How To HDR Photo Tutorial

Any camera will take the pictures required to produce an HDR photo. Some will require much more work than others to get the same results. There are a few technical details that you should consider when choosing the camera you will use to create your own HDR photos. Megapixels, Battery, Memory, Automatic Exposure Bracketing, and RAW file support.

Here are a few cameras in different price ranges that I recommend based on these criteria.

Fuji Finepix s5600
HDR Photos taken with the Fuji Finepix s5600 on Flickr

This is one of the most affordable 5.1 megapixel point-and-shoot camera’s you can get that will auto-bracket multiple exposures. I owned a Fuji s602 as my first digital camera and it served me well for 3 years before upgrading. This camera has RAW support and uses AA batteries which is nice. Unfortunately is also uses xD memory which is proprietary and is more expensive than SD and CF. If you have a little more money, you’re better off going with the next camera.

Canon Powershot S3 IS
HDR Photos taken with the Canon Powershot S3 IS on Flickr

This camera combines the ease of point-and-shoot with the quality expected from Canon. It is 6 megapixels and has a nice 2″ swiveling LCD display. The lens also retracts into the body of the camera for a much smaller form-factor than the Fuji. Power is supplied by AA Batteries and a 1Gb SD memory card can cost less than $50 and take around 300 high quality jpegs. The downside, pointed out by my dear friend Jim Van Wyck is that the lens cap doesn’t stay on and is constantly falling off.
Nikon D50
HDR Photos taken with the Nikon D50 on Flickr

Nikon’s DSLR’s are the toughest DSLR’s built, on the market. There are hundreds of add-ons and a starter package for the D50 will cost less than $1000 and include everything needed to get you shooting. The most notable difference between point-and-shoot cameras and DSLR’s is the ability to change lenses. The ability to use high quality lenses results in much sharper photos and better framing options when shooting. Both the d50 and the Canon Digital Rebel are both considered “entry level” pro-sumer digital SLR cameras.

Canon 20D
HDR Photos taken with the Canon 20D on Flickr

Although the Canon 20D has been replaced by the 30D there’s a small difference between the two, so save some money for lenses and check out the 20D. The 20D has RAW file support, +-2EV bracketing (the Fuji and Canon S3 only have +-1EV), and much more then the scope of this article covers. This camera has all the functions you would need for advanced photography and produces very high quality pictures.
The best combination I have used, and currently use, is the Canon 20D and a Canon 10-22mm Super-Wide angle lens.

What camera do you use to take your HDR photos? Share your favorite set-up!