Manual Exposure Bracketing - is it possible on a mavic (air)?

[Deleted member 94047]

I now understand how AEB in the mavics works; it shoots 3 or 5 images each separated by a +/- 0.7 exposure stops centered on the initial exposure. So you have 3 or 5 nicely spaced exposures you then merge to get that "perfectly exposed" HDR image you are after. I have grown fond of AEB and I now shoot most of my still in this mode and the end result is usually very good. Problem is, even with 5 exposures, your max exposure range is between +1.4 -1.4 ev which sometimes is not enough; I want more. So, is it possible to shoot 3 or 5 manually bracketed exposures in "single shot" mode, each separated by a +/- 1 ev, and then merge these in LightRoom to get a HDR image? Or is there some metadata added to the individual shots taken in AEB mode that tells LightRoom these are bracketed exposures? I have tried to research this for a few days but I am no wiser than I was a couple of days back. There are a few posts in this forum that seem to suggest a MEB is possible but they don't explain how to do it. I have also come across a post that suggests doing two sets of 5 shots in AEB to increase the exposure range ; but I don't quite get how one can then combine these 20 pictures into a single HDR image (do you simply drag all of them into LR and tell it to merge them into a single HDR? I can't test it and find out for myself since I don't have any such shots). I am intrigued by what I have read but I am more confused than I was when I didn't know anything about exposure bracketing. I will be immensely thankful for any answers or pointers If anyone has actually tried MEB with a mavic, which I am sure is the case, I would really love to hear from them.

Thanks again for all the lessons /bows deeply

EDIT: I very likely may have confused ev values and exposure steps in this post; my apologies if that is indeed the case.

 

[Hbg078]

Take one photo, apply whatever corrections that you are doing to get one properly exposed and corrected photo, then save as many over/under exposed photos that you want/need. Once that is done, merge them.

 

[Heijst]

I also use AEB very often when taking pictures. So I am very interested in possible solutions for a wider range.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Take one photo, apply whatever corrections that you are doing to get one properly exposed and corrected photo, then save as many over/under exposed photos that you want/need. Once that is done, merge them.

Apologies for my ignorance, but I don't quite get what you are suggesting. Are you suggesting I do this in post? It is the "apply whatever corrections that you are doing to get one properly exposed and corrected photo" part that confuses me.

 

[Hbg078]

Apologies for my ignorance, but I don't quite get what you are suggesting. Are you suggesting I do this in post? It is the "apply whatever corrections that you are doing to get one properly exposed and corrected photo" part that confuses me.

No worries. I work mostly with raw photos and some amount of post editing is needed to “develop” the image. What I was trying to say is to do all of your post editing to get the photo to what you feel looks best for your style of photo (this is different for every photographer and situation). After that is completed, save the image then over/under expose the photo (in post) and save another copy and keep doing this until you have a set of photos with one properly exposed photo and an equal amount of over and under exposed photos (ie. one properly exposed photo, one -1.0, one +1.0) after you have the set of photos, merge them into an hdr photo. I hope this helps and doesn’t confuse you more.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Thanks! That explained it well and I understand you very clearly. It certainly is an interesting alternative but I was thinking more along shooting the individual photos in the exposure bracket so that I have a greater dynamic range to work with in post.

 

[Hbg078]

Thanks! That explained it well and I understand you very clearly. It certainly is an interesting alternative but I was thinking more along shooting the individual photos in the exposure bracket so that I have a greater dynamic range to work with in post.

What I explained was how to manually bracket the photo in post. Same end result but different way to achieve it. Merging the photos at different exposure values is how you achieve high dynamic range “HDR”.

 

[dkuhne]

I've tried this before, and I dont think Lightroom has merge the pictures together, unless its a AEB shot.

Apparently on the Litchi app, you have control over the EV increment, although thats alot of money to spend for such a small feature.

If you're shooting in RAW DNG files, 5 exposures is surely enough!?

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Apparently on the Litchi app, you have control over the EV increment

I already have Litchi but didn't know about this; great tip! Will give it a try. Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 94047]

I couldn't find any such setting in Litchi - the only choice available in AEB mode is between 3 and 5 shots, no setting to change the exposure stepping

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Update

I was waiting for the next time I go out to shoot a sunset to try a manual EB and see if LR would merge the bracketed shots into a HDR image. And then it occurred to me that I didn't have to wait till my next outing to try and see if this would work and I did.

First, I selected AEB mode in the camera settings, set the initial exposure to 1" and let AEB do its work; I got 5 shots with exposures of 0.4, 0.6, 1.0, 1.6, and 2.5 seconds. As one would expect, LR did not have any trouble merging these in to a single HDR image.

I then switched to single photos mode and took 5 shots at different exposures. In order to even the exposure separation between each shot, I used the EV value displayed at the bottom of the camera settings. I set the initial exposure at 0.0 EV, took the shot, and then took two under exposed and two over exposed shots - each separated by +/- 1.0 EV. I got 5 shots with exposures of 1/3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.6, and 3.0 seconds. LR did not have any trouble merging these into a single HDR image.

I then wanted to add more separation between the individual shots of the EB, but since I was using the EV value as my guide in stepping the exposure up and down evenly, I couldn't shoot 5 images separated by an EV value of +/-2 (the max range was between -3 and +3 EV). So I shot three pictures each separated by +/-2 EV instead. And I got three pictures with exposures of 1/3, 1.0, and 3.0 seconds. LR did not have any trouble merging these into a single HDR image.

So I am inclined to believe that Manual Exposure Bracketing is indeed possible with the Mavic Air. Will give it a good field trial the next time I shoot a scene with a high dynamic range.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

I finally had a chance to test this in a real world flight and it sort of works but with a few perks. First, the difference between the final HDR image of the AEB and MEB sets was not that noticeable (but this could as well be the result of the lighting and scene being not suitable for a high dynamic range imaging to begin with). Second, if there is any kind of movement, expect significant ghosting in the MEB HDR image since you spend sometime adjusting exposures between each picture of the MEB set. Down sized samples below (both merged in LR and edited in PS - no deghosting applied)

AEB (5 set)


MEB (5 set -2 to +2 EV)


Going forward, i think a three set MEB with exopsures of -2, 0, and +2 EV might yield better results than a five set one. But I am inclined at the moment to believe that MEB might not be worth the trouble. Will do further tests when I can.

 

[offtheback]

Take one photo, apply whatever corrections that you are doing to get one properly exposed and corrected photo, then save as many over/under exposed photos that you want/need. Once that is done, merge them.

If some highlights are blown in your one image,doe sthat not limit the possibility of full tonal range?