I have discussed about exposure compensation and bracketing previously where I talked about what is an exposure compensation, when to use it and what does bracketing means? Now lets talk about Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) feature and how to set controls for Nikon D90 to implement exposure bracketing.
Sometimes manually bracketing and taking multiple shots will be tedious job, that is the main reason we use Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) where the camera will take three shots automatically (provided you are in continuous shooting mode or burst shooting mode) when we press shutter release button once: one at the camera measured exposure, a second at a negative exposure compensation (usually -1/3 EV, Nikon D90 allows you to specify this value), and a third at a positive exposure compensation (usually +1/3 EV).
How to set Nikon D90 for AEB?
1. Press the Menu button on the left hand of your camera.
2. Navigate to your Custom Settings Menu (Pencil icon).
3. Go to e bracketing/flash menu, option e4 is for setting up Auto Bracketing with different options.
4. Set option according to your need. Automatic Exposure (AE) is what we are discussing here.
You can also set the order of how you want your camera to take photographs whether it is correct exposure, under exposure and over exposure or under exposure, correct exposure and over exposure. For that you have to go to e6 Bracketing order menu under e bracketing/flash menu and set the order you want. This doesn’t make any difference on exposure anyway. It is just the order of files.
Now the next step is to set the exposure value and number of frames you want. Nikon D90 allows you to shoot 2 frame over exposed and one correctly exposed (+2F), 2 frame under exposed and one correctly exposed (-2F) or traditional 3F (under exposed, correctly exposed and over exposed). So the maximum number of frames is 3 for Nikon D90. To do that press the BKT button on the left side of your camera just below the flash (where D90 logo is written). When you press BKT button, you will see option to set exposure value and number of frames. Now rotate the main command dial to change the number of frames whether it is +2F, -2F or 3F and use sub command dial to change how much you want to shift exposure value for under and over exposed photographs.
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Can you please create a video demo. My friend Jimmy Lo has a d90 and he is trying to take HDR photos but is unable to get this working properly as we have to manually take this photo each time. Jimmy cannot get the automatic photos working.
I have never done taking HDR from camera itself. The main idea is taking three photographs of same subject: one overexposed, one underexposed and one normal photographs. Then you have to use photo editing software like Adobe photoshop or photomatix to convert it into HDR combing all three differently exposed photographs.
I use AEB all the time and specially when I want to do HDR photography. It’s great feature. Thanks for sharing.
One of the mostly used technique I guess. I do it when I shoot outdoor. You never know what will happen with different lighting condition.
thanks for the great article..
I came across it while searching to see if it is possible to purposely set the camera to over-expose in P or Automode (D90)
Any idea?
Thanks in advance!
Program mode is almost like Auto mode. If you want different apertures or shutter speeds by rotating rear command dial, it gives you alternate combination of f/stops and shutter speeds which give the same exposure. Nikon calls this “Program Shift” mode. If you want to read more, please see Choosing Exposure Mode. . If you want to over-exposed photograph anyway, you can play with exposure compensation. Here is the link to get more info about Exposure Compensation.
So I’ve been reading about this all morning and can’t understand if I have to fire the shutter 3 times in a row. I expected to just press the shutter-release button once and have the camera automatically take three shots for me. I can do it on my own, of course, but want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Thanks.
Amber,
If you are shooting in Single shot mode, you have to press your shutter release button 3 times in a row to get 3 shots. Alternatively you can set your camera for continuous shooting mode and get three shots with single press of shutter release button.
Update: You have to keep holding shutter release button to get continuous shots in continuous shooting mode.
“maximum number of frames is 3 for Nikon D90″
I need more ,, waht I can do for that ?
If you need more than 3 frames with Nikon D90, you have to do it Manually. Set your camera into manual mode and over or underexpose your shot by increasing/decreasing Shutter speed or Aperture. Changing either Shutter speed or Aperture value by rotating dial three times (assuming your camera increments 1/3 stop exposure at a time) is one stop exposure.
“Amber,
If you are shooting in Single shot mode, you have to press your shutter release button 3 times in a row to get 3 shots. Alternatively you can set your camera for continuous shooting mode and get three shots with single press of shutter release button.”
i’m shooting on continuous H and i can’t get 3 shots from one click… when i hold the shutter for 3 shots, then i’ll get the 3 under, correct, and overexposed photos but with slight movement depending on the shutter speed…help
An,
That is correct. You have to keep holding shutter release button to get three shots continuously in a row. I am not sure if you are using Tripod or not. You can’t achieve continuous 4.5 fps always even in continuous H mode because it also depends on your light condition. If you have enough lights to get those faster frame per second and using Tripod ( I also prefer to use cable or wireless shutter release option to avoid movement of camera during shots which might be causing problem in your case), you should be fine. I am assuming you are using Nikon D90; other camera may have different frame per second rate.
I am not a professional photographer but I like photography very much.Its my hobby.I have Nikon D90 camera.I tried Auto Exposure Bracketing system as per your explanation.I have couple of issues to clarify.
1. When I set the camera as per your instruction will I be able to get the bracketed photograph automatically from the camera itself? If not do I have to take 3 shots and bracket it separately? If so what is the software to be use?
2.Once we set the camera for AEB how to go back to previous setting?
Thanks
Priyanka De Silva
Priyanka,
When you turn Auto Bracketing on, D90 automatically takes 3 shots (one correctly exposed, one under exposed and one overexposed) if you have select 3F while turning AEB on (which I have described clearly on last paragraph of my blog). You have to define the value of which you want to underexpose or overexpose by using front command dial (also called sub command dial). If you have set shooting mode into burst mode, by pressing shutter speed once, your camera takes 3 shots automatically by holding shutter release button once. Otherwise if it is set to single shot mode, you have to press shutter release button three times to take 3 bracketing shots.
