DR-P | FUJI X WEEKLY

The Curious Case of D-Range Priority Auto

*Fujifilm GFX100S II – PRO Negative 160C except with D-Range Priority Auto*

Someone pointed out to me that D-Range Priority Auto behaves differently on his Fujifilm X-T5 than he thought it would. I don’t use D-Range Priority Auto all that often, and it’s been awhile since I’ve done any sort of serious testing with it, so I took the opportunity to see what’s going on. I was quite surprised by what I found.

D-Range Priority (abbreviated DR-P) was a feature first found on old Fujifilm EXR models (this was before X-Trans) that utilized pixel-binning, and it worked much different than the current iteration of it. The modern version of DR-P was introduced in 2018 with the X-H1 and X-T3, and is modeled after a feature called Hypertone found on Fujifilm’s Frontier scanners. DR-P is used in lieu of the Dynamic Range (DR) settings and the Tone Curve (Highlight and Shadow).

Like the DR settings, DR-P is ISO dependent. DR-P Weak requires the same minimum ISO as DR200, and DR-P Strong requires the same minimum ISO as DR400. DR-P Auto should work the same as DR-Auto, and seemingly it does, but upon closer review it is significantly divergent. At least it is now. The way it works has evolved over time, largely unnoticed.

Someone reported to me awhile back that they couldn’t get their X-T5 to choose DR-P Strong with DR-P Auto selected. With my X-Trans IV models, in DR-P Auto, the camera will almost always choose DR-P Weak, and only DR-P Strong in extreme high-contrast situations, with both bright highlights and deep shadows. The camera will do it, but not very often. I assumed that this person probably just hadn’t encountered the right situation where the camera would choose DR-P Strong. I can see now that my assumption was wrong.

Let’s backtrack a bit. D-Range Priority works a certain way on the X-H1 and X-T3/X-T30 (at least when the X-T30 was released and I tested DR-P on it back then …it might work differently today after firmware updates, I’m not certain). On those cameras, DR-P Auto will choose DR-P Weak most of the time, and DR-P Strong only in extreme situations. DR-P Weak is the same as DR200 with both Highlight and Shadow set to -1. In the set of three very identical images below, captured with a Fujifilm X-H1 this morning, one is DR-P Auto (which chose DR-P Weak), one is in-camera reprocessed as DR-P Weak, and one is in-camera reprocessed as DR200 with Highlight and Shadow both set to -1. They look exactly alike.

Now let’s fast forward a little. DR-P Auto works a little different on my Fujifilm X100V and X-E4, but not exactly as I remember it working, or as I expected it to. I’m not certain if the way it works changed after some firmware update, or if my memory of it is incorrect (it could go either way). Let’s take a look at a photograph that I captured today on my X-E4 using DR-P Auto, which chose DR-P Strong. I then reprocessed the image in-camera.

*Fujifilm X-E4 as shot in DR-P Auto, which selected DR-P Strong*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR-P Strong—surprisingly, it’s not the same.*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR-P Weak; it’s getting closer, but not identical.*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR200 + Highlight & Shadow set to -1; it’s divergent from all of the above images.*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR400 + Highlight & Shadow set to -2. This is identical to the as-shot photograph.*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR200 + Highlight & Shadow set to -2. This is identical to the reprocessed DR-P Weak image.*

On the X-H1, DR-P Auto is more straightforward than on the X-E4; on the X-E4, it did not behave as I expected it to. While I could get it to choose DR-P Strong, it didn’t actually create a DR-P Strong image, or even a DR-P Weak image; instead, it created an image identical to DR400 with Highlight and Shadow set to -2 (“DR-P Medium”?). DR-P Weak is the same as DR200 with Highlight and Shadow set to -2; however, on the X-H1, DR-P Weak is identical to DR200 with Highlight and Shadow set to -1. Clear as mud?

Now let’s look at the newer cameras. On X-Trans V, as well as the latest GFX, it works even differently. Check out this set of photographs:

*Fujifilm GFX100S II as shot in DR-P Auto, which selected DR-P Weak*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR200 + Highlight & Shadow set to -1. It’s identical to the above photograph*.

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR-P Weak*.

