Bracketing??!! Not doing what I expected.

[T-Man]

If you are using Lightroom for your post processing, take one RAW shot, and create your under and over exposed versions as virtual copies in LR. This eliminates and slight movement too, especially when shooting hand held.

Yes, you can create 6 virtual copies (or 4 copies) of a single, properly exposed RAW shot, then change the exposure for each virtual copy in -1 or +1 increments before importing into Photomatix, and you will get the exact same result as individual bracketed shots AS LONG AS you have no blown highlights or shadows in any of the exposure-adjusted virtual copies. It's better to use the bracketed shots if possible, because you're more likely to retain more detail in the highlights of your most overexposed photo and the shadows of your most underexposed photo.

 

[Geoffc]

Still no go, just did a test in aperture priority mode

Sorry that didn't fix it. I've just tried my D800 and even consulted the manual and you appear to have a feature that shouldn't exist. I will be interested to see how this is fixed as I've been using Nikon DSLR bodies for years and I've never encountered this.

I have a few questions. First, when you dial the bracketing in, the LCD displays the range of + and - exposures on a scale. Does the scale on yours reflect what you're getting? Secondly, is auto ISO on! Thirdly, how do you explain that you had bracketed shots in manual mode as described in the first posts? What was changing for each step increase as shutter, aperture and normally ISO are locked in manual.


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[Marcel]

Are you certain that you're not looking at the "Flash" bracketing options instead of the camera's? From the description you gave in a previous post, I'm wondering what really could be wrong...I don't remember having to go into the menu to do bracketing (except to set-up the order of the bracketing).
Pleas don't give up and keep us posted.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

That does NOT magically increase the dynamic range of the camera. If it's pure black or white in the frame, it will still be pure black or white in the adjusted frames. You will not be able to pull out any details in either with this method. If the shadows are not pure black and the highlights are not completely blown out, then using this method is a waste of time as you then have the details in those areas that can be extracted with proper PP technique.

Thank you... The post you are referring to really had me going in circles trying to figure out how on earth that could possibly work. Glad to know the remaining shred of my sanity remains in tact. For now...

...

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Are you trying to do HDR bracketing with flash?
I do my bracketing in Aperture mode and while pressing on the bracket button, I adjust the number of frames and the exposure variations with the two command wheels. Is that what you've tried, or were you going through some menu?

Im not using a flash, this is all available light

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Hi, Kinte -- I do this a lot (except I use 5 shots instead of 7). Right off the top of my head, have you checked to make sure your default EV is set to "0?" If by chance you accidentally moved your EV to +3, your camera will treat the "+3" image as your MTR and you'll get the situation you describe. When I get home, I will check my menu settings to see what mine are set at and get back to you.

EV is set to 0

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Sorry that didn't fix it. I've just tried my D800 and even consulted the manual and you appear to have a feature that shouldn't exist. I will be interested to see how this is fixed as I've been using Nikon DSLR bodies for years and I've never encountered this.

I have a few questions. First, when you dial the bracketing in, the LCD displays the range of + and - exposures on a scale. Does the scale on yours reflect what you're getting? Secondly, is auto ISO on! Thirdly, how do you explain that you had bracketed shots in manual mode as described in the first posts? What was changing for each step increase as shutter, aperture and normally ISO are locked in manual.


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Yes the LCD displays the correct + and - exposures on the scale. What I am getting does not reflect what it shows on the scale. I am not getting any under exposed images, just over exposed. I generally like to keep my ISO around 100 but the day that I tried this, I manually set it to 400. When I couldn't get the bracketing to work correctly, I set my aperture and manually changed my shutter speed and took a photo every time I wanted to change the exposure. For instance if my aperture was at 8 and my shutter was at 100 for my "perfect" exposure, I would then change the shutter speed to 200, 400 then 800, then 50, 25, 13

 

[480sparky]

Yes the LCD displays the correct + and - exposures on the scale. What I am getting does not reflect what it shows on the scale. I am not getting any under exposed images, just over exposed. I generally like to keep my ISO around 100 but the day that I tried this, I manually set it to 400. When I couldn't get the bracketing to work correctly, I set my aperture and manually changed my shutter speed and took a photo every time I wanted to change the exposure. For instance if my aperture was at 8 and my shutter was at 100 for my "perfect" exposure, I would then change the shutter speed to 200, 400 then 800, then 50, 25, 13

Have you checked for Exposure Compensation?