To go back to previous setting, you simply have to BKT button and rotate main command dial (rear command dial) and set value to OF.
Hope it helps.
i have been using point and shoot and now i am ready to upgrade.
i have a number of questions.
a. shud i go for dslr or try mirrorless. my photography expert friend said ……dslr
b. i was disappointed to read that video shooting is not that good in dslr coz video continuous auto focus is a problem….and audio might catch the lens focusing noise.
c. now amongst dslr, i have to decide between d3200 and d5100. both cost same. difference is d3200 is 20% lighter in weight, has expeed 3, 24 mpixels, wifi, guide mode and so on, while d5100 is time tested, it has auto bracketing, screen tilts and adjusts and so on. which one to go for.
what am i looking for?
well….i was looking for a device to shoot both video and pics…..but after reading that videos wont be that great…..nw i am looking for nice pics…..i have a research mind….and i tend to like the idea of bracketing. this gives me more chances of getting the perfect shot coz i wud be getting 3 shots. now right here i wish to clarify…..is it dire necessity to have a tripod to shoot those 3 pics….i am told ….all 3 shud be taken without shaking camera….i wont use tripod……but i can try to keep hand stable. like i said…i did like the idea of having one over and under exposed shot. now the software that comes with the nikon….will it be enough to do the editing for final pic on laptop or will i have to purchase another software.
in real life…is bracketing done frequently…or no.
what i like in d3200 is light weight, guide mode and so on…..but i dont know…..if d5100 is technologically more advanced.
last thought…..d3200 is recently launched while d5100 is old and therefore d5200 is expected. but i guess it will be significantly more than d5200……may be it will be too costly for me. so lets stick to 700usd mark and decide between d3200 and d5100.
kindly guide.
thx
k
As your friend suggested, I will also take a side for DSLR because Nikon mirrorless camera is fairly new and I don’t have much experience with it and can’t say good or bad things about it but you can’t go wrong with either Nikon or Canon or other brand DSLRs. They are in the market for a while now and thoroughly tested.
Now lets talk about D3200 or D5100. For me and most photographers, pixel is not that big of issue once you get to certain limit like 12 or 16 (which allows you to make big enough print to hang on your wall). You shouldn’t consider pixel as a deciding factor while buying DSLR. I use Nikon D700 full frame body which has only 12 MP but cost around USD $2,600 (for body only). If you wait for next upcoming camera, you will end up waiting forever because they upgrade their camera every year (specially consumer level camera, also called DX or crop sensor camera). I have taken few shots with D5100 and it takes amazing shots and very happy with it. Personally, I suggest you something different than D5100 or D3200 and that is Nikon D90 or D7000 if you can spend couple hundreds more and you will not look for another camera for next couple years. D7000 could be little more expensive but you can get D90 for $845 (body only) on Amazon as of today and you can buy lens of your choice depending up on what would you do. But if you want to get either D3200 or D5100 in any case, I recommend getting D5100 over D3200 (I haven’t owned both of these devices though but I owned and used D90 for 2 years and gave me consistent result everytime).
Hope this help.
i tend to like the idea of bracketing. this gives me more chances of getting the perfect shot coz i wud be getting 3 shots. now right here i wish to clarify…..is it dire necessity to have a tripod to shoot those 3 pics….i am told ….all 3 shud be taken without shaking camera….i wont use tripod……but i can try to keep hand stable. like i said…i did like the idea of having one over and under exposed shot. now the software that comes with the nikon….will it be enough to do the editing for final pic on laptop or will i have to purchase another software.
in real life…is bracketing done frequently…or not.
kindly guide.
thx
k
Bracketing is very useful technique when you are not sure about your exposure and don’t want to miss the shot. But it is more popular in HDR photography where you combine multiple shots (underexposed, correctly exposed and overexposed) to create high dynamic range shot. If you are only concerned about exposure of the image, using tripod may not be necessary (provided your shutter speed is fast enough, usually more than 60th of sec) not to create a blurry image but in HDR photography, you have to use tripod to make sure that you got exactly same frame with different exposure so that software can align your pictures better while creating single (merged) shot out of multiple shots.
I believe the software that comes with Nikon is NX viewer and you may not be able to do much with it if you want to do heavy post processing. If you shoot JPEG, picasa will be good enough to process your photo but if you shoot in RAW format, you may need some advanced software like Nikon’s Capture NX2 or Adobe’s Lightroom or Apple’s Aperture. To be honest with you, I don’t use bracketing other than for HDR photography which is not usual for me. You might get this feature interesting but I doubt you will use that very often unless you are only interested in HDR photography.
If you have time, I suggest you to read one of my post about High Dynamic Range of colors where I have tried to illustrate how combining multiple shots increase quality of images and what dynamic range of colors mean to photography.
a. is handheld hdr photography a good idea.
b. which is most advanced dslr within 800 usd
c. shud i choose d3200 or d5100 as my 1st dslr.
a. Not a good idea (that doesn’t mean you can’t do it)
b. It is hard to answer for me because I am not technically familiar with all the brands in the market. All I can say is you can’t go wrong with any Nikon, Canon, Sony or other DSLR of that price range.
c. If budget is not a problem, I recommend getting D5100/D90 (or it’s upgraded version).
i am going for d5100.
what lens shud i get.
i just need for casual family pic taking.
will kit lens suffice?
For family pic, kit lens is fine for you. It does a great job. You also have choice not to buy kit lens and buy body only and buy pro lens (so that you can use same lens when you upgrade to pro body in future in case).
Happy shooting!