[wim]

    I thought that that was the point of high dynamic range, to be able to convert a high contrast image of 14 stops into a 6-7 stop print, so you can keep the detail and grading of 14 stops without the loss of contrast. (to taste)

 

  If it's not there to start with.....it's lost.

 

   I can't see any good argument for wanting to have less of it!

 

I said I do not need it. I'll likely never use it either, but that is just me. The thing is that the lowest levels in the DR range tend to be noisy anyway (although never too noisy for me unless shooting in very dark circumstances), or not entirely lossless in the case of, e.g., Nikon, who provide rather cleverly processed Raw files in this regard.

 

As to loss of contrast: the moment you increase contrast you lose DR, unless you do major burning and dodging, and even then you still do. You basically create a much steeper gamma curve, and it is a guarantee to lose original DR, because the curve will fit a few stops less. The most you can do is lower the gamma to such a degree, that those 14 and more stops fit within the DR of a monitor or print. When you do that, you either get contrastless images, or unreal looking ones (the HDR images I mentioned), or loss of contrast and DR.

 

Kind regards, Wim