Diving into Dynamic Range

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We're taking an introductory look at the somewhat confusing world of Dynamic Range from the Psychophysics of Human Vision to Gamma Correction on old CRT and modern devices, How LOG works, the impact of ISO and Dynamic Range and shooting RAW using Exposing To the Right (ETTR) strategy.
Hopefully you like looking at graphs and spots of light!
Full course with annotations, quiz and "sauce" here:
filmmakeriq.com/courses/divin...
If you aren't fully familiar with exposure concepts this might be a bit overwhelming. You can brush up exposure on our course: The Science of Exposure and Metering
• The Science of Exposur...
If you want to learn how to wire to LEDs here's our video on the circuitry of LEDs
• The Science and Circui...

[@Lauraraksin77]

I need these for studying purposes. @0:16 - Intro @0:40 - What is Dynamic Range? @3:03 - Psychophysics @8:13 - Bending the Curve @12:28 - Gamma and Dynamic Range @16:57 - Let's Talk Log @19:55 - Dynamic Range and ISO @27:10 - Raw and ETTR @30:10 - Demonstration @33:06 - Closing statement

[@ralphgould2783]

As a retired TV engineer who spent 30 years inside an assortment of cameras, this was a great video! Best explanation I have seen. Thanks.

[@biscuitsalive]

Red pill moment! Protect highlights with HIGHER ISO Protect shadows with LOWER ISO!!!

[@FilmmakerIQ]

I puzzled over that for probably about 2+ years... It took that long to build the case for it in my mind and solid enough to present it.

[@stephenbrouillette4541]

Brain just exploded. Should probably clean that up...

[@t3dwork]

I would have never believed anyone without a presentation like the one in this video, truly eye opening

[@jorgellopezlopez4051]

Has a lot, lot , lot of sense. Some people translate the film recording knowledge to the digital world without taking into account the difference in how the light is processed in both medium.

[@BubuSnow93]

I'm a bit lost at that step. Why not just let more light into the camera and use the lower ISO setting? In the example you say that the ISO 800 image has 6 stop above and 9 below, while the ISO 200 has 4 ab. 11 bel. But why not just use 200 ISO and let 2 more stop of light on the sensor to again achieve 6 stop avobe 9 below?. Is that a consequence of the Log curve? Because definitely what you suggest in the video wouldn't work on a normal DSLR raw.

[@TomAntos]

Damn! Great video John. Went into way more details then I ever thought possible but really explains it well.

[@thefilmpoets]

You went full dork with this one. I love it.

[@christophmayer3991]

Exceptionally great video! I can only imagine how much time it took to prepare this video and break this whole behemoth of a subject down into smaller digestible pieces. I think you didn't go the extra mile, you walked an extra marathon! Very informative, yet understandable and easy to watch although being a very complicated topic. I learned so much and it... just felt easy. Thank you so much for taking the time and producing this awesome video!

[@chengong388]

I’ve always known about protecting shadows with lower ISO just from experience of boosting exposure in post. Now that I think about it, I have also experienced how you can protect highlights with higher ISO but that just never sounded right so I never paid attention to that possibility. I did notice how you can shoot bright scenes with a high ISO anyway, and the blown out parts are actually easier to recover than the blown out parts from a low ISO image. Now I understand you’re just shifting the amount of data dedicated to highlight versus shadows. You might as well change your channel name to film making myth buster at this point.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Higher ISO just to the point where you're not tapping down the whites... I mean don't go nuts and shoot ISO 512000 in mid day sun hahaha.

[@EugeniaLoli]

@@FilmmakerIQ The new BMPCC 4k camera manual has a graph where it shows how many stops it offers for highlights and how many for shadows in each ISO step. Given that graph, it's best to shoot at ISO 1000 or ISO 1250 with that camera to get the best highlights (and with a variable ND filter, of course, to control the light).

