F300EXR – EXR DR mode versus P Mode (A-Prio Mode)

There’s a guy on the FTF who has harped incessantly how EXR DR mode makes a mess of images while P shot in DR binned mode (M4:3, DR400) does not …

How can this be? Both are binning – actually blending with a curve – the same data and the same jpeg engine is working the image over … what could be happening?

He has no explanation and no evidence that I have seen, but swears that he sees it all the time.

Well …

I see nothing there. So close as to be near-twins.

Now, I am not a fan of EXR DR myself. You can see that the camera jumped to f/10 and a slow shutter speed in that mode, whereas in A-Prio mode I kept it wide open and had a fast shutter speed.

And before the clever ones suggest that the difference might be diffraction that shows up only sometimes … two points:

• Diffraction does not show up when it feels like it
• The second stop on the F300 is implemented by an ND filter, not an actual aperture, so no increase in diffraction

So use EXR DR if you don’t mind its all auto behaviors. But I much prefer A-Prio. We’ll both get the image quality in general terms (except when 1/250s is too slow for the action … then you will wish you had used A-Prio.)