Question: According to [DxO tests](http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Camera-Sensor-Ratings/%28type%29/usecase_landscape), cameras have 10 to 12 stops of dynamic range. Is that correct? Noise can completely screw some lowers values (easily resulting in loss of some stops).

Also [Norman Koren says](http://www.normankoren.com/digital_tonality.html) that a digital camera's original dynamic range can be 9 to 11 stops, but prints have "only" 6.5 stops.

In a section on dynamic range, Wikipedia says the human eye has a contrast ratio of around [6.5 stops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_eye#Dynamic_range). If that is the case, why is the human eye clearly much better than cameras to record scenes with high dynamic range?

Answer: 
This question cannot be standardized because the eye's dynamic range is always shifting to adjust to the intensity of light, not only by the ''human aperture'' but also with the brain's sensitivity to what the eye is looking at. It's like a camera with different processors, using the most sensitive to light when it wants and using the highest sensitivity to dark when it wants. I think the dynamic range of the eye is somewhere around 22 to 24 EV.

I have been intrigued by this question for a while now. Try to take a photo of a milk white exhibition stand with sheets of lightboxes from different angles without having to bracket for exposure and then bracket for white balance separately and then post-processing them later. It is physically impossible.

Just like the eye adjusts to white balance psychologically and that's why the term ''need a fresh eye'' that is because visual perception is also a factor.
The top answer here is the best, meanwhile there are several incorrect comments. The eye does not get its massive dynamic range because of eye movements and quick adjustments. Try the experiment where you keep your eyes fixed on a point, and with your eyes fixed note what you can see in your close peripheral vision in areas much brighter or darker. Try fixing on points of varying lightness to see that indeed pretty much everything that falls in the normal light levels is clearly visible to you. Since you are focused and fixed on one spot, eye movements cannot account for the fact you can still easily perceive light and dark objects in your near periphery. Take a picture with the very best cameras and this will not be remotely true.

Of course the sun and other bright sources are too bright when they are close to the center of your view, and going from bright indoor light into pitch dark is also too much. Based on comparisons with the very high dollar videos cameras used for sports, as well as high dollar digital cameras, the 24 stops figure is most likely correct.