As you can see, the camera is not using DR-P Weak when in DR-P Auto. Like the X-H1, it is using DR200 with Highlight and Shadow set to -1; however, unlike the X-H1, DR-P Weak is not the same as DR200 with Highlight and Shadow set to -1. On the newer models, DR-P Auto is actually “DR-P Extra Weak” (if such a setting existed, which incidentally is the same as DR-P Weak on the X-H1). DR-P Weak is actually more like DR200 with Highlight set to -2 and Shadow set to -3 (if such a setting existed—in other words, it can’t really be replicated). Also, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get my X-T5 or GFX100S II cameras to choose DR-P Strong when in DR-P Auto; only DR-P Weak (except that the picture is “DR-P Extra Weak” instead of DR-P Weak).

*Fujifilm GFX100S II shot with DR-P Strong and in-camera reprocessed to DR-P Weak*

*Same image, except reprocessed in-camera using DR400 + Highlight & Shadow set to -2*. This is the closest I could get the shadows, but the highlights are divergent.

So what is the practical application of this? Since we know on the newer models—X-Trans V and the latest GFX—that the picture you get using DR-P Auto is the same as DR200 with Highlight and Shadow set to -1, you can replace any Film Simulation Recipe that calls for those settings (such as PRO Negative 160C) with DR-P Auto. There isn’t necessarily a practical advantage to doing that, except if you accidentally overexpose the frame, you can recover it by reprocessing the file in-camera with DR-P Weak. Below is an example of that:

*Fujifilm GFX100S II as shot in DR-P Auto*, overexposed

*Same image, simply reprocessed in-camera with DR-P Weak with no other adjustments*

I’m not really sure how to conclude this other than to say that D-Range Priority Auto works differently depending on what generation of camera you have. DR-P Weak and DR-P Strong are also a little divergent. I reached out to Anders Lindborg to ask his opinion and see if he had any insights on DR-P Auto, since he’s researched this topic pretty extensively. “The answer is actually in the manual,” he told me. “It says, ‘When an option other than Off is selected, Highlight Tone, Shadow Tone, and Dynamic Range will be adjusted automatically.'” On the newest models, that means Highlight and Shadow both set to -1 and Dynamic Range set to DR200 …and nothing else, unless you reprocess as DR-P Weak. Unfortunately, if you want to shoot with DR-P Weak or DR-P Strong straight-out-of-camera, then don’t use DR-P Auto. I suppose you could look at this way: DR-P Auto is actually DR-P Weak, DR-P Weak is actually DR-P Medium, and DR-P Strong is still DR-P Strong. I hope this somehow clears things up for those confused by it.

Below are a few pictures I created in preparation for this article, using my Fujifilm GFX100S II with the PRO Negative 160C Recipe (except for DR-P Auto in lieu of the DR and Tone Curve settings).

*Fujifilm GFX100S II + Fujinon GF 80mm f/1.7*

D-Range Priority: What it is + How, When & Why to use it

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Ritchie Roesch

*Yellow Aspen Forest* – Flagstaff, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Kodak Portra 160 v2 – DR-P Auto

Fujifilm introduced a feature called D-Range Priority (abbreviated DR-P) on the Fujifilm X-T3 in late-2018. Except that’s not entirely true, as the history of DR-P goes back much further than that. You see, Fujifilm EXR cameras, which were before X-Trans and utilized pixel-binning, also had something called D-Range Priority. Oh, and on their Frontier scanners, Fujifilm had something nearly identical to DR-P called Hypertone. The origins of DR-P seem to be found somewhere in the 1990’s.

My first camera that had D-Range Priority—a Fujifilm X-T30—arrived at my doorstep in early-2019, but I haven’t utilized the feature all that much, only sparingly. I get questions about it fairly regularly, particularly after I publish a Film Simulation Recipe that uses it, so I thought I’d take a moment and explain what DR-P is, plus how, when, and why to use it.

Let’s go back to Fujifilm’s Frontier scanners, which were common in photo labs in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Fujifilm modeled their film simulations—at least in part—after scans of films with corrections applied. Those scans were likely from Frontier scanners, and one of the corrections that Fujifilm recommended was Hypertone set to Auto. One limitation of digital camera sensors compared to color negative film is dynamic range. Negative film often has a larger dynamic range than digital cameras (especially in the early days of digital). Film tends to be more forgiving to overexposure (highlights), where digital tends to be more forgiving to underexposure (shadows). Hypertone was a software trick to maximize dynamic range so that it would digitally render more similarly to printed film on Fujicolor paper. D-Range Priority is a trick to achieve a dynamic range more similar to Frontier film scans that had Hypertone enabled.

