Canon G12 HDR quick take.
This image was taken using the “HDR” SCN dial mode available in the G12. It excels in daylight conditions. Amazing in fact. But other situations are not as favorable.
I was asked by a real estate agent to take a dozen or so “view” shots and due to the low amount they budgeted, I opted to use the Canon G12 and the SCN mode using the in camera HDR. Given it was outdoors in strong daylight conditions I knew I could get away with using the G12.
The following gallery of shots is not perfect, but took only a half an hour of my time to shoot and email pics to the agent. Pretty amazing for a Point and Shoot.
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/bellavita/views/index.html
There are two ways to approach HDR capture with the Canon G12.
The first option to capture HDR on the Canon G12 is to shoot RAW and while in Aperture Priority mode you can choose to shoot a 3 aeb sequence. In Aperture Priority you of course control the aperture, but you can also control ISO and White Balance settings. You control what the EV steps between each shot are set to from as little as 1/3rd EV steps up to 2 full EV jumps between the 3 shots.
You would then import those raws and insert them into whatever workflow you currently use for HDR processing. Yes I am not a fan of 3aeb, but for a point and shoot and to capture raw… I’ll take what I can get.
The second option to capture HDR on the Canon G12 is to use the SCN mode dial and choose HDR. That puts the camera in fully automatic mode and it fires 3 consecutive shots off at undisclosed details for shutter/EV jumps and then does the high dynamic range imaging (toning) in camera and writes the file to .jpg as a file format. (Why camera manufacturers choose JPEG as a file format to save a high dynamic range image is beyond logic)
What I can tell you right away is that this camera does very well shooting in the SCN mode shooting HDR when in bright sunny conditions. But is awful for shooting indoors in mixed lighting. In the SCN HDR Mode, you have NO CONTROL over aperture, ISO or white balance. As soon as you hit interior lighting the camera goes to f/2.8 as a first line of defense…. this is a disaster for real estate or architectural photography.
Another big downside is that you have no way of using exposure compensation in the fully automatic SCN HDR Mode. There is no way to force the camera up or down by any EV amount. The camera just meters the scene and that is your only option.
I’ll be doing a full review of the capabilities of the Canon G12 as it relates to HDR (next week or two). However, because there has been so much interest in the G12′s HDR capabilities I’ll make a few brief comments now regarding the SCN HDR Mode and reserve the video review for later next week.
QUICK TAKES regarding SCN HDR Mode:
Pros:
- Great for daylight white balanced shots with lots of light
- Superior in camera processing compared to Sony and Pentax models
- Supports Canon RS60-E3 release cable so you don’t have to touch camera
Cons:
- No control of aperture, ISO or exposure compensation
- No control of white balance (AWB only)
- Zero in camera alignment from what I have found – Tripod only
- Slow frames per second which adds to deghosting issues
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome article and pictures. Even the big size.
Thanks.
I was wondering about this HDR feature as I am going to buy this camera as a little pocket sized backup and stuff
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the quick take… I just wanted to mention that you can set the interal timer to 2 sec. so no release cable is requited.
Also that your Cons are based on camera processing under the SCN mode on the dial, not the “shoot RAW and while in Aperture Priority mode” where you can choose to shoot a 3 aeb sequence. In that mode you do have control over aperture, ISO, Exposure compensation and white balance. This mode should improve indoor shots (I hope). All in all it’s still amazing for a Point and Shoot, don’t you think? Looking forward to the full review.
David
Good point David. I just edited the article slightly to reflect the fact the Pro/con list is for the SCN HDR Mode.
And yes, for a point and shoot it is great. I also have a Canon wireless unit and 580EX II speedlites and have played with those with the G12 for off camera wireless flash. Pretty sweet for a P/S.
Hi Michael,
I was curious how the optimal scenes for the G12 (outdoor, lots of light, daylight WB) in SCN HDR mode compare to a single exposure RAW, processed in your average RAW converter. Have you attempted any comparison like this and do you see any gain in the toned LDR output from the G12 compared to a rendered raw conversion from a dSLR? I can understand the use of JPEG as the LDR toned output from the G12 and that using this SCN mode requires no post, but I was curious if the actual toned output exceeds that which you could produce from a single RAW. I suppose it should.
Kirk
Kirk, quick answer.
Stay tuned for the full G12 review. I’ll cover this. I’ve taken extensive samples shooting brackets with the G12 in Aperture Priority, then turning the dial and taking a shot using SCN HDR Mode. So I have lots of data to draw from, but haven’t pixel peeped yet.
What I can tell you right away is that in very harsh backlit scenes, the SCN HDR Mode does luminance reversals in zones that are completely awful. But that is a result of the algorithms. You’ll see. Stay tuned.
I have many cameras and I’m interested in one camera specifically for HDRD only. Which of them all do you think is the best? Sony NEC 5 or the Pentax KR or any others. Also, cameras with built in HDR only take three images. Is this enough or do you need 5?
Thanks your assistance.
Very helpful article. I just bought a Canon G12 (also have a Canon DSLR) as a walking around and time lapse camera and was interested in the HDR function as well, but for the life of me couldn’t find it in the controls. Your article pointed me in the right direction and got me up and running with HDR on the G12. Thanks again!