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03-19-2019, 11:47 AM   #1
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Exposure bracketing order

Is there any reason to choose any one bracketing order over another, other than personal preference?

03-19-2019, 11:56 AM - 1 Like   #2
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The only reason I can see for customizing the bracketing order is to possibly give priority to the middle, or "zero" exposure.

If for some reason precise timing of the shot ends up being important, then the first shot has the normal exposure, and the ones that follow are over and under.

If you are definitely shooting static scenes, then having the shots show up on your screen in a logical of darker to light, etc., may make more sense.
03-19-2019, 12:40 PM   #3
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What Ontarian50 says. But also this means the last shot you look at (to review it) is effectively customisable too.
It always seemed a bit of over kill having the order customisable but you can't guess how everyone uses their cameras.
03-19-2019, 02:57 PM   #4
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So. As I thought. Really user preferences. Thanks.

03-19-2019, 03:11 PM   #5
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I could see long exposure at sunset/rise might matter. Maybe go in the opposite direction? If it's getting brighter start bright before it can blow out, if it's getting darker start dark before it's too under exposed. Of course then you need custom non uniform brackets like -0.5 - +1.5 ev or every frame might end up with the same exposure as it shifts in equivalent measures as the light?
03-19-2019, 04:37 PM - 1 Like   #6
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There is some reason for caution when changing from the default using the custom menu settings on a Pentax dSLR, particularly if EV comp has been set. The EVs actually used in the sequence may vary significantly from expected and may include duplicates as an attempt at graceful fail-over for corner cases. I know it sounds lame, but this is where I admit to not remembering all the details except to say that it involved a problem thread a few years back.

As a simple example:
  • +1 stop EV comp
  • Five step bracket
  • Av mode with initial exposure settings f/2.8 @ 1/25s, fixed ISO
  • Bracket sequence set as "-0+" meaning -2, -1, 0, +1, +2
What would be the expected values for each of the four exposures?

Time's up! Here are the results, shutter speeds at f/2.8:
  • -2 1/50s
  • -1 1/25s <---
  • 0 1/13s
  • +1 1/6s
  • +3 1/3s
Note the arrow pointing at the original metered setting for +1 EV comp.
Most people expect a series starting at 1/100s and ending at 1/6s with 1/25s in the middle.
Removing the EV comp results in the expected sequence with 1/25s in the "0" slot. Going back to the default order ("0-+") results in the expected sequence of (0, -1, +1, -2 +2) as in the menu setting description even with EV comp. No this is not covered in the camera manual. On my K-3 (firmware v1.30) the camera provides a small clue as to its plan by shifting the EV bar display one stop to the right so that it appears off-center. It may not do the EV bar shift for all firmware versions or camera models. I don't remember this behavior from before my recent update.

ISO bracketing may also have surprises, for example if the metered bracket extends below the lowest available setting.


Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 03-19-2019 at 07:59 PM. Reason: Readability
03-19-2019, 07:02 PM   #7
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Thanks Steve.
I did a quick test and it is as you've pointed out. I'll need to experiment with it more, but I see there is more here than is obvious.
Some of the resulted exposures were very different from expected. The bar on the K1 does a shifting and the line above blinks that will start the sequence order, apparently a clue.
It's late, so project for tomorrow .

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