HDR PQ workflow for Canon cameras (Sequoia 15.1)

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HDR PQ workflow for Canon cameras (Sequoia 15.1)

Here's a workflow that seems to work well for my Canon EOS R5 (Mark I):

Capture a full 45 megapixel image in HDR PQ
Transfer to macOS Sequoia (15.1) using Canon's EOS Utility 3 (V3.18.41)
If desired, use Canon's DPP (V4.19.31.0) to reduce the resolution to approximately 20 megapixels (66% scaling) and save as HIF (DPP doesn't recognize images processed by non-Canon apps).
Change the image extension from .HIF to .HEIC by renaming in Finder
Import into the macOS Photos app (10.0) for editing
Export the edited image from Photos as HEIC using the Original Color Profile option
Open the exported image in Preview (11.0) and use Adjust Color in the Tools menu to increase the exposure slider by about 40%. This is to workaround the Photos export being too dark for images with the HDR PQ colour profile (I expect than this isn't an issue for HDR HLG used by iOS).

If required, the resulting HEIC image can be easily converted to JPEG (e.g. using right click in Finder followed by Quick Action>Convert Image). In my opinion, the resulting image has better detail (i.e. closer to the HDR image) than shooting directly in JPEG.

The More Info pop-up in Preview should indicate a headroom (ratio of HDR to SDR brightness) of about 10 as shown below.

As reminder, HDR PQ images are best viewed on a HDR monitor with at least 400 Nits of brightness. Check the System Settings>Displays to ensure that the High Dynamic Range slider is enabled and that a colour profile appropriate to the monitor is specified. Also, for the best HDR experience, make sure that the Brightness slider is not set higher than absolutely necessity (to give at least 2 stops of headroom above SDR white).

Here's a scaled screenshot of a recent photo processed using the above workflow (including a reduced resolution of about 20 megapixels):

- Pie Lover

Mac mini (M2, 2023)

Posted on Nov 21, 2024 6:57 AM

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Answer 1

BlueberryLover Author

Level 4

1,129 points

Nov 25, 2024 5:38 AM in response to BlueberryLover

Editing with Photos requires a good understanding of the app's adjustment tools. I wanted to pass along my initial experience with editing an HDR image:

The Histogram is helpful for visualization of the impacts of any changes (enable via the view menu)
The Light tool slider is a useful for increasing the subjective lighting of the scene. Click on its Options pulldown to see its effects and to fine-tune.
The Levels tool can be used to adjust the impact of HDR via tone mapping
The Selective Color tool is useful for adjusting specific colours. You can also experiment with the Range slider:
- Range: Adjusts the range of colors that change based on your color selection. By changing the range, you can increase or decrease how much similar colors are affected in the image. For example, by increasing the range of a selected blue, you might change all the blues shown in a sky, or by decreasing the range, limit the change to a specific blue object.

Hope this helps.

- Pie Lover

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Answer 2

BlueberryLover Author

Level 4

1,129 points

Nov 23, 2024 12:23 PM in response to BlueberryLover

I found it hard to confirm that HDR PQ images were being displayed correctly in macOS Sequoia especially in Preview. Fortunately, the Canon EOS R5 (Mark I) can display an HDR image over HDMI directly on an HDR enabled monitor. To enable this go to View menu 5 and set "HDMI HDR output" to "On". Once you connect the camera (via an HDMI micro to full-sized cable) to the monitor, display the image by controlling the camera in the usual way.

As an added test, you can toggle HDMI HDR output to Off to assess the same image in SDR. By keeping this comparison in mind, you can confirm that the macOS and monitor are correctly displaying HDR PQ images. As mentioned previously, if viewing in Preview, don't forget to boost the exposure for the HDR PQ image for proper display.

Below is a photo of the monitor screen (taken with an iPhone in HDR mode) with the R5 correctly directly to the monitor via HDMI. Unfortunately, this method of capture can't do justice to the quality of the displayed image.

- Pie Lover

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