I know what I am about to say still won't work in all situations, and some may even find it a bit controversial, but if your goal is to maximize image quality for landscapes, it's easier than ever to add image stacking / HDR into your workflow.
A camera like a Z8 can fire off 20fps within a second. IBIS makes it easier than ever to take a bracket handheld. Electronic shutters eliminate any shutter shock. Cameras have more bracketing options than ever.
Take a 4 image bracket with the same exposure and average them in post, and you gain about a 1 stop improvement in noise / dynamic range. Take an 8 image bracket, and you gain about 2 stops.
If the scene really requires an increase in dynamic range, HDR software has gotten better than ever at producing natural results, it's not like it was 10 years ago. LR HDR merge alone has gotten quite good for images that are not extreme in motion or contrast. Skylum still has the best HDR merge when it comes to dealing with motion and high contrast edges, even though now it's a bit more clunky to use in Luminar. Nik HDR effects pro, while possibly the worst of the 3 for motion, and is easy to over process your images in still has an amazing ability to recover details in extreme highlights, such as an image with the sun in the frame.
If you go with the HDR approach and do a 3 frame bracket with a Z8 at 20fps of -2, 0, +2, you can add about a 4 stop improvement to your image, and it only takes about .2 of a second to take, greatly helping reduce any motion / alignment issues. Admittedly, it's not foolproof yet as I learned one day trying to take a brackets from a boat in wavy conditions 😂 But things have improved greatly from the first time I tried bracketing with a d800e at 4fps that could only bracket one exposure apart.
I know what I am about to say still won't work in all situations, and some may even find it a bit controversial, but if your goal is to maximize image quality for landscapes, it's easier than ever to add image stacking / HDR into your workflow.
A camera like a Z8 can fire off 20fps within a second. IBIS makes it easier than ever to take a bracket handheld. Electronic shutters eliminate any shutter shock. Cameras have more bracketing options than ever.
Take a 4 image bracket with the same exposure and average them in post, and you gain about a 1 stop improvement in noise / dynamic range. Take an 8 image bracket, and you gain about 2 stops.
If the scene really requires an increase in dynamic range, HDR software has gotten better than ever at producing natural results, it's not like it was 10 years ago. LR HDR merge alone has gotten quite good for images that are not extreme in motion or contrast. Skylum still has the best HDR merge when it comes to dealing with motion and high contrast edges, even though now it's a bit more clunky to use in Luminar. Nik HDR effects pro, while possibly the worst of the 3 for motion, and is easy to over process your images in still has an amazing ability to recover details in extreme highlights, such as an image with the sun in the frame.
If you go with the HDR approach and do a 3 frame bracket with a Z8 at 20fps of -2, 0, +2, you can add about a 4 stop improvement to your image, and it only takes about .2 of a second to take, greatly helping reduce any motion / alignment issues. Admittedly, it's not foolproof yet as I learned one day trying to take a brackets from a boat in wavy conditions 😂 But things have improved greatly from the first time I tried bracketing with a d800 at 4fps that could only bracket one exposure apart.
I know what I am about to say still won't work in all situations, and some may even find it a bit controversial, but if your goal is to maximize image quality for landscapes, it's easier than ever to add image stacking / HDR into your workflow.
A camera like a Z8 can fire off 20fps within a second. IBIS makes it easier than ever to take a bracket handheld. Electronic shutters eliminate any shutter shock. Cameras have more bracketing options than ever.
Take a 4 image bracket with the same exposure and average them in post, and you gain about a 1 stop improvement in noise / dynamic range. Take an 8 image bracket, and you gain about 2 stops.
If the scene really requires an increase in dynamic range, HDR software has gotten better than ever at producing natural results, it's not like it was 10 years ago. LR HDR merge alone has gotten quite good for images that are not extreme in motion or contrast. Skylum still has the best HDR merge when it comes to dealing with motion and high contrast edges, even though now it's a bit more clunky to use in Luminar. Nik HDR effects pro, while possibly the worst of the 3 for motion, and is easy to over process your images in still has an amazing ability to recover details in extreme highlights, such as an image with the sun in the frame.
If you go with the HDR approach and do a 3 frame bracket with a Z8 at 20fps of -2, 0, +2, you can add about a 4 stop improvement to your image, and it only takes about .2 of a second to take, greatly helping reduce any motion / alignment issues. Admittedly, it's not foolproof yet as I learned one day trying to take a brackets from a boat in wavy conditions
Jul 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
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