[@FilmmakerIQ]

I have that camera on rental order and going to do a quick video on it

[@s87343jim]

@@FilmmakerIQ I don't understand how increase ISO doesn't reduce DR. By increasing ISO from 200 to 400, camera has half of information to work with. Like you said in the video it raise up the noise floor thus reduce DR by one stop. You also then mention there are other factors that contribute noise as well, so it seems the penalty of one stop DR reduction is the best case scenario. However you then said increasing ISO doesn't reduce DR. That makes me go "huh?" The way I understand is that the sensor can capture much greater DR(let's say 10 stops) than the log or gamma profile(8 stops) can provide. By raising the ISO you simply change where the grey point is, increase noise floor and because it hasn't hit the max signal range yet, there is no penalty of highlight. Basically if you shoot log, there is no penalty in DR if you raise from ISO 200 to 800, but you will if you raise to 1600. It also means if you shoot Raw, then you might as well just stay in base ISO, get the full DR, preserve high light and since most space is for shadow details anything, just raise up in post. Thank you in advance for reading and answering my question. :)

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Yes

[@r.jclark4641]

You've taught me more about moviemaking and cinema history than any film school could ever teach. God bless you John.

[@csaltundag]

This could be the best, the most explanatory and easiest-to-grasp video about dynamic range. Thank you so much Mr. Hess, you rock!

[@JulianKrause]

That's a huge amount of information brilliantly visualized! You guys inspire me :)

[@phinmilton669]

maybe one of the most helpful videos on ISO and dynamic range. Thank You so much.

[@PedalingPrince]

I'd love to see an episode on audio dynamic range, talking about improvements in cinema audio technology over the years.

[@Tv1Apple]

My life will never be the same: use lower ISO in the dark, and higher ISO in bright cond. *breathing heavily*

[@christophershivers6257]

i've learned that from my c200 lol. Oddly i was indoors and shot at iso 4000, the room was well lit. And i didn't see any noise. I thought the camera was good at high iso, i went outside in the dark and shot at iso 4000. It was noise everywhere. I learned that iso dont add noise but amplifies it. Just like how John stated in this video. if your mid tones are at that certain ire where the noise floor is at, which for the c200 is about 12 to 15, then you will have noise especially at high iso. It's a trial and error process hahaha.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

What's more, it's really the noise floor we object to... Not necessarily the noise in the signal. ;)

[@Phonothek]

but what are you doing if your outdoors, aperture wide open, shutter speed adjusted etc and you are still underexposed? up the gain in post or in camera?

[@Tv1Apple]

You know how they say - "when you gotta go - you gotta go!". This applies to ISO as well.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

EVERYTHING in filmmaking is a compromise... There's no way around it. If your outdoors and need more light you could drag out some generators and some hmis to add more light or push ISO knowing you're going to take on more noise in your shadows.

[@asgerms]

I don't know much about filmmaking, but watch these videos with great interest. I *do* know quite a bit about math, electronics, physics and computer science. And always find the quality of these videos impressive and the presentation most enjoyable. To a point of recommending the channel to anybody with a curiosity. Film-buff or not. Even my neighbour who is a senior political writer is now watching it. Thanx!

[@foxtrotromeo4876]

My perception of this video is also exponential: When you add 1 unit of information my brain needs to process double the amount of information :) Nah, just kidding, this was actually one of the most informative videos in KZbin history. I could listen to you for 8 hours straight.

[@Mrenisenko]

I am subscribed to well over 500 channels (I've lost count), and as such I find myself eligible to say the following: This channel and "engineerguy" are the finest channels on KZbin. They're so educative and professional I find them like something I would pay 300 bucks to be tutored. Truly an amazing experience watching you guys, you're making the whole YT community better. When I say finest I know some of you are going to say... well there's this one and there's that one... yes, there is, but they got the publicity they wanted, and it pays off, but these two don't have nearly as much as they deserve, and every ONE of you needs to respect that. Their target audience is narrower, aimed towards more professional individuals, they really go the distance when it comes to explaining. Nothing but respect... no but's.

[@maltoNitho]

A masterpiece in 34 minutes. Thank you for breaking such much down John.

[@wolf.himmler]

Whoever those 8 people are that don't like your video, they might just be annoyed that there is such a brilliant resource to get information from. You sir, seriously are the most straight forward and overall correct filmmaking channel not only on youtube but on the entire internet, it seems to me. (Even as an aspiring physicist, i can tell that there wasn't even information that you might find to be incorrect even after a B.Sc. in physics.) Really, I'm impressed.

