New Sony a550 sports HDR capture mode

Sony today announced several new DSLRs.  A full frame model a850 (24mp; $1999) and two crop sensor bodies, the a500 and a550.  The a500 (12mp; $750) and a550 (14mp; $950) have a HDR capture mode.  I assume the output is a JPEG and not a RAW file, but I can’t get an answer from Sony.

Basically it takes two frames sequentially and combines them in camera.  I have not found out how long that processing takes in camera.  I also don’t know if the output is raw/jpeg.  This is different than the Pentax K-7 which takes 3 frames and then merges in camera.

As far as control using the HDR capture mode, there is an “auto” option that presumably guesses how far to bracket the two shots based on the camera’s meter reading and there is also the ability for the user to choose from 1-3EV for strength settings.  If I’m reading this correctly then the maximum distance between the two shots taken will be 3EVs.  That is insufficient for very high contrast scenes, but a very cool feature nonetheless.  Consumers will love the ease of use I’m sure.  And I’m guessing consumers being the target would mean the output would likely be JPEG and not RAW.

The HDR capture mode is left out of the new a850 24mp full frame DSLR just announced. I assume it is either because the a850 is a very slightly watered down a900 and adding that feature would require too much upgrading or because the HDR capture mode is too much of an amateur feature to slap on the a850.

I’m still waiting for a camera manufacturer to set the bar for HDR capture, but I don’t actually expect to see it anytime soon.  What would I like to see?  User selectable number of images to bracket (no limits).  Then have those bracketed shots merged in camera and saved to .EXR or .HDR format or the newly accepted JPEG XR format (which is an amazing format with 32 bit options).

Like I said, I don’t expect to see this to be implemented anytime soon (if at all), but it would be nice as an option to speed up workflow in post.  I’d love to see a camera handle the merged files (shot steady on a tripod) to be able to go right into use for post work and/or tonemapping.

Take it from me.  3 years of shooting real estate; 600+ properties; over 10,000 tonemapped HDRs for commercial use.  Workflow is very important.  Anything that can speed this up is welcomed!!!

Back to the a500 vs a550 briefly.  The big differences (there aren’t many) are the 12 vs 14 megapixeldifference and the fact the a500’s LCD is only 230,400 dots versus the finer 921,600 dots of the a550’s LCD. The LCD resolution is a HUGE difference in quality.  If you are serious about photography, you’d be sacrificing a ton on the ability to review images in the field (accurately) using the a500 over an a550.