Dynamic Range in DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

By 44frames - October 07, 2020

Dynamic Range

What is Dynamic Range?

It is the difference between the darkest and the brightest part of tones in an image. The human eye has the highest dynamic range, that is why there the differences in the image from a camera and the natural human eye. The dynamic range depends on the camera you use, the high grade and expensive cameras have much more Dynamic Range that the cameras on a budget or cheaper. Dynamic Range is measured in 'Stops'

There are a few tweaks available for Canon DSLRs to increase the Dynamic range to a few more stops.

The more dynamic range helps us to see more details in the darkest and the brightest part of the picture. That is why the Dynamic Range is important on any camera, so the camera can capture more details it could. The human eye has 20-24 stops of dynamic range, whereas the professional cine cameras have 14-16 stops of Dynamic Range.

Why is Dynamic Range important in Videography and Photography?

Dynamic Range is important in Videography and Photography because of the level of details you can capture with the given stops of dynamic range. With the more dynamic range stops in a camera, the more overexposure and underexposure will become lesser in the output.

The image from a 14 stop dynamic range camera looks almost like a flat and desaturated image. This will help you in the colour grade stages of the production. In colour grade, you can decide the look of the film like warmer or colder or any other colour tone you need.

Advantages of Dynamic Range in Cameras

1. Dynamic range helps to capture more details in the footage, so it could help in the post-production

2. The final image can have a high level of details in the darkest and the brightest parts of the final image/video

3. Dynamic range gives more freedom in the Colour Grade phase of the post-production.

Dynamic Range in common DSLR Cameras

Most of the budget DSLRs come with 8-10 stops of dynamic range, it is half of what a normal human eye can see or perceive. A few more expensive mirrorless cameras from Sony and Canon have a more dynamic range from 12-14 stops. They also shoot in S-Log and C-Log profiles to help the colour correction in the post-production phase.

Samples of Video shot on Canon 90D DSLR

Both these videos were shot on Canon 90D with CineStyle profile which gave a flat picture. This flat picture was then colour balanced and colour graded. You can see the details outstanding because of the CineStyle profile which helped to capture a few more stops of the dynamic range that the normal profiles in Canon 90D.

If less than $900 camera can capture such extraordinary footage then imagine about the cameras higher dynamic range and Log profiles. They can produce 10 times more quality output than what you have seen in the above 4K Video or UHD Videos you seen on Youtube.

Role of Profiles used :

Portrait and Landscape Profile

Usually, we use the 'Landscape' and 'Portrait' profile for shooting a picture or video. These modes are already preset for the tone and colour. The Portrait mode is tuned or set for smooth skin on portraits and the Landscape mode is tuned for the more blue sky. So the priority set on the Portrait mode is the skin and the Landscape mode is the blue sky. Here other equations are not forgotten but lesser priority is given.

Neutral Profile

Neutral profile keeps all the colours saturated and the contrast to a minimum level depending on the manufacturer. So all the colours and the contrast are available for any adjustment during the colour correction and colour grading in the post-production. With such a flat picture you can boost a particular shade of colour for more details if required.

CineStyle - Flat Profile

CineStyle is a flat profile for Canon cameras from a company called Technicolor. This profile is available and can be downloaded for free from their website. You can upload it to any Canon Camera through the Canon Connect software provided. CineStyle profile is more preferred by videographers using Canon DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. Of course, the colour correction and colour grading are required for the footage.

Difference in the Contract

Constant of a picture shows you the difference in bright and dark parts of the image. The higher the contrast the better the picture will look or the picture will outstand. But you tend to lose the details in the dark portions if the darkness is increased. Same to the brightest part of the image, if there is more contract the brightest part might blow up and will definitely hide the details.

This is why in a flat profile and Log profiles [SLog on Sony Cameras and Clog on Canon Cameras] the contrast is kept at a minimum level, to capture all the possible details in the footage.

ISO factor

When talking about Dynamic Range we cannot avoid the ISO [Sensitivity of the sensor or film]. ISO determines the sensitivity of the image, if the ISO is higher in the low light situations or to capture details in the dark parts of the field, it will introduce noise in the image or footage.

This ISO noise will affect the quality of the output in many ways, even in the colour correction, colour grading, sharpness when we try to render the image. So the videographers and photographers will always keep the ISO to a minimum level st all times. The ISO is increased only when the shooting happens in low lit conditions. This is why the de-noising tools have become popular in the market.