Not what I was expecting

First of all, as others have pointed out, you have to upgrade to the pro version to use RAW’s. That’s OK, but as has also been mentioned you cannot export from Lightroom or Photoshop.

I have been experimenting with HDR software for some time and have five or six programs. There are many caveats to HDR photography. First and foremost, does your scene require it. I use a spot meter to get an idea of exposure values. If you don’t have a wide range of EV’s in the shot, you don’t need HDR. Next, what range of exposure bracketing are you going to attempt. Remember, plus two EV or plus 3 EV may just burn out highlights. Low EV’s will create noise. You also need to look at movement in the shot. Some shots just don’t lend themselves to HDR because of ghosting. Finally, are you going for a realistic effect or do you want the otherworldly surrealism that HDR can produce.

I have used Photoshop, Lightroom, Canon Digital Photo Professional, HDR Efex Pro, Photomatix and now Aurora. They all have strengths, but Aurora is not the strongest contender of the group. It is easy to use, but the shots I did lost a lot of sharpness in fine details. I got the best results and most control with Photomatix.

Yes, Aurora is easier to use. Is it a “pro” application? Possibly not. I will give it more testing, but if you take the time and trouble to learn Photomatix, I think you will be happier with the results. Photomatix is harder to learn, but has much greater flexibility in preprocessing images for the final merge.

KO6JW about Aurora HDR