*Arizona Barn* – Sedona, Arizona – Fujifilm X-T5 – Vibrant Arizona – DR-P Strong

Which answers the question of why to use it. D-Range Priority maximizes dynamic range, so as to keep highlights and shadows in check, but especially highlights. It’s more difficult to blow out highlights when you use DR-P. If you want to have the greatest dynamic range so as to avoid clipped highlights and blocked-up shadows, this is your best tool.

A few notes. First, like the regular Dynamic Range options (you know, DR100, DR200, DR400, and DR-Auto), D-Range Priority is ISO dependent. In this regard, DR-P Weak is like using DR200, and DR-P Strong is like using DR400. D-Range Priority is used in lieu of the Dynamic Range settings, so you cannot choose (for example) both DR200 and DR-P Weak simultaneously, only one or the other. Also, D-Range Priority disables the Tone Curve, so you cannot select a Highlight and Shadow setting. When enabled, DR-P is the Tone Curve. Interestingly, DR400 with both Highlight and Shadow set to -2 produces similar results to DR-P Weak. DR-P Auto chooses DR-P Weak almost always, and only selects DR-P Strong when there is a very bright light source, like shooting directly at the sun. D-Range Priority Strong produces a very low-contrast image, while DR-P Weak is a little less flat, but is still low-contrast.

To choose D-Range Priority, within the IQ section of the camera’s main Menu find D-Range Priority and select Auto, Strong, or Weak. Normally, D-Range Priority is set to Off. You only enable it when you want to use it. You can also choose D-Range Priority within Edit/Save Custom Presets, and have it enabled on any of your C1-C7 (or C1-C4, depending on your model) options.

*Dry Fountain Evening* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 – Expired Kodak Vision2 250D – DR-P Auto

There aren’t very many Recipes that utilize D-Range Priority, but there are some, included a couple that are popular right now. Vibrant Arizona uses DR-P Strong, as does Pulled Fujicolor Superia. Kodak Portra 160 v2 uses DR-P Auto, as do Expired Kodak Vision2 250D, Portra-Style, and Scanned Superia. There aren’t any that expressly use DR-P Weak, although you could enable DR-P Weak for the following Recipes and it will still render similarly: Fujicolor NPS 160 Pulled, Reala Ace, Bright Summer, Bright Kodak, and Indoor Angouleme.

To answer the when to use D-Range Priority question, it’s important to remember what DR-P does: produce a low-contrast picture that maximizes dynamic range to protect shadows and especially highlights. If you want punchy pictures, DR-P is not what you want to use (although in high contrast situations, you might still get dramatic results). If you want light pictures that might more closely resemble film scans (particularly from Frontier scanners), then DR-P is an option that you’ll want to consider.

While D-Range Priority is a fairly recent addition to X-Trans cameras—first introduced on X-Trans IV models—it turns out to have a much longer history. For years I assumed that D-Range Priority was for emergency use in extreme situations only, so I pretty much ignored it. I have since warmed up to DR-P, and I use it much more often than I used to. I still feel it’s probably not an option to utilize all of the time, but in the right situations or for a certain look, it works really well.

Fujifilm Frontier Scanners & Dynamic Range Priority

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Ritchie Roesch

I received an email earlier this week from Anders Lindborg with an interesting discovery he made. You might remember that Anders is the creator of the Kodak Tri-X 400 film simulation recipe, as well as the Fujicolor Pro 160NS and Fujicolor Pro 400H recipes, which are actually much more than just recipes—they’re a new way to approach using recipes on your Fujifilm camera. Needless to say, I was intrigued!

“After reading the information on Fujifilm’s subsites about how they develop their film simulations for the 999th time,” Anders wrote, “I had a small revelation. The base for the simulations are professional photos scanned with their Frontier scanner with corrections applied, so apparently that scanner plays a major role in the final look. I googled around for a bit and found a PDF version of the software manual for the Frontier SP-3000. Here are the really interesting parts:
1) The image settings in Fuji’s cameras are more or less exactly the same as those found in the image correction settings in their Frontier scanner software;
2) There is a correction called Hypertone that turns out to be exactly the same thing as the dreaded D-Range Priority (DR-P) modes;
3) A bit of further research revealed that almost all Fujifilm associated photo labs used the Frontier scanner since the early 90’s and the recommended method was fully automatic mode which included both white balancing as well as Hypertone—both on auto.”

