Random patterns in highlights

[Floessie]

Hi there,

I'm facing yet another issue with a HDRMerged night scene. While stack1 merges without problems, stack2 shows severe artifacts in the highlights even in the preview and more so when opened in RT. It doesn't matter if the white level is customized to 13314 or automatically derived.

The stacks were taken hand-held and aren't particularly sharp (f/1.4), so I won't spend much time on them. But I thought such a problem should be reported anyway.

https://filebin.net/zmdn8mlw7bbk22i9

Best,
Flössie

[fanckush]

Can you re upload the images for me to test, the link expired obviously :)

[Floessie]

@fanckush I'm not sure if I still have them, but I'll take a look tomorrow.

As a sidenote: filebin.net was down last week. Are you on PIXLS? If so, I could provide you with the images there (only if I find them, of course 😉).

Thanks for having a look! 👍

[fanckush]

I'm not on pixls, but I could just as well create an account

[Floessie]

@fanckush I'm sorry, but I can't find the stacks in question anymore. As said, the pano wasn't deemed good enough, so I got rid of the sources.

[fanckush]

could you describe the patterns in the highlights? Did it look like noise, artifacts with strange colors, or maybe it felt like the image was “stiched” from various images near the highlights?

What was in your opinion unique about the 2nd stack? Maybe the dynamic range was extreme considering it was a night shot?

I know it may be hard to remember but any piece of information is useful. I will try to simulate your 2nd stack to find out the issue

[Floessie]

@fanckush I honestly think it's impossible to guess the parameters of the second stack and perform a simulation based on my opinion. 😉 Especially since I don't remember the exact circumstances. There might still be a chance that I find the shots on backup media. I'll definitely let you know within the next few days. Otherwise I'll keep looking for a reproduction which might be possible or not.

[Floessie]

@fanckush Happy new year! I've been to my digital attic and found the files. 🎉 Maybe you can make use of them:

https://filebin.net/39b0rz4yuisq619b

Best,
Flössie

[fanckush]

Happy new year @Floessie! It's great that you found them, I'll take a look in the near future, I made sure to download them now before the link expires :)