Fujifilm DR200 and DR400 explained: it only touches your highlights
DR200 and DR400 only change the brightest part of a Fujifilm photo: they hold about one and two more stops of highlights before white. Midtones, shadows and colours stay exactly the same, on every film simulation.
By Abu Ashraf Masnun ·
Dynamic Range is the setting I see the most confusion about in Fuji recipes. People talk about DR400 as if it makes the whole photo flat and grey. So I tested it on an X100VI and an X-T30 III, film by film, and here is the deal: it only touches your highlights.
What it does
Think of the brightest part of your photo, a white sky, a lamp, sunlight on a wall. On DR100 those parts go pure white quickly. DR200 lets the camera hold about one more stop of that brightness before it goes white, and DR400 about two more. It does that by gently rolling off the top end, so bright things fade into white instead of hitting it hard.
Everything else stays put. Your midtones, faces, shadows and dark corners come out exactly the same as on DR100. I mean exactly: below the bright part of the frame there was no difference at all.
What it does not do
- It does not change colours. Blues stay the same blue, skin stays the same skin.
- It does not lift shadows. That is Shadow tone, a different setting.
- It does not behave differently per film. Classic Chrome, Classic Neg, Eterna, Acros, Provia and Velvia all got the same highlight roll-off.
The catch
DR200 needs twice your camera's base ISO and DR400 four times it, because the camera protects the highlights by exposing the picture darker and brightening it back. On an X100VI that is ISO 250 and ISO 500. In daylight that costs you almost nothing.
Bottom line: if your skies keep blowing out, turn on DR400 and stop worrying about it. Your faces and shadows will not know the difference. If it is the shadows you want to change, that is Shadow tone.
Questions people ask
Does DR400 make Fujifilm photos flat?
No. DR400 only rolls off the brightest highlights. Midtones and shadows come out exactly as they do on DR100, so contrast in the rest of the picture does not change.
What ISO do DR200 and DR400 need?
DR200 needs at least twice your camera's base ISO and DR400 four times it. On an X100VI, with base ISO 125, that is ISO 250 for DR200 and ISO 500 for DR400.
Why I am testing all this
I'm doing this research while building two apps for Fuji shooters. RAF Film Lab edits Fuji RAW files on Mac, iPad and iPhone, in all 20 film simulations. Chobial is an iPhone film camera that always shoots RAW, so you can develop any photo again with any film. Everything I learn about how the camera renders goes into both. They're in beta now, and if you'd like to try them, join the RAF Film Lab beta or the Chobial beta.