Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-08)

12 8 June 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

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VEWS

EXPRESSED

IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

Today,wecanviewvideoinhighdefinition

orHDR;it’sabouttimethewayweviewstills

photography received a major overhaul too

View point

Jon Bentley

A

minorrevolutionhasbeen

sweepingthroughtheTVand

videoworld– HDR,orHigh

DynamicRange,telly.It brings

improveddynamicrange,higherbrightness

levelsandrichercoloursto theproduction

process,fromthecamerageneratingthe

footage,throughto theeditingsoftwareon

thedeviceyou’reusing.If yourTVscreen,

phone,laptoportabletsupportsHDR,you

seea muchbetterpicture.

Stillsphotographersaremissingout,

though.Moststillsphotographykitand

softwareusesstandards,likesRGB,that

areclosetopre-HDRTVin termsof

colours,brightnessanddynamicrange.

Howeverfancyyourcamera’ssensor,or

thescreenyou’reviewingyourimageson,

yourpictureslookhobbled.Theold

standardsarewellsuitedtovintageLCD

screensbutnottothelatestdisplays.

Eventhetypeof HDRimageswe’re

accustomedto in stillsphotography–

achievedtakinga subjectwithdifferent

exposuresandcombiningthemto give

moredetailin thehighlights/shadows– are

constrainedbytheoutdatedstandards.

Thiscouldbewhythetechniqueoften

deliversanartificiallyflat look.

Panasonic,however,is tryingto bringthe

benefi ts of HDR TV to stills with its new

HSP(HighDynamicRangeStillsPicture)

format.It takesadvantageof theextra

dynamicrangethelatestcamerasensors

cangive.A shotwiththenewS1full-

framecamerain HSPmode,playedback

onanHDRscreen,showstheextrareality,

zingandcontrastyouenjoyonHDRvideo.

ViewingHSPimagesona modern

monitorI couldimmediatelyseemasses

of extradetailin theshadowsandbrighter

highlights.Theresultsareclosertoyour

eye’sviewof theworld,andit’sachieved

withoutchoreslikedodgingandburning.

I thinkit couldbeinvaluableforallsorts

of photographyfromlandscapesto

against-the-lightportraits.Butthere

aresomecaveats.

HSPimagesmaybegreatwhenyou’re

viewingsumptuousshotsof Ferrarisor

foodonanHDRscreen,butmanyof our

picturesarestillconsumedin print,oron

a non-HDRdisplay.Thenthere’sthe

problemthatPanasonic’sHSPmaynot

betakenupbyanyoneelse.It wouldbe

a nightmareif cameramakerscameup

withtheirownHDRstandardsandwehad

oneof thosepeskyformatbattles.We’re

alreadyseeingthatproblemin HDRvideo

wheretherearefivedifferentformatsand

fewTVshandlethemall.Adobedoesn’t

haveanHDRstillsstandardasyetand

forthemomentthere’snosoftwarethat

allowsHSPimagestobeedited.Butin

spiteof thesemajorissuesvideo-style

HDRstillsarecomingandPanasonic’s

HSPis a bigstepin therightdirection.

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 14 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

JonBentleyis a TVproducerandpresenterbestknown

forTop Gear and Channel 5’s The Gadget Show

© OSCAR DEWHURST

© NIGEL ATHERTON

CONTENT FOR NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

AFujiinFiji

NigelAthertonteststheFujifilmX-T

ona cruisearoundtheSouthPacific

AIinphotography

SoniaKlugexplorestheimpactof

artificialintelligenceonphotography

SpeakingwithKander

AmyDaviesspeakstotheillustrious

Nadav Kander about his varied career

Usetherightlighttotakeyour

wildlifeshotstoa newlevel.

Oscar Dewhurst tells you how

Wild

light

In next week’s issue

On sale Tuesday 11 June

TetsujiKamio

is oneof

Panasonic’s

engineerswho

developed HSP

© JON BENTLEY

A high-dynamicrangeHSPphoto taken with

the full-frame Lumix S