HDR function in Panasonic LX7

I use a Panasonic LX7 with in camera HDR. When I import RAW files into Lightroom 4.3 the HDR effect is removed in the process. Is there a way to avoid this? Thanks for any help you can give!

What your camera is calling HDR is really just a single-shoot underexpose-and-digitally-boost-the-shadows mode that other cameras might call highlight tone priority or auto dynamic lighting.
True HDR, in my mind, is the combination of multiple exposures in a seamless fashion, which the newest cameras can also do, although any motion between the multiple exposures can lead to ghosting.
The trouble with single-shot "HDR" is that there is often significant shadow noise, which the true HDR does not have as much trouble with since the shadows come from an exposure where they were already bright enough and don't need digital brightening.
Using EXIFTool I am able to see that your RW2 file has metadata indicating Contrast Mode: High Dynamic, so is flagged for Panasonic's software to process differently.
EXIFTool can also extract the camera-embedded preview (I used EXIFtool GUI for this) which has the camera's HDR-treatment applied, and from what I see there is significant color noise splotching in the darker portions of the image, especially the wood of the foreground building:
For comparison, here is what you're seeing when importing the raw data into Lightroom -- I have used the Camera-Raw plug-in which has the same tone adjustments as LR:
However, if you start with the raw data, it is possible to improve on what the camera has done, both in regard to better noise-reduction as well as better sky definition and a smoother transition to the sun. You might make different toning choices than I did, but the point is that you can make different choices than what the camera does:
Adobe has no way to "know" what Panasonic is doing for the LX7 HDR mode, so they don't try. What opening raw files in Adobe products does allow is freedom to go beyond what the camera has done for its JPG.
This is always the choice: accepting the camera's treatment from a JPG, using a camera-manufacturer-supplied raw converter that may understand the camera-specific settings but usually with a slow and clumsy user-interface, or do your own thing with the raw data using a third-party raw convertor such as Adobe's.

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How to get Adobe Camera RAW loaded so I can open RAW files from a Panasonic LX7?

I opened these images two days ago. Now I get a message that the CS6 Photoshop does not recognize this type of file. I went online and again(3rd time)downloaded Camera RAW 7.3 and tried installing and opening the images.
Once again - same thing.
Now I have something called a DNG converter on the machine and I don't know what it is.
I opened it and tried to get to the LX7 files in my computer I can see in Bridge - and the DNG converter does not show the files at all.
I was doing just fine with CS5 - then I bought this piece of crap because I could not get an update for CS5 to open the Panasonic Lumix LX7 images. So, I wasted $200 on CX6 only to find I can't get my images opened.
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First, took three days and over 9 hours wasted on hold for Adobe phone help - and finally got a guy on to help me register Photoshop CS6 - and he could not get it to register. Finally after a day & a half and hours of continually cutting and pasting from teh online computer to the main computer that does not hook up to the Internet I got CS6 to work.
Then, I opened the Panasonic LX7 RAW images twice after downloading and installing Adobe Camera RAW 7.1 and 7.3 - and now the machine does not recognize the files and tells me to go to http://www.adobe.com/go/kb407111
I went there and have downloaded the Camera Raw 7.1 and 7.3 four different times now and tried installing it - and Still can't open the damn files. I keep getting the same "photoshop cannot open this file" message and teh same referenc to teh above.
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Oh - the name for ID above is after 22 minutes of trynig to find an name this program would accept.

The first thing I would suggest is, in Photoshop, go to Help/About Plug-Ins and click on Camera Raw to verify what version is installed. There should only be one version listed, and listed only once. If there are more, then you need to get rid of the extras.
The DNG converter is a program that will create DNG (digital negative) copies of your raw images. It takes all of the raw image data and copies it to a new file format. The raw data is unmodified, and the DNG file is a standardized and open documented file format. But the DNG converter will not list the actual files. You choose the folder that contains your original raw images, and then the converter will put the copies wherever you choose to put them. But if your camera is supposed to be supported by the latest version of Camera Raw, I don't know if converting will solve the problem. It won't hurt anything; your raw files are still intact.
It would be helpful if you could describe your computer; operating system, how much RAM, a little information to allow the experts (of which I am NOT one) to help you isolate and solve this problem.

How do I properly use the HDR function in Photoshop CS4?

