We summarize our development of a low-cost instrument for the detection of fabrication errors in diffraction gratings. Our instrument applies a low-cost digital camera and high dynamic range (HDR) imaging in the focal plane of a lens to analyze light reflected by a diffraction grating. A dynamic range close to 10¹⁰ is achieved for a spatial frequency range that is relevant for types of errors that occur in the lithographic fabrication of gratings. We also describe a modification of the instrument in which a spatial filter is used to block the large fraction of light that does not carry information on fabrication errors. This “coronagraph” modification reduces measurement times by about an order of magnitude. A unique pseudologarithmic transformation is described for the visualization of wide range data that include zero or negative values, such as HDR images.