[Roaming]

Bracketing
I recently did a trip where bracketing did not work as expected. The expectation was that in Manual mode ISO and Aperture would stay the same, and only shutter would change. This is, I am told what Nikon and Canon do.
In this trip we were striving to use F16 ISO 100 only, but the Camera did not like this idea.

Question
How do I do bracketing so only shutter speed changes.
What are the advantages of the current configuration and how do I best utilize it.

More info in attachment for clarity, and yes definitely a newbi

thanks in advance
Andrew

Attached Files

Bracketing.docx (65.0 KB, 38 views)

[pschlute]

Bracketing
I recently did a trip where bracketing did not work as expected. The expectation was that in Manual mode ISO and Aperture would stay the same, and only shutter would change. This is, I am told what Nikon and Canon do.
In this trip we were striving to use F16 ISO 100 only, but the Camera did not like this idea.

Question
How do I do bracketing so only shutter speed changes.
What are the advantages of the current configuration and how do I best utilize it.

More info in attachment for clarity, and yes definitely a newbi

thanks in advance
Andrew

Yeah it is not documented very well in the manual, but here is how you do it.

In the menu (Rec menu item 5) set the action for the Green button in manual mode to Tv shift. This means that when in manual mode the green button will change only the shutter speed to give you a metered exposue setting. It also means that in bracketing mode only the shutter speed changes.


ps...I am old school and my method would be to adjust the shutter speed manually by turning the front e-dial to achieve my bracketed shots. I find that quicker than changing the shooting mode from single shot to bracketing. But all options are there.

[stevebrot]

Question
How do I do bracketing so only shutter speed changes.
What are the advantages of the current configuration and how do I best utilize it.

The default is to use the program line, though I don't have a clue how that would work out in M mode for bracketing.

My K-3 is set for Tv shift.


Steve

[madbrain]

The default is to use the program line, though I don't have a clue how that would work out in M mode for bracketing.

My K-3 is set for Tv shift.


Steve

Just tried in M mode, K-1 does aperture bracketing. Don't know why bracketing works at all in M mode. Manual and bracketing would seem contradictory. I guess Pentax had to choose some sort of default rather than reset the drive mode when setting the camera to M mode.

To force the camera to do only shutter speed bracketing, one way is to set it in Av mode, choose an aperture, and choose an ISO (disable auto-ISO, using ISO + rear dial). Then, the camera can only change the shutter speed when bracketing.

You can also use P mode and do the same operations, but be sure not to touch the front dial (shutter speed), otherwise the camera will do aperture bracketing instead.

If you want to reset ISO, use ISO + green button. This is one of the least intuitive things on Pentax cameras, IMO. You cannot set auto-ISO when setting the top custom function dial to ISO, and using the top value dial.

If you use a P-TTL flash, all bets are off. Bracketing will then be done only with flash exposure compensation. And the flash may not even have time to recharge. Bug in the camera, IMO.

[Roaming]

Just tried in M mode, K-1 does aperture bracketing. Don't know why bracketing works at all in M mode. Manual and bracketing would seem contradictory. I guess Pentax had to choose some sort of default rather than reset the drive mode when setting the camera to M mode.

To force the camera to do only shutter speed bracketing, one way is to set it in Av mode, choose an aperture, and choose an ISO (disable auto-ISO, using ISO + rear dial). Then, the camera can only change the shutter speed when bracketing.

You can also use P mode and do the same operations, but be sure not to touch the front dial (shutter speed), otherwise the camera will do aperture bracketing instead.

If you want to reset ISO, use ISO + green button. This is one of the least intuitive things on Pentax cameras, IMO. You cannot set auto-ISO when setting the top custom function dial to ISO, and using the top value dial.

If you use a P-TTL flash, all bets are off. Bracketing will then be done only with flash exposure compensation. And the flash may not even have time to recharge. Bug in the camera, IMO.

Thanks that worked, and makes more sense to me:
Set AV Mode
Set ISO using two circular dials
Adjust EV to center

About to dive into Light Room , If using M and aperture bracketing, what are the pros & cons of the two processes Shutter bracketing vs Aperture bracketing

[madbrain]

Thanks that worked, and makes more sense to me:
Set AV Mode
Set ISO using two circular dials
Adjust EV to center

About to dive into Light Room , If using M and aperture bracketing, what are the pros & cons of the two processes Shutter bracketing vs Aperture bracketing

You can do aperture bracketing with Tv mode also. Just set your shutter speed, and set ISO manually, and the camera will do aperture bracketing.
Or use P mode and set the shutter speed and ISO, making sure not to touch the front dial (aperture).

