Here I will outline gear for taking proper HDR (High Dynamic Range) images using the latest technologies available. This article concerns HDR photography for inclusion within computer generated, 3D environments and image based lighting.
Cameras and Lenses
While any camera will basically suffice to produce HDR images, I will focus on professionally-targeted cameras for the sake of this article while focusing on a medium to high range of budget, short of spending $35,000+ on a Spheron camera system. In particular, I will talk about Canon-based cameras.
The camera criteria I look for in order to produce a good HDR image involves the following:
- Levels of Auto-Bracketing. Does your camera have only 3-stops of auto bracketing? Some of the average higher-end models released by Canon and Nikon have up to 7 levels. The more bracketing levels you have, the higher the quality of HDR you can achieve as well as a a more accurate range of floating point information stored.The cameras I am currently looking at are tge Canon Mark series. They are the current top of the line professional model from Canon. The average prices range from about $2,000-$9,000. Personally, I don’t think spending anything above $5,000 is justifiable. You can step down further in quality - the XSI line is an excellent prosumer model, however I believe you will be making more work for yourself due to slower frames per second and the lower amount of auto bracketing (usually only 3 brackets instead of 7.)Keep in mind that new cameras are released every year - and it looks to be that a new Canon Mark 5D II with impressive results will be released some time in June. As for how much it will bracket, that I do not know.
The latest high-end Nikon D300 also produces some excellent results as well as having a fisheye lens that has a greater FOV (greater than 180 degrees) than any currently available for Canon, however I currently own a base of Canon lenses and am not looking to convert over to Nikon products.
- Resolution. How many megapixels high does your camera go? The more megapixels, the more detail you can squeeze into your HDR image.
- Shot speed. If your camera shoots at a very high frame rate, the less chance of blur and distortion will be introduced into your images.
- Available lenses. Most higher-end cameras accommodate a wide range of lenses. For a 360-degree spherical panorama, the wider the fisheye, the less photo sequences and brackets you will have to take and also the less noise you will introduce into your circular panoramas after stitching. Wider lenses do not necessarily mean better quality. In fact, you’ll almost always have some level of distortion and chromatic aberrations towards the perimeter of your images but most of your applications will compensate to some degree. Different lenses contend with all these issues differently.From all the reviews I’ve read about super-wide fisheye lenses for Canon (and I’ve read a lot of them), the Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye Lens for around $650 comes out on top for shooting the widest angles possible while maintaining superior image quality.
Camera Tripods and Mounts
For 360 degree HDR panoramas, you’ll definitely need a tripod at minimum. If you try to shoot by hand (and even with most tripods) and you’re off by a fraction of an inch in the opposite direction, you will introduce seams and distortion. This will create a ton of work for you and in most cases, you will have to toss away your photos.
- A standard, solidly built tripod. As you may be out in the field traveling, gear weight and durability needs to be taken into consideration. I believe Manfrotto probably makes some of the most well-respected tripods in the industry. It’ll probably run you around $300+ on amazon.com.
- Spherical Camera Bracket with mount. This allows the camera lens to rotate precisely around the nodal point of where light enters the lens. If you just try to shoot a camera with a lens all by itself on a tripod, and go to rotate your camera in the opposite direction, chances are you will introduce a very slight offset which will result in seaming and distortion (therefore creating additional work as well.) In this case I’d be looking at the Kaidan Spherical Camera Bracket with Universal Camera Mount and Rotator. $350. The rotator is important as well, unless you feel like bringing a protractor and compass into the field with you as well.
Software and additional Hardware
- There’s quite a few methods for assembling/stitching a HDR image from a series of shots. Perhaps the easiest solution using a fisheye lens is to use Panoweaver from Easypano. $500.
- This may be optional. If you find that 7 F-stops does not produce the quality of HDR images that you require and need more bracketing levels, then you will currently be looking at 3rd party independent software for controlling the bracketing on your camera. This will mean that your camera needs to be tethered to a computer running independent software.In the past, I’ve taken HDR panoramas using 7 brackets - but this never seemed enough to give me the dynamic range that I required. I recall testing this in the first HDRShop by lowering and raising the exposure levels, and watching clipping occur. Then again, this was back when 3.2 megapixels was the highest a digital camera could achieve, and the general population didn’t even want one.a) You can take up to 15 brackets of exposure using DSLR Remote Pro software. $95.
b) Due to mobility issues and having to travel out into the field, the latest ultra portable computers/laptops people are using are the Asus EEE series with XP installed (for the software listed above.) $400. They’ve been rated really high, and are ultra compact. The EEE series has revolutionized the term ‘ultra-compact’ concerning laptops within the past year. There are rumors that a larger-sized screen version with XP installed will be released in late May of 2008. While it may be possible, I would not be using one to do any photo-editing as it’s very low powered. The main purpose of having this laptop would be so that you could use the software listed above to take more than the standard 7 brackets your camera is capable of.There used to be firmware hacks for many cameras that unlocked these bracketing features, but as of current, I do not know of any hacks for the current line of Canon Mark series.
Summary
In all, you’re probably looking at around the mid $6,000 range for a top of the line, home-brewed HDR system for the lighting of 3D environments. You could lower the equipment standards and save on costs - perhaps even down to a couple of thousand dollars. However, in doing so you probably will be creating more work for yourself.
Even if you don’t go to this extreme for capturing HDRs, you’re still left with one heck of a basic photography setup short of a standard lens.
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