How to bracket photos for HDR

[timo]

I would like to know how to SET bracketing to take 3-5 continuous exposures at different exposure settings ? I cannot find out how

Nikon D90
Cheers
T

[Colin Southern]

Hi Timo,

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but I would expect the camera to be able to do this for you. On a Canon you first have to set the camera for continuous drive mode and then tell it how far apart you want the stops.

For other Canon shooters, the 1D series cameras can be set to take 2, 3, 5, or 7 shots, but entry level and mid-range, only 3 as far as I know. There's also an "undocumented feature" on the 1D series that might apply to others in the series; If you're bracketing in manual mode, the custom function that swaps the functions of the index wheel & QCD (Quick Control Dial) also swaps whether the aperture or shutterspeed is varied when bracketing.

Hopefully other Nikon shooters might be able to help with more specific advice.

[crisscross]

There is a rather obscure section on it in my D80 manual, but you need to look in D90 manual as it will be different. It is worth downloading an electronic copy of the manual as well as the paper one to make searching easier.

I get the impression that for the D80 anyway, it does not do what other cameras have done, ie take exposures above & below measured optimum. If you are shooting nef, you already have at your disposal around ±0.5 EV 'exposure compensation' in either (free) Nikon View NX or in Capture NX2 with no impairment of quality; it can be stretched to ±2EV, but obviously with progressive deterioration of quality.

May I suggest an alternative approach? This is to shoot nef with best estimate EV, then in the playback window look at Histogram and Highlights (quick twist of either knob to toggle between). Then adjust settings accordingly. Shooting eg sunsets, stark whites, a small area of highlight is OK and can be dealt with in pp if necessary. (caution as twisting in wrong mode can cause unwanted changes to other settings)

[timo]

Thanks guys, i figured it out:

Press the bracket button and hold, then rotate the dial for how many exposures you want (max 3) and how far apart the stops should be (1/2, 1/3, or 1 eV/stop). Then you're set.

cheers
T