[@xGracer]

34 Minutes ... Maaaan, you saved my evening. Thank you!

[@ChristopherDobey]

this is the most in-depth yet understandable explanation of Digital ISO/RAW on KZbin! Something that isn't widely discussed: Why is ISO unchangeable in still photo RAW processing applications yet ISO is an adjustable piece of metadata based on native sensor ISO while working with cinema camera RAW files like BRAW and R3D in non-linear editors?

[@FilmmakerIQ]

That's a really good question and I think the answer is really going to be one of semantics (because you are effectively adjusting the ISO in a Raw editor when you play with the exposure slider). Digital moving pictures have a background in video where people think in terms of a signal where as still photography still thinks in terms of a frame of celluloid. Gaining up and down the recorded signal (which some software engineer thought would be useful to translate that into ISO) naturally makes sense but maybe not so in stills even though the actual engineering is exactly the same!

[@shanelonn7728]

ThankYou soo much for this! Watched your previous video and this one and loved both! Your style, teaching method, editing, scientific research is perfect! Look forward to more and like everyone else said the higher iso to protect the highlights and lower for the shadows is blowing my mind

[@riouxr]

It's so enjoyable to watch a clip without someone chopping their videos every three words because they just can't talk fluently in front of a camera. I just love watching your clips. I've been following you for many years. This video was a revelation.

[@Temersson]

Easily the best explanation of light/metering/curves/log/raw... you name it. This is gold. Even the "old" way of thinking ISO as one corner of "exposure triangle", replaced with true scientific knowledge... just priceless! I sincerely thank you, Sir, for making this video. Once more, easily the best tutorial if someone wants to truly understand light in cameras, both still and video.

[@TheUnMarketingGroup]

Every 6-months or so I come back to watch these videos to refresh my understanding of exposure, gain and dynamic range. And each time I watch there is a new "Ah Ha" moment when I recall a shooting situation where I gapped on an important part of this. I typically shoot RAW/ETTR but for quick turnaround jobs I will switch to camera processing and then "forget" higher ISO for brighter scenes and lower ISO for darker scenes for example. Thank you for taking the time to explain this, particularly to an old film guys like me who is trying to unlearn the exposure triangle myth.

[@TCCR]

Watched the whole video. Insanely informative. It's nice to not only know the how, but also the why. And those tips for shooting in Log were KEY! Thank you. 🙏🏻

[@oldsingleplayer3012]

I'm addicted to this channel. superb work!

[@rodprod8522]

This is the best explanation of log and DR I've seen - Fantastic job!

[@RossMcLendon]

Great video! I love the depth you go into - I always learn something new, even for subjects I think I understand perfectly well.

[@olegstrekachev6734]

My brain is glowing from the knowledge I just got. Thank you for explaining it in the "big picture" format without making tons of 10 minutes videos to place ads in

[@besknighter]

Dude, I'm forever grateful for this youtube channel. The amount of knowledge put out in such high quality content FOR FREE is mind blowing! I love you and all your patrons!

[@Alohamora_13]

This video was simply brilliant! Really well explained! Thanks John!

[@EnricoGerominProd]

Best video ever on Dynamic Range and log!

[@kermath]

Thank god I didn't go to film school. Thanks for this beautiful video! Explains it waaaay better than a lecture could

[@EmilFromFilm]

John, I can't believe you've done this. This was so informative and very well explained. You blew my mind with the higher/lower iso and dynamic range part. I definitely have to watch this video a few times, so I understand it well enough to explain to others. Thank you.

[@mexicodirk]

This is food for my brain. Thanks. One of the best videos ever seen about dynamic range.

[@JimRobinson-colors]

You're officially my hero, watched some of your newer videos on audio and youTube etc. was really impressed. This one, I may have watched a couple of years ago, but fully appreciate it now ( my learning curve has been raised.) thank you. I may watch this periodically to recall the details later.

[@numbersix9477]

Sometime back I took issue with a single assertion you made about the visibility of jitter. (I still do.) Other than that, I found the video to be excellent. I was prompted to watch more of your videos. They are universally EXCELLENT! I don't know anything about films you've been involved in making but I suspect they're great as each of the "Filmmaker IQ" videos I've watched has been informative, well researched, well paced and a delight to watch. FIVE GOLD STARS! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@joshuacoppersmith]

Very impressive. This demystifies some misconceptions I've had that I didn't even know needed demystification!

