diff --git a/modules/photo/include/opencv2/photo.hpp b/modules/photo/include/opencv2/photo.hpp
index 3d969124e7..c96c6a260c 100644
--- a/modules/photo/include/opencv2/photo.hpp
+++ b/modules/photo/include/opencv2/photo.hpp
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ public:
 @param exposure_weight well-exposedness measure weight
  */
 CV_EXPORTS_W Ptr<MergeMertens>
-createMergeMertens(float contrast_weight = 1.0f, float saturation_weight = 1.0f, float exposure_weight = 0.0f);
+createMergeMertens(float contrast_weight = 1.0f, float saturation_weight = 1.0f, float exposure_weight = 1.0f);
 
 /** @brief The resulting HDR image is calculated as weighted average of the exposures considering exposure
 values and camera response.