[disco_owner]

Coming from the K-r, I've been pretty impressed with the dynamic range of the K-30. I was out shooting this evening after a thunderstorm and decided to take a challenging shot and see how much shadows I could recover in Lightroom. This photo is not meant to be a work of art, just a test!

The first is the original RAW file exported as a jpg. The second is obviously the edit. All done in Lightroom. I didn't spend a lot of time on this, but I was pretty impressed. The noise level is not high at all in the shadow area and much detail and color information was salvageable. Much better performance than i could've gotten in a similar situation from my K-r.

Feel free to post your own examples!

It Looks pretty Artistic to me

[loco]

This is impressive! What version of LightRoom are you using?

3.5

It Looks pretty Artistic to me

Thanks!

[mee]

3.5

Verrry nice indeed then... you know there is a 'free' upgrade to 3.6 on the adobe site right? has a few bug fixes

[loco]

Verrry nice indeed then... you know there is a 'free' upgrade to 3.6 on the adobe site right? has a few bug fixes

Thanks! Yes, I just haven't installed it. Everything is working fine and I hate doing those upgrades unless it's really necessary. Did you notice any major differences from 3.5 to 3.6?

[Welfl]

OK, I uploaded an almost full size jpg of the edited file to Flickr so you can see there is very little noise in the area where the shadows were recovered. Here's the link to the 'original' size file on Flickr.

Please give me your definition of "very little noise," because I can't see any! at least not at the size you uploaded. Only the pickiest expert in the world would criticize that shot for its "noise content."

Also, that is an even more impressive shot at the larger size. What a gorgeous landscape (hopefully there is no urban sprawl just on the other side of those trees; is there? ). The slightly exaggerated colors actually contribute to the overall beauty, instead of detracting from it.

[loco]

Please give me your definition of "very little noise," because I can't see any! at least not at the size you uploaded. Only the pickiest expert in the world would criticize that shot for its "noise content."

Also, that is an even more impressive shot at the larger size. What a gorgeous landscape (hopefully there is no urban sprawl just on the other side of those trees; is there? ). The slightly exaggerated colors actually contribute to the overall beauty, instead of detracting from it.

Thanks! Glad you like it! No, no urban sprawl anywhere close by! Hence my crappy Internet connection!

Anyway, I hope this helps show the dynamic range of the K-30. I'm sure someone can come up with a better example, but this has at least given me more confidence when out shooting with the camera.

[mee]

I only used 3.5 for a few days before upgrading to 3.6 so I really couldn't answer..

That said, v4 apparently improved on in-shadow detail and highlight recovery

I'm waiting for either BF to upgrade to v4 or them to release v5.. I bought LR3 for 80 dollars.. now they want 80 more dollars for an UPGRADE? adobe are masters at taking money hehehe

[sjwaldron]

Very nice photo. The mist and shininess from the wetness in general really add a pop to the image. The K-01 and K-5 are similar in their DR abilities. It somewhat of a game changer over the K-7 I still also have.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Sorry, it's way too big for me to send! Remember that 5GB monthly cap I'm living with! If you can wait until Monday when I'm back at work, I could get it to you then. Apologies from the rural hillbilly with crappy Internet service!

I forgot that you were bandwidth-challenged. You should probably save your bandwidth for more important things, like keeping up on the latest lolcats and watching videos of Republicans and Democrats insulting each other. At least it looks like you've gotten some rain up there in your neck of the woods, judging by the greenery in your picture. Out here in Indiana everything has been brown all summer, and the corn is about half its normal height. But yeah, if you want to send the file from work that would be cool.

[Welfl]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

That is my favorite kind of non-human photographic subject. My Flickr account is full of those types of shots. Only there are very few trees out here (I feel claustrophobic when surrounded by lots of trees).

No, no urban sprawl anywhere close by! Hence my crappy Internet connection!

I was being somewhat facetious just to be silly. However, I was actually thinking of the possibility of a small conglomeration of houses in your very rural region. We have groups of houses like that around here, especially in the Black Hills of South Dakota (a couple hours north of here). Aside from the half million kitschy tourist traps and the various small towns, most of the region is completely rural. Nonetheless, every few miles in certain parts of the hills you will find small groupings of houses miles from the nearest town (the houses aren't bunched right up against one another, though). I have a friend who lives in one of them.

[loco]

I only used 3.5 for a few days before upgrading to 3.6 so I really couldn't answer..

