mac App - if any ?

I'm guessing i can now delete the older LR Plug In and just use this one as it's a stable release ?

Thanks again ! You have made things so much easier for us all.

[dfort]

This one uses the latest cr2hdr (now with 20-bits standard) along with the latest dcraw and exiftool. The Mac version no longer needs to have dcraw and exiftool installed on the system because it uses what is inside the plugin package like the Windows version does.

If you want to see all the changes check out the pull request:

https://bitbucket.org/kichetof/lr_cr2hdr/pull-requests/12/cr2hdr_unify_merge/diff

As far as what advantages the LR plugin has--well, it makes it easy to work with dual iso shots straight out of the camera and into Lightroom which is the workflow most still photographers that I know use. You can of course convert the dual iso shots before importing them using either the command line or a stand alone app. If you are shooting dual iso video you should check into cr2hdr-r instead.

[NitromanX]

Thanks dFort ... incredible helpful again. I'd better get out there and try it ...

[mothaibaphoto]

Have some footage illustrating (probably) this problem:
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=12796.msg130147#msg130147
That discussion finished with nothing, but the phenomenon seems to exist.
First example shot on MKII with FRSP, frames 52-55 of several hundred shot extracted with mlv_dump -f option.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/76052543/DualISOFlickering/20150923081158_f_52_55.MLV
What I found:
Flickering can appear and disappear during one take and cannot be fixed in post (I didn't find the way). It not looks like WB changing, just the cloud appear and disappear in the sky. Something about contrast.
Any setting --wb=, including custom, doesn't affect the result.
Every odd frame has "Horizontal stripe fix... offset too large" message but --no-stripe-fix doesn't affect the result.
--same-levels doesn't affect the result too.
Even and odd frames has vastly different Black delta and Black adjust values - something like
Black delta     : 24.18
Black adjust    : 255
and
Black delta     : 13.17
Black adjust    : 181
I don't know though, what it means and whether it matter.
Second - MKIII dual ISO video.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/76052543/DualISOFlickering/M19-0541.MLV
No clear even-odd patterns here, really looks like WB changing. No way to cure, same as above.
Fortunately, these problems occurs very rare and noone really valuably shot didn't touched yet.

[DeafEyeJedi]

My first Dual-ISO Photos from SL1/100D ...

•Shot w 16-35L II @ ISO 100/1600

•Converted w latest cr2hdr.3.0BETA3.3 plugin from @kichetof in LR6



•Dual-ISO helped pushed this up to 13.28 stops of DR -- not bad for a $275 Body! 

[axelcine]

Isn't it enough that you love the girl and the dog? Do you absolutely have to flaunt that tiny would-be cam SL1 - piece of plastic and vinyl eyes - nogood. Toy camera... minimum, midget, not to be taken serious, bla bla.

Ya, I'm convinced. I'm gonna have myself a SL1. You know what that tiny piece of ... shi...gold ... could do with a Canon 10-22? 15-85? 50 1.8? In a pocket in Paris with the tiny 40mm? And it has ML!!!!!!!!

And then you do Dual Iso? Backlit? Reproducing this with HDR would be a challenge. I showed your pics to a bunch of Sony and Panasonic guys. They talked about rolling me in feathers and tar for showing them something they are not able to reproduce. Rumors have it they are talking about Panic Lantern and Frantic Lantern... But all the good programmers and devs are ML guys.

Dual Iso takes 'bracketing' to a new dimension. ML makes it possible. Now it's up to the win/mac/linux people to build software, that exploits the full potential of DI. You show the way. And Boy must you love the girl and the dog. The wind caught her hair on the last photo and gave her a Chaplin moustache. Isn't it wonderful? Blow it up and put it over the mantlepiece. It's a picture of pure love.

At least I love the 3 of them. The pictures, of course. And the dog. And the camera. And...

You lucky dog, you! This SL1 was in masterhands.

[DeafEyeJedi]

Thanks @axelcine and here are a few more (100/1600) from the same body but this time with an old Nikon 135 2.8 glass...



Look at the lady's eye lashes and the kitten's frisks. Not bad for a $40 lens I scooped up from a garage sale. Manually spot on!

[dfort]

Ha ha--good writing axelcine. You should consider a career in it.

There's a separate topic for sharing dual iso photos but as long as we're sharing numbers:

Code Select Expand

Camera          : Canon EOS M
Full size       : 5280 x 3528
Active area     : 5208 x 3476
Black borders   : 72 left, 52 top
Black level     : 2038
ISO pattern     : dBBd RGGB
White levels    : 13440 12258
Noise levels    : 7.93 43.24 44.91 7.91 (14-bit)
ISO difference  : 5.02 EV (3245)
Black delta     : -6.37
Black adjust    : 82
Dynamic range   : 10.49 (+) 7.83 => 12.85 EV (in theory)
AMaZE interpolation ...
Amaze took 2.77 s
Edge-directed interpolation...
Semi-overexposed: 74.38%
Deep shadows    : 12.86%
Horizontal stripe fix...
1: offset too large (12422)
35: offset too large (-5916)
36: offset too large (-6180)
37: offset too large (-5987)
38: offset too large (-5451)
39: offset too large (-5319)
51: offset too large (-7154)
Full-res reconstruction...
ISO overlap     : 3.0 EV (approx)
Half-res blending...
Chroma smoothing...
Building alias map...
Filtering alias map...
Smoothing alias map...
Final blending...
Noise level     : 70.59 (20-bit), ideally 70.57
Dynamic range   : 13.34 EV (cooked)
Black adjust    : -26
AsShotNeutral   : 0.54 1 0.71, 4961K/g=1.38 (gray max)


A cheaper camera and even more dynamic range--well not by much. Uh oh, the gauntlet has been thrown!