bracketing 7-9 images vs. 3

[theregoesjb]

Does braceting upwards of 7 or 9 images improve the end quality that much more over doing just 3? Whenever I do an HDR i bracket 3 images usually +/- 2 stops, maybe a little less depending. Mostly because my canon t2i will auto bracket 3 shots.. And i dont really feel like theres much dynamic range left to get for most pics outside of 3 exposures.

When you merge 7 or 9 images, what do you use? (photomatix/photoshop?)

Does anyone have a good comparison of an HDR done with 3 vs more (5,7,9) to show noticeable improvements?

 

[480sparky]

I don't shoot a set number of frames. I shoot what the scene dictates. I meter and shoot for the highlights, then the shadows, and take a frame for every stop in between. If it takes 4, or 5, or 8, or 13.....

 

[KmH]

Many new to doing HDR don't know about metering a scene to determine not only how many exposures are needed, but also what value each EV step should have.

Having some idea of the desired final result is also helpful.
EV steps don't have to be equal and the 0 EV step doesn't have to be in the middle of the range either.

In this HDR I wanted the foreground to stay dark. I didn't use the camera's auto bracketing feature and instead manually changed the shutter speed for each of the 5, 0.5 (1/2) EV exposure steps I made.
I had changed the camera's metering function from the default 1/3 (0.3) EV steps to the optional 1/2 EV steps.