Aperture bracketing lets you vary the depth of field. That may be useful, especially if your lens/camera isn't quite in focus at the "normal" depth of field. With smaller aperture comes more depth of field, and your subject may be focus at those, but not at the widest aperture (s).

Not quite certain why one would use shutter speed bracketing. Might help for certain subjects like waterfalls if you want to experiment with freezing motions differently.

[stevebrot]

Not quite certain why one would use shutter speed bracketing.

Remember...this is automated exposure bracketing. Bracketing in Av mode provides several different exposures at different shutter speeds allowing one to keep the aperture fixed.


Steve

[jatrax]

Not quite certain why one would use shutter speed bracketing.

Exposure bracketing with aperture and ISO fixed would be the basis for any exposure blending or HDR technique. I always bracket sunrise / sunset shots and actually any shot with a lot of dynamic range. I use bracketing in AV mode but manually changing the shutter speed in M mode also works. In M mode you would set your base exposure then shoot -2, -4, +2, +4. Or whatever combo is needed. In Av you just set to exposure bracketing, set the number of shots and the stops between them and the camera does the rest all in one go. I prefer that as it eliminates possible movement caused by touching the camera to manually change the shutter speed.

[madbrain]

Remember...this is automated exposure bracketing. Bracketing in Av mode provides several different exposures at different shutter speeds allowing one to keep the aperture fixed.

Yes, isn't it what I wrote ?

All bracketing on Pentax DSLRs is exposure bracketing, AFAIK. No focus bracketing is possible.

[stevebrot]

Yes, isn't it what I wrote ?

You wrote about shutter speed bracketing to evaluate motion blur. Doing exposure bracketing in Av mode might allow that as a side-effect, but nobody would do it as the primary purpose.


Steve

[madbrain]

You wrote about shutter speed bracketing to evaluate motion blur. Doing exposure bracketing in Av mode might allow that as a side-effect, but nobody would do it as the primary purpose.

I don't know, seems logical to me. What else would you shutter speed bracketing for ?

If you strictly want exposure bracketing without affecting motion blur or DOF, you could do ISO bracketing instead, using TAv mode.

[stevebrot]

I don't know, seems logical to me. What else would you shutter speed bracketing for ?

Answer: To make this shot...three stop bracket over five exposures, merged using HDRMerge.



That said, the traditional reason is to allow a choice between several identical compositions to pick the one with the best exposure. When a user is advised to bracket exposure on this site, that is usually the intent.

As for bracketing with ISO...use whatever works...

Note: The metered exposure for the above capture (f/8, 1/1600s @ ISO 200) was clipped for both highlights and shadow. ETTR would have left the shadows unrecoverable, hence the merged bracket. Av mode because there was plenty of wiggle room for stopping the motion of grass in the breeze and I didn't want to go to f/11. It was easy and fast and required little thought in the field.


Steve

[madbrain]

Answer: To make this shot...three stop bracket over five exposures, merged using HDRMerge.

Nice. But you could have used ISO bracketing for them too, couldn't you ?

That said, the traditional reason is to allow a choice between several identical compositions to pick the one with the best exposure. When a user is advised to bracket exposure on this site, that is usually the intent.

Yes, I can see that, but there are many ways to do exposure bracketing. You can bracket with 1 or 2 variables. Not sure if you can bracket with all 3. Maybe in green mode.

[stevebrot]

Nice. But you could have used ISO bracketing for them too, couldn't you ?

Why? I want consistent sensor behavior between shots in the series.

However...if it works for you...


Steve

[pschlute]

All bracketing on Pentax DSLRs is exposure bracketing, AFAIK

I think the KP was the first Pentax DSLR to introduce "aperture bracketing". The aperture will change for your series of shots but the exposure will be maintained constant by the shutter speed/ISO changing too. I personally would never use it, I do aperture bracketing all the time when I shoot in Av mode, I just use the thumb-wheel to make the changes . I guess it could have its uses if firing the camera remotely.