In an earlier blog post, I made a comparison of the Ricoh GR III’s different HDR Tone Levels in monochrome. Since then, I wanted to revisit this mode. Below you’ll find a gallery and my humble opinion regarding the HDR Tone mode versus the other black-and-white modes.
HDR photography with the Ricoh GR III
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It allows more variation in light levels within an image. Ricoh, in the GR III’s manual, describes it as a mode that “Takes images finished like a painting with enhanced fine contrast.” You can read more about it in my earlier post.
Gallery
I’ve taken my little camera for a quick walk in my district (19th). All photographs were taken with HDR Tone Level set at 1. I used the Av mode with manual focus, auto ISO (to be quicker), and Multi Auto White Balance. My metering of choice was the Highlight-weighted one. I used a B+W UV-Haze filter for dust protection. Here below you’ll find a selection of my shots (click to see full photographs).
HDR mode vs GR III’s other black-and-white modes
Compared to the Monotone, Soft Monotone, and Hard Monotone modes, the HDR one has an edge over the subjects’ texture rendition. Textures are sharper and crisper, the same regarding edges. This results in more detailed photographs. But they look a tad soft though compared to the Hard Monotone and especially compared to the Hi-Contrast B&W modes.
If you’re using the Monotone, Soft, or Hard Monotone modes give the HDR mode a try, you may like it. If, like me, you’re mainly using the Hi-Contrast B&W, you’ll probably find it too soft and not bold enough.
