Quote Originally Posted by Benjamin
while getting "better" highlight detail one must trade off some other aspects, that's also why I have left this feature disabled all time...

Correct. That's why Canon includes "priority" in the name, because the features just prioritizes one thing (highlight headroom) over another (shadow noise). It doesn't actually increase dynamic range, it robs Peter (shadows) to pay Paul (highlights).


The way it works is by setting the ISO one setting lower than what's indicated (e.g. 200 -> 100) and increasing brightness with a curve (in-camera JPEG engine or DPP) to preserve highlights. You can do the same thing by using EC or changing the ISO yourself.


I only use HTP at ISO 3200 and above.