It appears that I must be doing something wrong when attempting to use the HDR capability in Photoshop CS4. I follow the tutorials. I go to File>Automate>Merge to HDR. Then I select the bracketed photos to merge. I have used RAW file combinations of "normal" with +1 and -1 exposures, and "normal" with +2 and -2 exposures. Inevitably the result comes out looking like the most overexposed shot...or even more washed out. Since CS4 normally works for me as intended, I feel that I must be doing something wrong with the HDR function. Can anyone offer any helpful suggestions? Thanks!

Don't feel bad. While I haven't seen just what you're describing, the Merge to HDR function seems, in my opinion, kind of a bust. I can't say I've seen any "magic" at all in the way it combines the exposures.
I've tried to use it several times and I just don't see results that make me feel it's worth using. I have in every case been able to make better images out of a single well-exposed raw file than with the Merge to HDR function and several bracketed exposures (even with CS5's Merge to HDR Pro).
If people offer suggestions here, I'll be trying them too.
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Which camcorders is good for iMovie - Sony HDR-CX700V or Panasonic HDC-HS900K? Please recommend - thanks

which camcorders is good for iMovie - Sony HDR-CX700V or Panasonic HDC-HS900K?
Please recommend - thanks

iMovie iOS (this forum is only for the mobile version) can only be used on video shot on your iphone or iPad.
You may need to go to the iMovie Mac forum:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/imovie

New LR Merge to HDR function in non CC version?

Hi,
I have become aware of new features in LR CC. One for merge to HDR and another for Merge to Panorama - both within the LR product (rather than using Photoshop or other 3rd party tools).
Is this feature available for perpetual license users of LR vsn 5 or is it only in :LR CC? If it is available in the Perpetual license version, where do I find the download?
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I would expect those new features are in LR 6 (non-CC) and that the way to start a download of the trial is to use Help / Updates and click the Download… button.
However, I have a CC subscription so I cannot test this theory because the download site is smart enough to know I’m a CC subscriber and just tells me to use the CC App to download the update, but it may work for you if you’re not a CC subscriber.
BTW, new features released after this initial version wouldn’t be added to the non-CC version until LR 7 comes out—that’s a benefit of CC, besides having Photoshop, you also get new features as soon as they are available.

Firmware Update Request - TRUE HDR Function on Cam...

Hey for any Nokia folks reading this..
One awesome feature on Android I still miss was the HDR Pro application that would take 3 photos at three different exposure values, then merge into one and then allowed tweaks to contrast and saturation.
Can you guys put this on the request list for an upcoming camera firmware update?
Programs that do HDR as a post process are **bleep** - there is no way to really effectively mimic the exposure combination and tight resolution by merging three actual photos. Glaring omission from a great phone (I have Lumia 800).
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Hello Rarsiii,
Welcome to the Users Discussion Forum. We will forward this to our Reader team and thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

How can I make my Mac Book Pro print to a Panasonic KX-MB772?

How can I make my Mac Book Pro OSX 6.8 talk to a Panasonic KX-MB772 printer?

You can't. The KX-MB722 is one of the few remaining printers in the class of devices called "Windows Printers" that has no on-board printing software -- it relies on a host computer to provide all of the software functionality and Panasonic only provides such software for certain versions of Microsoft Windows. In this case, it means a 32-bit version of Microsoft Windows (2000-XP, though it will probably reliably on Windows versions up to 7). Note that these devices are not guaranteed compatible with future versions of Windows either (Panasonic has already dropped software support for this model).
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Merge to HDR - How to make it work?

Merge to HDR worked once on the CS4 sample files but no more. Photoshop gets through the Merge to HDR dialog on the sample jpegs (or my own jpegs) but throws the following error when creating the HDR image:
Error 54: uncaught JavaScript exception: Error #.
Line: 168
-> throw err;
If Merge to HDR is chosen on DNG images from Lightroom 2.1 or Bridge CS4, Photoshop again gets to the Merge to HDR dialog but when creating the HDR image seems to throw it away with no resulting error. Photoshop just stares blankly with no image open.
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I just tried it as I was curious. It's not working here if I run the script and then browse to the files. If I have the files already open it works.
I'm having the very same issue with the "load files into stack" script. It appears to start but only results in one file, not a stack...nor a 32 bit merge of multiple files in the case of hdr.
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Pro HDR

Has anyone tried the Pro HDR app on the touch? I've heard great things from iPhone users, but nothing about the touch. Anything to make this camera a bit better would be worth it.