That said, v4 apparently improved on in-shadow detail and highlight recovery

I'm waiting for either BF to upgrade to v4 or them to release v5.. I bought LR3 for 80 dollars.. now they want 80 more dollars for an UPGRADE? adobe are masters at taking money hehehe

I would love to get LR4 as I've heard it's great. But I am due for a new PC and am currently running Windows XP, so I can't run LR4. When I get a new PC, LR4 will be one of my first purchases.

Very nice photo. The mist and shininess from the wetness in general really add a pop to the image. The K-01 and K-5 are similar in their DR abilities. It somewhat of a game changer over the K-7 I still also have.

Thank you!! I'm very pleased as I was not sure if there would be a huge DR improvement over the K-r, which was actually pretty good in that regard. However, I now see even "small" improvements can make quite a difference.

I forgot that you were bandwidth-challenged. You should probably save your bandwidth for more important things, like keeping up on the latest lolcats and watching videos of Republicans and Democrats insulting each other. At least it looks like you've gotten some rain up there in your neck of the woods, judging by the greenery in your picture. Out here in Indiana everything has been brown all summer, and the corn is about half its normal height. But yeah, if you want to send the file from work that would be cool.

LOL! Yeah, it had been very dry but over the past couple weeks we've gotten some nice rains, mostly downpours with thunderstorms, but we'll take it. Hope the drought lets up soon!!

I have the DNG file on a thumb drive ready to bring in with me Monday. Will PM you once I have it uploaded somewhere.

That is my favorite kind of non-human photographic subject. My Flickr account is full of those types of shots. Only there are very few trees out here (I feel claustrophobic when surrounded by lots of trees).

I was being somewhat facetious just to be silly. However, I was actually thinking of the possibility of a small conglomeration of houses in your very rural region. We have groups of houses like that around here, especially in the Black Hills of South Dakota (a couple hours north of here). Aside from the half million kitschy tourist traps and the various small towns, most of the region is completely rural. Nonetheless, every few miles in certain parts of the hills you will find small groupings of houses miles from the nearest town (the houses aren't bunched right up against one another, though). I have a friend who lives in one of them.

HA! I have been surrounded by trees my whole life. It's quite freeing actually! When I get claustrophobic is when I'm staying in a city and walk out the door and am surrounded by human beings!!

[Welfl]

When I get claustrophobic is when I'm staying in a city and walk out the door and am surrounded by human beings!!

Believe me, I feel the same way. I don't like big cities at all, and being in situations in which crowds of strangers are surrounding me completely wears me out. That's one the reasons that I hate going to large department stores, especially in November and December (crowds of unhappy, zombie-like strangers all milling about, looking for generic Chinese gadgets and other utensils to give away as presents).

HA! I have been surrounded by trees my whole life. It's quite freeing actually!

Not for me. Our trips on the highways of Missouri, when I was a kid, made me feel as if we were driving through one long, endless tunnel. I kept waiting impatiently, and in vain, to come out the other end.

Here are a few examples of what frees me: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

[JohanPDX]

I already have Aperture 3 from Apple. Is LR4 worth the cash for improved dynamic range recover of RAW files?
Or are they about the same?

[tclausen]

I already have Aperture 3 from Apple. Is LR4 worth the cash for improved dynamic range recover of RAW files?
Or are they about the same?

About the same, I'd say.

My personal preference is Aperture, it seems to support a more natural workflow and offer some more flexibility and adjustments.

I often do as the OP by way of simply the highlight (decrease exposure in highlight areas) and shadows (increase exposure in shadow areas) controls in Aperture. Works well enough. It is extremely simple and powerful.

For further exposure trickery, I use the photomatix plug-in for Aperture

[loco]

Believe me, I feel the same way. I don't like big cities at all, and being in situations in which crowds of strangers are surrounding me completely wears me out. That's one the reasons that I hate going to large department stores, especially in November and December (crowds of unhappy, zombie-like strangers all milling about, looking for generic Chinese gadgets and other utensils to give away as presents).



Not for me. Our trips on the highways of Missouri, when I was a kid, made me feel as if we were driving through one long, endless tunnel. I kept waiting impatiently, and in vain, to come out the other end.

Here are a few examples of what frees me: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Wow, those are some wide open spaces! I once drove to Denver from Virginia and was exposed to that sort of landscape for the first time along the journey. Very enlightening!!