How to use bracketing?

I was trying to figure out how bracketing works last night. I think I made a mess of it.

Pressing & holding the bracket button enables me to set the number of shots & amount of exposure difference using the front & rear wheels. When I then framed a shot & pressed the shutter button, I expected the camera to take 3 shots in a row. It didn't.

What did I do wrong?

Is the dial set to single shot? IIRC it need to be either continuous slow or continuous high (Or you press the shutter release 3 times)

SteveH said:

Is the dial set to single shot? IIRC it need to be either continuous slow or continuous high (Or you press the shutter release 3 times)

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Yes, single shot. Do I hold down the bracket button all the time?

Gorf said:

Yes, single shot. Do I hold down the bracket button all the time?

Click to expand...

No you don't need the bracket button - You will see BKT or similar on the top LCD display to show bracketing is active. You do need to fire the shutter for each shot as if you are taking separate photos though - If you set the drive mode to continuous (High or low), it will take the set of shots and then stop, or you manually press the shutter button 3 times if set to single shot mode on the drive dial. When BKT is active, the camera will adjust exposure between shots as you set in the bracketing settings.

Thanks Steve

I did see the indicator in the top LCD, I'll try continuous.

ON the D7100, once you set the no of shots to bracket and the exp difference eg +1, +2 etc, you can then set the shutter release to continuos shots and hold the shutter release down and it will take the set no of shots. You need to hold your finger on the button as you would for a multi shot burst.
Alternatively, if you set the shutter release to timer and push the shutter button it will go thru the timer interval you have set and then take the no of bracketed shots set. This is great for longer exposures on a tripod and one I use a lot myself.

Of course, this is for the D7100 so maybe not quite the same on your D810

For best results, especially if you are using the set for HDR, use a tripod and either a remote release or the timer to make sure each shot is exactly identical.

Thank you both
@Vixen I tried holding down the shutter button (in single shot mode), but it just took the one shot.

In fact, this is the first annoyance I've found with the D810. Everything else seems to be well thought-out. I'd have thought that if a user set bracketing to 3 shots - that they therefore want the 3 shots & the camera should do it without having to set another switch.

On further testing & trawling through the menus its seems that the continuous must be set for the camera to take one shot after another. I can confirm that it does stop after the set number of shots. The bracketing does stay enabled until the bracket button is held down & the dial scrolled back to "0".

A poorly thought-through & inconsistent feature in my opinion, easily fixed in software. An additional menu option could provide for the bracketing option to reset on release (like the multiple exposure setting).

Bracketing is set to offer the photographer the ability to choose shutter modes. This makes sense because not everyone intends to use it for a handheld series. All the camera is doing is being set so the next N photos are being taken at the requested EV intervals. If you are in a bright area then Continuous High mode may be the most appropriate. If you are in the bowels of some abandoned factory with almost no light, a camera on a tripod with remote shutter release triggering a 2 stage shutter going mirror-up + release for each frame makes sense because you don't want any camera movement, even from turning the command dial to change shutter times.

Personally, I use Qc mode on both my D750 and D610 to further dampen vibrations from the mirror when doing handheld bracketing, but it does allow time for add'l camera movement.

Gorf said:

Thank you both
@Vixen I tried holding down the shutter button (in single shot mode), but it just took the one shot.

In fact, this is the first annoyance I've found with the D810. Everything else seems to be well thought-out. I'd have thought that if a user set bracketing to 3 shots - that they therefore want the 3 shots & the camera should do it without having to set another switch.

Click to expand...

I think all models are the same in that regard. It is because (I suspect) that photographers often consider it important to watch and time when the shutter occurs, to capture the moment they choose. It does seem like they could have offered a menu option for bracketing though, to be automatic shutter or not.

But there is much that is suspect about this feature. In the film days, when important, we often scattered a few shots at different exposures, with the hope that when we could finally see them, that maybe one of them was better usable.

But digital offers the convenient rear LCD display, and now we can simply look at the result, and simply knowingly adjust so the second shot is just right. We can get and verify exactly what we want, and don't have to rely on blind luck.

The camera remembers that you set it in Bracketing mode even when its been switched off. So don't forget to put it back to 0F or you will get a surprise the next time you use it.

wornish said:

The camera remembers that you set it in Bracketing mode even when its been switched off. So don't forget to put it back to 0F or you will get a surprise the next time you use it.

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Yes, I noticed that. A particularly poor "feature" I think.

Not really when you think about it they remember everything else that was set when switched off it just catches you out if you forget.