HDR CS6 vs 3rd Party

[gferdinandsen]

I am looking for advice for HDR software.  I already use CS6, are the 3rd party HDR tools any better than what is out of the box (which does not seem much better than CS5 had)?

[wickidwombat]

Better is relative and highly subjective
Best is using luminosity masks in photoshop

[skitron]

Assuming you aren't looking for CS6 plugins, Capture One Pro has some good HDR tools. Here's a before and after of a typical "consumer" snapshot using on camera flash. Just spent a couple of minutes moving some sliders...no masks, no layers on this one.

[CTJohn]

Better is relative and highly subjective
Best is using luminosity masks in photoshop

I've use Photomatix and have liked the results.  Do you know of any reference available how to do the luminosity masks in CS?  I'd love to try.  I assume it's still with bracketed images?

[MARKOE PHOTOE]

I think I've probably tried all of them I could find.  Did their trial subscriptions first to see if they were worth the time and $.
Photomatix Pro is top notch and very affordable compared to the others.   HDR Efex Pro is also a decent program which can work with one image.  Of course, you can work with one image in Adobe Camera Raw also but it takes a bit more time processing one, saving it, processing again, etc.

[keithcooper]

Although not a big user of HDR, I've recently written up a lengthy review of HDR Expose 2 and am in the process of writing up similar details for Nik HDR Efex 2

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/software/hdrexpose2.html

[tombu]

Better is relative and highly subjective
Best is using luminosity masks in photoshop

I've use Photomatix and have liked the results.  Do you know of any reference available how to do the luminosity masks in CS?  I'd love to try.  I assume it's still with bracketed images?

Here is a great video, I learned the technique by watching this, but by using this method u can't remove ghosting 

manual hdr fusion.mp4	Small | Large

[unfocused]

Tombu,

Fantastic video. Thanks for sharing. Kind of disappointed though, I tried to go to the website for more and it looks like the author's domain has expired. Oh no!

[tombu]

Oh, that is actually sad to hear, there was some really good stuff!

[RendrLab]

I recently went through the same series of questions myself. First of all, I have found no "HDR" software or plugins that can even come close to the capabilities of Luminosity Masking. I have used each and every one currently available and it seems that if you want quick\so-so results without the complications of Luminosity Masking, Photomatix does the best job. However, I HIGHLY recommend starting right here http://goodlight.us/writing/tutorials.html and going with the Luminosity Masking inside PS. You have so much more control of how every brightness/color level of your image is handled. Definitely a bit of a learning curve if you want spectacular results, but worth it weight in gold when you see the results.