Scott Badger:
When imaging a faint object, or an object with a bright core and fainter outer areas, doesn't an increased dynamic range help with getting long enough exposures/high enough ISO for the object while not blowing out the stars or core? I realize taking images with different exoposures/ISO's and combining them using HDR also works in these situations.
Such extremely bright nebula cores are rare, they shouldn't be the priority when you are to establish a baseline workflow. When you really encounter such bright cores, just take a few additional shots at reduced exposure time. In my experience, only a handful of objects have such bright cores (M31, M42, M8, and a few small globular clusters). I don't always image such bright targets, and when I do, spending a few more minutes to take short exposures on their core isn't a problem. On the other hand, if you don't prioritize noise properties in your exposure strategy, you can be wasting hours of time every night. You can end up with spending 4 hours on a target but only reach a depth that's equivalent to just one hour of optimized exposure. Bright core vs. faint nebulas, which one is more important? I think the answer should be very obvious.
For me, somewhat moot anyhow since I'll trade some dynamic range to not have the banding issue.