I have been reading the forum and the reviews here at DPReview for many years but never posted anything in the Forum. I realize that this thread is fairly old, July of last year, but davexl's post was the first hit from Google that was easily understood by me, and that worked well. Thanks davexl ! I was so frustrated with bracketing until I read your post.
I did find that there were a few critical steps (at least for me) in davexl's post that were not addressed, so I figured that if this thread was the first hit for me, it might be for others, thus my very first comment on DPReview, in hopes of helping out the next google stumbler.
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davexl's original post with my added comments in
BOLD. I couldn't see a way to make them in color:
There is a much better method for when you forget your remote - at the cost of a bit of battery power to run Live view:
- Configure Self timer for 2s delay, 3 or 5 shots, at half second intervals
- Set bracketing to match 3 or 5 shots etc.
- Set Self Timer mode on dial
- Focus the shot then turn off auto focus (set to manual) using the lever near the lens release button. If you leave it on, depending on your camera settings it may try to refocus with each following bracket shot, slowing down the process and possibly shifting focus from your original setting.
- Enter live view (to enable mirror up)
- You can focus here using Live View rather than in step 4 if you wish but you still need to turn off Auto Focus when ready to shoot the bracket string.
- Press shutter button.
- If you are done with the bracketing setup, return the lever to Auto Focus if you want to use that feature in the next shot.
That is 4.5 seconds for 3 shots at 2 fps with one shutter press. (half of which is initial delay for vibration to settle)
Method with remote:
- Set bracketing to match 3 or 5 shots etc.
- Set Continous shooting mode, High
- With some remotes (wireless particularly) you must set your remote to bulb for this to work, otherwise it will only make one exposure in your bracket set.
- Focus the shot then turn off auto focus (set to manual) using the lever near the lens release button. If you leave it on, depending on your camera settings it may try to refocus with each of the following bracket shots, slowing down the process and possibly shifting focus from your original setting.
- Enter live view (to enable mirror up)
- You can focus here using Live View rather than in step 4 if you wish but you still need to turn off Auto Focus when ready to shoot the bracket string.
- Press and hold remote shutter release, it will stop at end of sequence
- With some remotes when set to bulb (mostly wireless ones) you must release then press the button again once the bracket sequence is done, otherwise it will just hang there without returning to live view or showing your shot previews. Also be sure that you DO NOT press the remote release button again until the entire bracket string is done, or it will stop firing mid sequence.
- If you are done with the bracketing setup, return the lever to Auto Focus if you want to use that feature in the next shot.
Instant Bang bang bang bang bang at 4-6fps.
------------------------------ my comments below
This is a fairly complicated process but it does work well. With some practice it becomes instinctive. I would prefer a "permanent" mirror up option on the D800 where the mirror doesn't drop after each shot, without having to go to Live View, but as far as I know that is impossible.
A wired release is a much easier to use for this since you don't need to change it to the Bulb position but I prefer not having a wire flapping in the wind, as I shoot outdoors mostly and it can really get the camera shaking sometimes.
I found that bracketing with very slow shutter speeds using this method does induce quite a bit of vibration that gets worse as the sequence continues, despite the fact that the mirror is up. Shot 9 in a sequence slow shutter speed will be visibly more blurred due to camera shake than shot 1. This is more pronounced with light weight heads / tripods or if you have the center column extended. If you are shooting very slow speeds I would recommend not using this technique. Use Mirror Up and the release, allowing the camera to settle down for whatever time frame is required with your setup, (mine is 15 seconds from Mirror Up with my 400mm before it is totally still) rather than firing the entire bracket sequence at once which will definitely impact your last few shots in a long string.
