Adobe has announced that Lightroom Mobile now has a new raw HDR capture mode that lets you achieve a dynamic range on your mobile device that was previously only possible shooting with an DSLR or mirrorless camera.
This new HDR mode harnesses the power available in the latest mobile hardware on both Android and iOS. These updates, version 2.7 for iOS and version 2.3 for Android, were released on March 6th and make the HDR mode available for free.
The new HDR mode works by automatically scanning the scene to determine the correct exposure range and then capturing three DNG files which are then automatically aligned, merged, deghosted, and tonemapped in the app. You get a 16-bit floating point DNG, with all of the benefits of both an HDR and a raw photo, which is processed by the same algorithms with the same quality as the HDR technology built into Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom.
Previously, capturing an image in HDR either meant using a DSLR or mirrorless camera, capturing multiple exposures, copying to your computer, and then merging in an application like Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw, or Lightroom. Alternatively, you could capture an HDR JPEG on your phone, though those images normally used only two shots and often failed to capture the full range of tonality in difficult lighting scenarios. By capturing three raw shots and merging on the phone, you get a greatly increased dynamic range with the ability to edit and share right away. Creative Cloud members get the additional benefit of automatically syncing with their desktop, ensuring that the photo, plus all of the edits that were made to the photo, are backed up and available in the desktop version of Lightroom.
Supported Devices
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPad Pro 9.7”
- Samsung S7
- Samsung S7 Edge
- Google Pixel
- Google Pixel XL
