what does HDR do in camera app??

[backinblack875]

on the iPhones native camera app, under options is says "HDR"...what does it do?? any reason to not have it on?

 

[pdqgp]

on the iPhones native camera app, under options is says "HDR"...what does it do?? any reason to not have it on?

depending on the scene and shutter speed, it may result in blurry images. I have mine set to keep the single original image and the HDR at the same time.

 

[Intell]

HDR is high dynamic range. The iPhone takes three pictures in quick secession. One with high exposure, one normal, and one with low exposure. It then combines all three to create a photo that shows more dynamic lighting.

 

[BFG86]

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

HDR blends the best parts of three separate exposures into a single photo.

 

[rick snagwell]

i never use it...should i? do you guys always have it on?

 

[himynameiscody]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I don't. The pictures I tested didn't look as good

 

[BFG86]

The HDR photo looks better than the regular in low light situations when not using the flash. Other than that nope, dont need to use it.

 

[zhenya]

Well, it depends on the situation. As noted, it often results in better images in low light conditions. It also results in better pictures in scenes with high contrast - say a mid-day picture with a subject in the foreground, and a nice mountain or other object in the distance. Traditionally you would either have to expose for one or the other - get the subject, and the mountain and sky would be washed out. Get the mountain and sky, and the subject is too dark. HDR allows both to be properly exposed, giving a detailed subject, a crisp mountain, and a rich blue sky.

It does not, however, work well when there is motion in the scene, as there is a slight delay between the three exposures, and you'll get blurring.

 

[zflauaus]

I've never really had a good experience with the HDR feature. It's not much different than a single shot for me and I've attempted to do it in some very dynamic scenes.

 

[Xenomorph]

To the OP: You need to do research on HDR and look at some example photos (a forum thread may not be enough help). Once you learn what it is, you will LOVE it!

I try to explain it to people like this:

When outside taking pictures, when you focus on the ground, it is clear and easy to see - but the sky may look like a bright, white mess.
If you focus on the sky, you may suddenly see all the blue up there along with white, fluffy clouds. However, the ground is now pitch-black.

Which scenery do you focus on? Which picture do you take? With HDR, you don't have to decide!
HDR takes multiple pictures, focusing on the brightest and darkest spots, adjusting accordingly - it takes a picture where the ground is perfectly visible and it takes a picture where the sky is perfectly visible, and then *combines* them.
You end up with a "perfect" photo where everything is visible, and nothing is washed-out.

I actually purchased an HDR app for my 3GS (iOS 4 & 5 only enable HDR on the 4 and 4S). It worked great, and I ended up with some amazing vacation photos. One was taken on a beach. The ocean, sand, and sky were all clearly visible in one shot.