Looking at this, it seems we might be close to being able to play with "in camera" HDR algorithms now.
I think you could actually do a fair job of this with just shot_histogram, but it would be inconvenient. I originally wrote the drtest script using only histogram, when I was trying to figure out the how to do the meter values.
Getting back to the project at hand:
I haven't been doing much with the C code, because I need a real application figure out how it should really work. So I've been working on an intervalometer script that uses the new feature.
obsolete see later postsCurrent version attached. This is not completed, in particular, it doesn't handle aperture or ND filter adjustments yet, and the way metering is specified is not very clear.
The basic idea is the script keeps the camera in half_press and repeatedly clicks full shoot. The exposure for each subsequent shot is calculated from the raw of the previous.
The metering is done using an adjustable sized rectangle in the middle of the screen, and the script normally tries to keep this at the "neutral" value. Additionally, shot_histogram is used to limit the % of over and under exposed pixels to certain values.
I think this is working pretty well, but I encountered an oddity with D10. In one run, about 1 in 20 shots ends up with ~1/5 stop lower exposure even though no exposure parameters have changed.
I don't think this is a real lighting change (like a bird or airplane shadow), since it is apparent in the sky. According to the log, the tv and sv are unchanged. I've done a couple more runs without seeing it so
Script options
shots:
number of shots
Draw:
Draw metering information on the raw buffer. This consists of
1) a box around the meter area
2) A bar above the meter box, representing the metered value as a % of white level (log scale).
3) A bar under the meter box, representing the change in exposure as a as a fraction of the max EV change value described below. The origin is at the center, with longer exposure to the right, and shorter exposure to the left.
Drawing can take a significant amount of time, especially if the meter area is large (e.g. 0.5 sec for a 1200 px on d10). The log contains this information and much more.
Interval sec/10:
time between shots, in 10ths of a second.
Meter size:
Size of metered area in pixels. This should be even and a multiple of step. Currently, it is always square and centered.
Meter step:
Ever step-th pixel is measured. To sample all colors, it should be odd.
To prevent overflow, the total number of pixels (size/step)
2 must less unsigned_max / white_level. (~1M for 12 bpp, 250K for 14 bpp). Larger numbers of pixels will be slower.
Max ev change 1/x:
Maximum exposure change in a single step, in fractions of a stop. The actual exposure change is smoothed, so the max value will be only used if there is a sufficiently large, consistent trend in scene brightness.
Max Tv:
Longest shutter speed to use, in 1/100ths of a sec. If required exposure is longer, ISO will be used up to ISO limits.
Target ISO:
ISO value to use if shutter limits (described below) not reached. Should normally be lowest ISO
ISO adj TV Sec/100:
Shutter value (in 1/100ths of a sec) at which ISO will start to be increased. If the exposure time exceeds this value, exposure will changes are split 50/50 between shutter and ISO, subject to limits below
Max ISO:
Absolute max ISO to be used.
Av Pref:
Not implemented
Overexp thresh %:
The percent of pixels that must be near to white level to trigger over exposure protection. This uses shot histogram, so includes the whole frame not just the meter area. If this threshold is hit, the script will prevent further exposure increase from the meter. If it is exceeded, exposure will be reduced.
Underexp thresh %:
Similar to the above, but for pixels near black level. Underexposure is only checked if over is not triggered. Under exposure adjustment is also not triggered if it would push the metered exposure more than 1 stop over the "neutral" value.
Display:
Display power saving mode. On = always on, Off use set_lcd_display off. Bklt_Off use set_backlight every shot. Pressing set while the script is running will turn the display on for 30 sec.
Append log:
If unchecked, the logfile "A/rawopint.csv" is overwritten every time the script is run.
The is a CSV with a bunch of columns. The most relevant to the metering process are
sv, tv
exposure values for this shot (image number indicated in the exp column)
meter, meter96
the average value of the metered area. *96 indicates this as an APEX96 value where the target exposure is 0. Negative values indicate an underexposure, positive is overexposure.
over_pct, under_pct
shot histogram percentages in the over and under limits.
d_ev
exposure change requested for the next shot. Negative (confusingly) means increased exposure.
desc
various cases in the metering process trigger messages here, e.g if over exposure protection is triggered, shutter limits hit etc.
Umm.... if you made it this far, help yourself to another
cookie and beverage
edit:
The "sleep" column indicates how long the script slept between shots. If it's negative, it means the script wasn't able to maintain the requested frame rate.
edit:
Might help if I attached the script