[@jennygw1883]

Brilliant video. I've never seen an explanation as clear as this. Lost count of how many times I thought 'so that's how it works!' Love this channel.

[@OgatRamastef]

Wow! This video is trully amazing, I will have to watch more times to get everything! Congratulations for the monumental work!

[@jimradford9540]

Started watching your courses during the lockdown. They really are excellent. Everyone in Production and Post should watch these ! Thanks for creating.

[@jimvariadakis]

All this hard work for these videos...to help every one of us who love photography and filmmaking to understand the physics and the whole theory behind the art! I want to say something more than THANK YOU but I cannot find the words!

[@okebaram]

I learned SO MUCH from this video. And still, half of it is over my head. What an awesome video!

[@naedolor]

Most likely the best free video on this subject.

[@TheJamesM]

Thanks for the informative (and counter-intuitive!) video, and even bigger thanks for discussing the ISO issue in the comments so patiently. The latter really helped me start to get my head around it.

[@johannes914]

This channel deserves millions of subscribers and patreons. Great explanations. Thank you. I learned a lot.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

This is one of the best-presented videos I've ever seen on KZbin. Amazing job! I learned so much, I'll have to watch again.

[@maikarbin]

Really loved this video! Very informative. Helped me gain a deeper understanding of DR. Hope to keep seeing more videos like this.

[@EricSwain79]

Mind blown as it throws out everything I teach regarding ISO. Never been more excited to test a hypothesis, teach on John.. teach on... thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[@cadenho1152]

Some people probably think this is too geeky, but it's actually super awesome and fascinating!! EDIT: Also feel free to correct me for what I think I understood: 1) ETTR is about increasing Signal to Noise ratio (hence cleaner images) by increasing exposure using only shutter speed and/or aperture, then bringing down exposure in post. 2) Higher ISO gives more details (i.e. better dynamic range) in the highlights, whilst Lower ISO gives more detail (i.e. better dynamic range) in the shadows.

[@HippySpeedballPodcast]

Yaaas! The professor has returned!!

[@donaldklopper]

Respect. Thanks for making this freely available!

[@MindfulGrinds]

I cannot even believe this video. I am in AWE! How do you not have 1 million subscribers yet? You are a very smart, well spoken instructor! Wow!

Best explanation of dynamic range I've heard so far. Great work.

[@workhorsemtb7075]

Excellent work! I know nothing about any of these subjects, you are educating me, Thanks

[@fhajji]

This was the most informative video on HDR I've ever watched!

[@janhemstad]

Great video, John! This is why knowing your camera sensor's "native" ISO is so important for reducing noise and maximizing dynamic range.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Even a term like "native ISO" is sort of confusing... There's really no such thing - it breaks down to what ISO gives you the even number of stops above and below middle gray. Then Native ISO is also dependent on what flavor of LOG you're shooting at... C-Log it's 800 or so, S-Log it's like 2500 (I think it locks you into that)! It's all confusing!! :P :P

[@janhemstad]

Agreed. I guess we should really say optimal ISO. S-Log 2 locks you into 800, while S-Log 3 locks you into 1600. I did some experimenting with a neutral gray card and light meter. The exposure with the lowest noise floor and highest dynamic range for S-Log 2 was 2 stops over exposed S-Log 3 was 3 stops over, and S-Log 3 has one extra stop of dynamic range and is cleaner when properly expose, which makes sense.

[@circlenostar]

This was a fantastic episode. One of my favorite you’ve done yet!

[@mrlellol1626]

The whole section of gamma and log is explained so well, thank you!

[@shueibdahir]

I've been shooting since 2015 and i've been mostly running on tips and intuition. Now I've taken a 3 year hiatus from shooting video and photos and I've started to focus on actual science behind process. This video has managed to open my eyes to entirely new possibilities I wasn't aware of! This is the best technical video I've ever come across on KZbin. You should be absolutely proud of yourself. Now I finally understand that I've been using max 30% of my cameras capabilities instead of the 95% I thought I did. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Thank you. The same thing happened to me once I really started to understand how this stuff works.

[@Mcbunaen]

Wow, you are a great teacher. I went from knowing "a lot" about photography, but being baffled (it turns out) by the subjects you covered, to having a basic understanding about the subjects you covered. Thank you.

