Shooting Zebras and HDRx

[Elsie N]

Am I the only using zebras for clipping? How would that work using HDRx? That is, would we need to change settings thresholds lower so we would know we were about to clip and have a heads-up to switch to HDRx?

 

[JD Holloway]

I've shot zebras on a number of occasions.

They need to be wrapped in bacon.

Too lean.

 

[Elsie N]

I hear they taste like chicken.:001_unsure:

EDIT: Realized after starting this thread that you could probably count on one hand the number of people actually using a camera with HDRx at present. And probably zero of them monitor clipping with the zebras, so my chances of getting an answer now is nil. But maybe as some of the early Epics start to roll out, someone can come back to this thread if they have an answer to my question.

 

[Michael Olsen]

Certainly not a real answer, but...

From what Jim has said, HDRx works to protect the highlights - in a big way. Expose for the scene directly at hand (inside the barn, so to speak). If there are clipping elements (namely the outside) then engage HDRx to such an extent that they don't clip or don't clip so extremely.

So I suppose if you are using zebras, it makes sense to set them close to clipping so you can see what is happening. When things get close (and I imagine close will be a term we'd all define differently) to clipping, add a couple stops of DR.

 

[Elsie N]

Yeah Michael, I agree.

I'm still puzzled how we engage HDRx. Will it be a user assigned button on the camera? Will we have to go into menus?

My scenario is doing a pan from a darkened area into a lighted area. I suppose I could just turn on HDRx from the beginning in a composed scene like that. But in an opportunistic use of the camera, I hope to be able to quickly react to a sudden change and have the zebras warn me it was about to happen.

While there has been a lot of information about how HDRx looks and the advantages thereof, I don't know yet how to turn it on.

 

[Michael Olsen]

More speculation on my end, but it would be interesting, especially when shooting in highly variant conditions, to set a couple of HDRx values to the user-assignable numbers.

Mash "A" and you get HDRx +2, hit "B" and you get HDRx +4. Of course, the question then becomes about blending three different motion types in post so there isn't a shocking difference in the middle of pan.

This, I think, will be the most interesting aspect of HDRx to actually see and control.

 

[Elsie N]

The ability to assign a particular setting to individual buttons sounds like something that would work. Good suggestion.