I saw this capability when I upgraded to 4.2 - but when I follow the instructions on the web site to access the HDR function through the setting page, it simply doesn't show up there.
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I use windows xp and Photoshop CS3. On my first attempt to utilize the automate HDR function after opening the appropriate phots, I received the following error
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Thanks for the info. photoshop is not installed in the traditional location. I will reinstall, however, just to be clear if I look for the script file on my operating system is it the "Latte UI.jsx" file. And if I locate it is there a specific location it needs to be copied to?
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HDR Save as a JPEG

Hello,
I've been using the merge to HDR option in Camera Raw and tone mapping in Raw. Now after all of my hard work getting the image just right the only way Photoshop will allow me to save as a JPEG is by merging the layers to form an 8 Bit image. Doing this however opens up the HDR Toning dialogue box drastically changing the image, does this mean that it's impossible to save as a JPEG using the Merge to HDR function in Camera Raw, if so is there another way I can upload my image to the internet? Many thanks!

The other way to do things is to set your Preferences / File Handling to have ACR do the 32-bit to 16/8-bit toning, and when you're exiting HDR Pro, just cancel out of the ACR dialog that comes up and then on your 32-bit layer, use Mode / 16- or 8-bit which will bring up ACR instead of the older HDR-Toning panel, and you can do the 32-bit to 8-bit conversion in ACR as a separate step. Whether this method makes sense depends on what else you might be doing with the 32-bit layer in PS. If nothing then using ACR to do the 32-bit to 16/8-bit conversion might make more sense.

CS4 / HDR workflow

I am beginning to use CS4's 'Merge to HDR' function - or rather, I would if I could get it to work.
Last week I merged a few bracketed images and did tone mapping but now when I load new images and merge them the screen will go blank before the 32-bit image is rendered.
Just installed 11.0.2 but I can't even complete the first step in the HDR process. Is this a known issue and if so, how do I overcome it? Or am I missing something very basic?

I'd try that, certainly. There is a point, however, at which things start to starve for RAM. I hope you'll be able to find a happy medium.
The long-term solution for this might be to get more RAM, or possibly ultimately move up to a 64 bit system.
I know that I've seen things work a lot better myself since I moved up to 16 GB from 8 GB RAM. There doesn't seem to be a limit on how much is "enough" for Photoshop.
-Noel

Keep getting halos in hdrs

Hi,
I've been trying out the new HDR function in Lightroom and have encountered a few problems.
The image below is a 2 photo hdr. I've darkened the sky using the graduated filter tool and masked the rocks using the eraser with auto mask set to 'on'.
As you can see there is a quite ugly white line a few pixels wide all along the top of the rocks. What could be causing this?
The photos were taken on a tripod so any shift would be minimal.
The line also appeared before the graduated filter tool was used. This is also a crop of the original image to keep the file size down.
any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers, Stuart

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I have downloaded the latest version of Lightroom but I so not see the option Photo Photo Merge in order to use the new HDR

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Contact Adobe. That is what I finally had to do. the number is 1-800-833-6687. There was a problem with a file. They took over my computer and got everything working for me.
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Error message on Merge to HDR

Hi -
Whenever I use the Merge to HDR function (CS4, using XP, SP3) I get a strange error message at the end of the processing portion (just before the completed 32-bit image displays). The error says something to the effect that it's possible that the images used for the HDR were taken with different cameras. This occurs on every HDR I create using Photoshop. I'm almost positive it also came up in CS3. Naturally, the images were taken with the same camera, and all EXIF data is intact, showing the camera make, model, serial, etc.
The only option available in the error message is to click "OK". 99% of the time, processing resumes when I click OK, and the resulting HDR is fine. Once in a while, when I click OK, the whole process aborts, and PS shows that I have no images open - not the HDR, and not the 3 original JPEGs. I run the Merge to HDR from Bridge, and the images are all straight from the camera - no processing or anything that might affect the EXIF or metadata.
Any idea what makes PS think that I'm using multiple cameras to take a HDR? Or why sometimes it just aborts the process when I click OK? I honestly cannot remember if I've ever tried merging to HDR using RAW files to compare whether the error occurs then or not. No other HDR engine (and I've used several) seems to have a problem with my images.
Thanks!

In original post it states "Naturally, the images were taken with the same camera, and all EXIF data is intact, showing the camera make, model, serial, etc.".
Have not used this function but seem reasonable that the cryptic Adobe message is just generic term for being shot at different angle. If the angle is too great it can't register the images correctly and so aborts. At least that is how I read it.
Message was edited by: curt y
And of course the the lens was zoomed it would also seem like a different camera.

HDR function in Panasonic LX7

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