Re: Utility of dynamic range beyond a certain point
gdanmitchell wrote: raminolta wrote:
Unless one limits himself to shooting in cloudy days or similar close to monotone lighting situations, better dynamic range can always benefit…
But…
… virtually any current high quality camera has plenty of DR to go well beyond shooting only on “ cloudy days or similar close to monotone lighting situations.”
The increasing DR capability of modern cameras is welcomed and useful. But that’s not the issue. Here it is the marginal differences among cameras and how they play out in real world photography. that are the question.
If some camera offers me an extra half-stop of DR and it is time to buy a new camera, then why not? But if my current camera is, say, a highDR camera from a few years back and a new camera offers an additional half-stop of DR… the difference is too small (against the backdrop of already excellent DR) to make an upgrade worthwhile, and it would virtually never make a meaningful difference to photographs.
Of course, I did exaggerate a bit in order to gather some attention, lol. I am wondering when the OP started this thread and made his bizarre statement about DR implying that he barely if ever hits the limits of DR in his current cameras, Were you were quick to point out his fallacy.
I agree half stop is not that helpful in real scenarios. Like I said myself, I often come across situation where I need 3/4/5 or even 6 stops of DR for my style of photography. I understand this is subjective. Some people may actually prefer a punchy image where DR is compressed even intentionally to create a sort of dramatic effect.
Resolution, noise and DR are three important aspects of photo quality (not saying there aren't any other parameters). While manufactures and many consumers are very focused on the first two parameters, DR may often goes neglected compared the first two. For me, modern cameras have more than enough resolution. I do not feel limited in that aspect while I feel quite limited in regards to DR. I do understand this is subjective. Some people have been shouting in forums about how much they wanted the next upgrade to A7r v being a 100MP camera! I bet they are quite upset now that A7r vi offers only a very modest resolution hike over A7r v.
Jun 26, 2026 at 10:53 AM
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