S8 Camera HDR Modes : Which is Best ? Off vs Auto vs Enabled ?!

[raveenshahdadpuri]

Hi, All.
S8 Camera HDR Modes : Which is Best ? Off vs Auto vs Enabled ?!
Got me my 1st ever Samsung phone - the S8.

[moved from the iPhone then Asus Zenfone ...the latter's camera app was not great, so used a 3rd party camera app - Camera360 - amazing HDR pics, even from a not so great Asus phone].

Used the S8 native camera app over the weekend, and some pics were fab, some -ok [even worse than my Asus phone using Camera360 on HDR Primary mode on

So, may main question is [well 3 questions ]:

1.
Do most of you here use the native Samsung camera app, or a 3rd party one ?
[i thought , since amazing S8 camera award-winning reviews and alogrithm, to stick with it]

2.
When using the native S8 camera app, [i use Auto mode the past week, not Pro] - as i wanted good quality pics, 'without spending too much time and thinking too much' - basically, great pics most of the time, without fiddling too much ....

so, with regards to the HDR mode, do most of you choose:

a. HDR Off
b. HDR Enabled
c. HDR Auto [i notice that this only engages intermittently , when the camera app sees fit, by the symbol turning yellow - am i right ?]

Some pics i get better with b or c, and vice versa.

3.
For the S8,
Is there a way to save BOTH the 'normal' photo, and the HDR version of the photo , so i can choose later on ? [like in the iPhone and Asus Zenfone ...As i find, in some cases, the non-HDR image is 'nicer' than the HDR one !] - in the S8, in HDR mode, there seems to be no option to save the original picture.

Sorry for some of the Newbie questions - but i have done a major Google search, and here on AC, with no clear answers.

Thank you ALL , in advance ... this is amazing community, and happy to be part of it
Cheers.
[admin - posted in Cameras section , but everyone else was only posting actual pics, not this question in particular, hence starting a new thread specifically on HDR mode on the S8 ... i hope that is ok. Thanks.]

 

[theelite1x87]

I don't think it'll save both version's. It'll shoot hdr or not depending on how you set it. Now, I tend to leave it in auto mode and most images come out the way I'd like. But for some landscape images I'll take two images. One with hdr forced on, another without. And I choose which is better later.

 

[raveenshahdadpuri]

I don't think it'll save both version's. It'll shoot hdr or not depending on how you set it. Now, I tend to leave it in auto mode and most images come out the way I'd like. But for some landscape images I'll take two images. One with hdr forced on, another without. And I choose which is better later.

Hi.
Thanks for your reply.
Yeah - was thinking to do what you do too.
But,
Nice to have the ability to save Both pics, like in the iphone - as sometimes, the Non-HDr is nicer than the HDR pic , instead of taking the pic twice, esp during travels and hustling from place to place and time is a factor ...

 

[theelite1x87]

I agree. But I don't think they'll add that feature in. As far as third party camera apps, I have not used any. Haven't used a 3rd party camera app in a very long time actually. Might try one out but I'm not sure if 3rd party app will have all the same software processing that main app has. The built in apps typically have the best algorithms in use for the hardware.

 

[raveenshahdadpuri]

I agree. But I don't think they'll add that feature in. As far as third party camera apps, I have not used any. Haven't used a 3rd party camera app in a very long time actually. Might try one out but I'm not sure if 3rd party app will have all the same software processing that main app has. The built in apps typically have the best algorithms in use for the hardware.

True ... so will most likely just stick to the Samsung app itself, for now.

 

[steveh552]

If you want the HDR effect you can just edit the photo to have it as well. I know totally what your talking about though, I just came back from Las Vegas and used my iPhone there as my only camera and used the stock app and a third party app and the third party app did great with RAW and HDR photos while the stock camera was great for auto shots, but if I turned HDR on, I really could not see the effects.

 

[icnmayhem]

So in general, hdr works with high contrast situations. Like when the foreground is much darker than the background. There's not going to be much difference in a normal photo. Same as with my DSLR, I only do hdr in special circumstances.

 

[Fred98TJ]

So in general, hdr works with high contrast situations. Like when the foreground is much darker than the background. There's not going to be much difference in a normal photo. Same as with my DSLR, I only do hdr in special circumstances.

Correct, HDR = High Dynamic Range and tries to do just what it says, that is to increase the dynamic range of the photo

 

[raveenshahdadpuri]

If you want the HDR effect you can just edit the photo to have it as well. I know totally what your talking about though, I just came back from Las Vegas and used my iPhone there as my only camera and used the stock app and a third party app and the third party app did great with RAW and HDR photos while the stock camera was great for auto shots, but if I turned HDR on, I really could not see the effects.

Exactly .... i see your point about doing post-adjustments in your other post ... cheers .... i am 'lazy" and sometimes just want the 'best' pic, w/o much fiddling after the pic, and for the most part, in my old camera phone, the HDR mode did that - not just high contrast scenes .... i realise each phone hardware / camera app has its own 'signature style' , i guess is the best word ...

 

[raveenshahdadpuri]

So in general, hdr works with high contrast situations. Like when the foreground is much darker than the background. There's not going to be much difference in a normal photo. Same as with my DSLR, I only do hdr in special circumstances.

i tended to use it al the time - worked grat in my older androis phone ...