 

[Marcel]

Is there any way your metering mode could accidentally have gone to "spot metering"? I remember a few weeks ago I had set my metering mode to "spot" to do some flash shooting and then I forgot to switch it back to "matrix" and I was getting a lot of overexposed shots since the spot the camera was measuring was black...

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Have you checked for Exposure Compensation?

yes it is 0

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Is there any way your metering mode could accidentally have gone to "spot metering"? I remember a few weeks ago I had set my metering mode to "spot" to do some flash shooting and then I forgot to switch it back to "matrix" and I was getting a lot of overexposed shots since the spot the camera was measuring was black...

Nope, set to matrix metering

 

[480sparky]

Post a few unedited samples.

 

[Geoffc]

Nope, set to matrix metering

If you're convinced you're doing everything right by the book, I suggest you do a two button factory reset and if it still doesn't work send it to Nikon as faulty as bracketing is pretty straight forward to setup and you results are not even something the manual suggests you can do if you wanted to.

 

[Kinte Taylor]

Post a few unedited samples.

Starting at 1/10 @f4 ISO 100 down to 6.0 sec @ f4 ISO 100 using the menu set bracketing, this was before I decided to change my ISO to 400

 

[480sparky]

So if you're shooting in manual, and this happens when you do a 7-frame bracket.......... what happens when you shoot just one frame at a 'correct' exposure? Does it come out properly exposed or is it 3 stops over?

 

[T-Man]

That is indeed weird, Kinte! I just checked my D800 and I have the same menu options selected as you, and the "under>MTR>over" bracketing sequence is working as it's supposed to for me. If you're in Aperture priority, your EV nominal value is set to "0", you're using matrix metering, and you have "under>MTR>over" selected in menu option e7, I can't think of anything that would cause the 3 stop shift you're seeing unless either your camera has faulty metering or you have a firmware bug. Are you certain you have the latest firmware update loaded? 480 brings up a good point in his post above... if you take a single shot at "0" EV, is it way over-exposed for what it should be at the ISO you're using? If so, then your camera isn't metering properly. If you're having these problems only when bracketing, then it sounds like a software issue to me. Either way, if you don't find a logical cause, then it needs to go back to Nikon.

 

[Kinte Taylor]

So if you're shooting in manual, and this happens when you do a 7-frame bracket.......... what happens when you shoot just one frame at a 'correct' exposure? Does it come out properly exposed or is it 3 stops over?

I get the correct exposure

 

[Kinte Taylor]

That is indeed weird, Kinte! I just checked my D800 and I have the same menu options selected as you, and the "under>MTR>over" bracketing sequence is working as it's supposed to for me. If you're in Aperture priority, your EV nominal value is set to "0", you're using matrix metering, and you have "under>MTR>over" selected in menu option e7, I can't think of anything that would cause the 3 stop shift you're seeing unless either your camera has faulty metering or you have a firmware bug. Are you certain you have the latest firmware update loaded? 480 brings up a good point in his post above... if you take a single shot at "0" EV, is it way over-exposed for what it should be at the ISO you're using? If so, then your camera isn't metering properly. If you're having these problems only when bracketing, then it sounds like a software issue to me. Either way, if you don't find a logical cause, then it needs to go back to Nikon.

Didnt new firmware just come out? I have not updated to that yet. I will be doing that today

 

[Kinte Taylor]

I think I got it!! Updated the firmware and found this nice instructional site http://www.lukezeme.com/tutorials/hdr-bracket-setup-for-nikon-d800-hdr-tutorial/


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[T-Man]

Good deal! So the problem is fixed now?

I've read the instructions on that site before, and as far as I can tell, the only difference between its recommended menu settings and those you were already using is how to setup the self-timer to work with bracketing. I don't think that has any effect on the exposure shift. I'm betting the firmware update is what fixed the problem.