After reading this, I dug around the internet for articles on Fujifilm’s Frontier SP-3000 scanner. I immediately recognized Fujifilm’s “color science” in the photographs I found. There was a distinct similarity between the images that I was seeing, which were scanned negatives, and the pictures from my Fujifilm X cameras. Another tidbit I found was a remark that negatives scanned using the Frontier scanner have a similar aesthetic to negatives printed on Fujicolor paper, which makes sense, because you’d want the digital images to closely match the prints. All of this is to say that, based on these discoveries, I believe Fujifilm’s JPEG programming is heavily influenced by their scanner technology, which was heavily influenced by their photographic paper. This was a surprise to me, although it shouldn’t have been because it is very logical.

The similarities between Hypertone and D-Range Priority are interesting. I’ve written a couple articles that discuss D-Range Priority (here and here), but I’ve always thought of it as a “use only in extreme circumstances” kind of feature, and not a particularly useful tool for everyday photography. But if it was commonly used by photo labs around the world (as Hypertone), maybe it should be more commonly used now (as DR-P)?

It’s one thing to theorize about these things, and a whole other thing to put it into practice, so I created two different “recipes” that utilize D-Range Priority (which I will share in future articles). I wanted to see if this feature could be left on for extended shooting and produce good results, or would the results be flat and uninteresting? Here are a few pictures captured with each recipe:

Recipe 1

*Tall Grass* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Peach Tree* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Summer Tree* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Arrow & Cones* – Sandy, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

Recipe 2

*Brownie on a Shelf* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*White Rose of Summer* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Last Red Rose* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Big Grass Leaves* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

*Suburban Reeds* – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

D-Range Priority Weak is very similar to using DR400 with Highlight and Shadow both set to -2. When you compare the highlights and shadows of pictures captured with D-Range Priority Weak and those captured with DR400 with Highlight and Shadow both set to -2, you’ll notice that they’re nearly identical. What is a little different—subtly different—are the mid-tones. Anders observed, “I noticed that DR-P, just like its predecessor Hypertone, also applies a slight mid-contrast boost.” There is an advantage to using D-Range Priority Weak over DR400 with Highlight and Shadow reduced to their lowest option, but it is subtle. Another note is that D-Range Priority Weak requires a minimum ISO of 320 while DR400 requires a minimum ISO of 640.

If you use D-Range Priority Auto, the camera will almost always select DR-P Weak, and only DR-P Strong if there is a bright light source, such as the sun, in the frame (like Big Grass Leaves above). D-Range Priority Strong produces a very flat image, and it only looks good if there is a lot of contrast in the scene. Anders noted that both Hypertone and DR-P can produce “weird” results if applied too strongly, but the camera seems to do a good job of knowing when to use which DR-P option. D-Range Priority Strong requires a minimum ISO of 640.

“You have to be really careful with the exposure compensation when using it,” Anders advised. “A bit too much or too little can quickly kill the whole photo. I tried to keep it at 0 most of the time and only use Fujis recommendations for correct exposure.” I found this to be true, too, and rarely needed to go beyond +1/3 or -1/3 exposure compensation.

D-Range Priority is only found in Fujifilm X-Trans IV cameras. Using D-Range Priority Weak or Auto seems to be an effective strategy; DR-P Strong is more useful in extreme circumstances. Those who created this feature (and the other JPEG options) were influenced by Frontier scanners, and the programmers likely intended D-Range Priority and White Balance to be set to Auto. Of course, there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to do anything, and I’m certainly not afraid of doing things outside-the-box (as you know). D-Range Priority is something that I shouldn’t have ignored so much, because it is more useful than I originally thought. I’ve created two film simulation recipes to take advantage of DR-P (and I’ll probably create more down the road), which I’ll publish very soon.

Thank you, Anders Lindborg, for making this discovery and sharing it with us!

Let me know in the comments which recipe—1 or 2—above you are most excited for.

Help Fuji X Weekly

Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There’s a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!

$2.00