[@britcom1]

Great job John! Love these videos!

[@redplanet76]

Great work. I appreciate how technical it was.

[@undefined40]

Ah, finally one of the good old lecture vids again. Thanks for that great explanation.

[@JarrodTetreault]

I honestly thought I had a fairly decent grasp on Dynamic Range before, but this video has really shown me so much more

[@juhof.73]

What a wonderful surprise to the evening!

[@bananabear009]

Thank you! I believe this is one of the most under-rated KZbin channels. Should have more subscribers and views.

[@IllKeepALightOn]

These videos are so amazing. Thank you!

[@SiamakSadati]

Hey John ,I love your videos , you teach me somethings that no one do before , and you do it for free . i Wish you the best ❤❤❤

[@PlanetXtreme]

This is one awesome video. I cannot thank you enough; this information was extremely well presented and the presenter was great, too. Thank you so much!!!!

[@cwjonesII]

Another great video. Tons of information, logically presented. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[@FelipeBaezBR]

Your videos are SO GOOD! SO SO GOOD! =) Total pleasure to watch ads on your video. Totally worth and hope you can continue to make videos like this. Sharing knowledge is what will drive us forward.

[@MarekPavel]

Amazing video with deep details, but understandable form (if you watch couple times :) ) Thank you for your awesome work here!!

[@jrsmoots]

Information overload! In a good way. I gotta watch this a few more times :)

[@DigitalCinematography]

Love your work John. You have taught me so much.

[@michaelvongher6795]

Greatest filmmaking KZbin channel

[@bartoszkaczmarek5739]

really informative! Thank you for sharing that valuable data!

[@brentthomasaustin]

These tutorials are amazing. I am learning so much

[@PurposedLensPhotoMedia]

Thank you for taking the time, spending the energy and brain power to put all of this together in a coherent video! This is EXCELLNT work! This is the side of KZbin I enjoy! Keep up the GREAT work! 👍

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Thank you so much!

[@Jorge_Pronto]

I just found this channel, loving the thorough content!

[@KarmaIsABitsch]

Great Video and Finally someone who underlines what I said ever since I red an Article on Red's website concerning ISO. If you want to preserve highlight use a higher ISO and if you want to preserve shadows use a lower ISO. I felt Like a madman trying to explain ppl, how the sensors work, but now I will just link to your video instead! Thank you very much! And I am looking forward to the HDR Video! Cause that's another topic that noone seems to explain properly. I hop you can explain it!

[@LiveMyJourneyTom]

A real eye opener. Thank you!

[@watcanw8357]

Wow, blew my mind many times!

[@marcofcat]

My very first yt comment to say thank you Mr Hess. Inspiring educational technic. Very thorough and entertaining as well. 👏👏👏

[@nikijur4193]

Thank you sooooo much! This is by far the best explanation I was able to find. And I looked a looooooot. :)

[@vinothkumarr4912]

Thanks for the great explanation which inspires to be dwelve deeper in to this topic..🙏

[@AbhinavanandSingh]

This video is one of the best, ever!

[@StockAvuryah]

Well, now a LOT of things are making more sense. Thank you, great video, as always. One of your best.

[@davidhany20]

This is incredible!

[@stevenmuncy491]

Another in a series of excellent videos.

[@YehoshuaDerovan]

Masterful!! Hats off my friend!!

[@dontaskiwasbored2008]

This video is worth money. I wasn't even here for photography, but trying to master the gamma & linear concepts.

[@kristov1110]

I never learned so much, so quickly, as I do watching your videos ! Thanks so much !

[@heyimrobee]

Your channel is amazing! :O It's entertaining and very informative. Thanks for sharing!

[@nicolas_poli]

Good job. That video is just what I needed.

[@davidadrien4369]

This was a great video!!! Very informative!!!!

[@LiveAeons]

your work is so in depth and awesome!

[@photozen8398]

MIND BLOWING...!!! Lower your exposure, higher ISO to protect highlights, Open up your exposure lower ISO to protect your shadows,.....Am Jumping up and down joyfully for just learning this GEM....Thanks

[@ricccy07]

Fantastic video, well presented. Got yourself a new subscriber

[@BrodySimpsonDrums]

incredible information. Thank you!