The Nikon D7000 HDR inquiry comes to me weekly so I’m going to address it right here and a work around to get past its limitations.
The D7000 only does 3aeb in camera with a max jump of 2EV between each frame. For creating commercial quality work, that is insufficient for many scenes. Many landscapes benefit greatly by capturing from -4 thru +4, preferably with only 1 EV jumps. The D200/D300/D300s/D2x/D3/D3s/D3x all bracket this much in camera using the 9aeb and maxing out the EV jumps to 1EV per step. The options are 1/3rd, 2/3rds or 1 full EV jump between each of those frames. Also, you don’t have to do a 9aeb, the cameras (which vary slightly) can do 2, 3, 5, 7 or 9 AEB (aeb= Automatic Exposure Bracketing).
A 9aeb using those cameras and using the full 1EV jumps between each frame will result in (-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4). When toning your HDR which was captured with that many shots, you’ll get less noise, less banding, reduced color saturation issues, and fewer hue shifts.
3aeb is only useful in about 20-30% of scenes I’ve encountered when shooting non-cloudy day landscapes. For shooting real estate and architectural interiors, 3aeb is completely insufficient… maybe 10% of interior scenes can be captured properly (hi quality toning) using 3aeb.
About 5-10% of landscapes need even more range captured such as a bracket covering -5 to +5 and for real estate interiors shot on sunny days, about 5-10% of scenes need even more than that range bracketed to fully capture all the highlights and some decent shadow data. These scenes are the ones where the sun is either in frame partially/fully in frame or reflections off of water/glass/metal in important parts of the frame with deep shadows in frame as well.
There has been some confusion about the Nikon D7000 -5 to +5 exposure compensation. That feature has nothing to do with automatic bracketing (directly), but it can be used in conjunction with AEB. For example… you can set exposure compensation to -1 and then when you setup AEB using Aperture Priority, then a 3aeb sequence with +/-2EV will shift by -1 (negative 1EV) for each shot taken. So instead of taking lets say a 3aeb at -2, 0, +2…. the AEB will be shifted by -1 EV per shot (off the base of how the camera metered the scene) and the resulting 3aeb would be taken at -3, -1, +1 (again, those numbers revolve around the way the camera metered THAT scene).
Exposure compensation is ignored in Manual mode. That should tell you everything about how it has nothing to do with AEB. AEB works in manual mode because instead of the camera’s metering system deciding the starting point, you determine it in manual mode. You are the metering system in M mode.
Now all that said, you can use exposure compensation in aperture priority mode to work your way through capturing more frames for a wide bracket. But it requires you to touch the camera a few times and it means you might risk moving the camera slightly and won’t be able to align the frames in post. Also, if lighting changes in the time it takes you to change exposure compensation then your frames in post might not all be exactly 1EV step apart. So this works best for sunny days where the sun is not shifting behind clouds.
This is what you could do to get a 9 frame bracket…
- Set up the AEB for 3aeb with 1EV steps.
- Set the shooting mode to continuous (use a wired/wireless shutter release if possible)
- Then start out by setting the exposure compensation to -3
- Fire off a bracket (the AEB will give you -4, -3, -2)
- Move exposure compensation to 0 (zero)
- Fire off a bracket (the AEB will give you -1, 0, +1)
- Move exposure compensation to +3
- Fire off a bracket (the AEB will give you +2, +3, +4)
Its a hack. Some cameras like Canon have C1, C2, C3 dial settings that allow you to do this with one little turn of the dial, I’ve not looked at the D7000 custom functions so there may be an easier way to program it.
In the end Nikon decided NOT to give the D7000 the 9aeb its more expensive cameras enjoy. Canon does the same thing. 3aeb is better than no-AEB, but 3aeb just …. well…. sucks.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
This limitation was one of the reasons I opted to try out the Pentax K-5. 5aeb and 2EV steps, not to mention the high DR I found out about in the chart in your earlier post.
Malcom, the K-5 is a step in the right direction and thumbs up to Pentax for stepping up with AEB settings. 5aeb is a big step over 3aeb. For interiors I never go more than 1EV jumps between shots so the K-5 wouldn’t work for me personally. It does cover the same ground as a 9aeb with 1EV jumps, but a 2EV jump from -4 to -2 leaves out a lot of highlight data. The tighter stops are not as useful in the slow shutter speeds (in 9aeb captures), but the extra frames to get highlight data are critical to pulling windows easily in post.
The Nikon D7000 and Pentax K-5 are both very capable cameras. Quality and dynamic range are getting better, but we are still nowhere close to where we need to be for shooting real estate to get rid of the post production blues. About 2-3 years from now I’m betting we see single captures capable of handling 80% of all dynamic range scenes.
Michael, I have the Canon 5D, so I understand the limitations of 3 AEB. Do you happen to know if any Canon models shoot 9 AEB, like NIkon?
Patrick,
None of the Canon models shoot 9aeb, but the 1D/1Ds bodies have a custom function that expands AEB to be able to do 7aeb and up to 3EV jumps between each frame if memory serves me correctly.
Nikon does 9aeb, but the max EV jump is 1EV per frame.
If Nikon allowed a slightly larger step between each of those 9 frames then it would tackle virtually every scene outdoors for me. If Nikon had a 1 and 1/3rd jump between each frame available in camera, then 9aeb would cover 99% of out door landscape scenes completely (for me).
Its the interior scenes that ruin even the 9aeb because you’ll have to tackle not just the exterior DRange, but the darker and separate interior DRange. That’s where 3aeb fails…. with most interior architectural scenes. And to recapture windows, door frames, reflections, etc… one needs tighter steps through the range.
Hence my mantra “3aeb sucks”.
For 50% of what I’d consider… garden variety scenes outdoors, 3aeb is sufficient for tonemapping. But that other half (usually the more dramatic dynamic range scenes) is where 3aeb fails to fully capture the full range of highlights/shadows.
There are better alternatives where you can get up to 15 AEBs and still use that Nikon D7000 or your approved Canon DSLR and your 15 AEBs can be anywhere from 1/3 of a stop to 3 stops. You choose.
I have been using this software with my D300 and now my D7000, most impressed and its a lot of fun to use as well.
It means i take my 10in netbook on assignments with me, but that’s half the fun.
http://www.breezesys.com/NKRemote/features.htm
Ross,
I don’t bring computers to shoots so I haven’t tested out that one out. Looks like it is $175.
The only one I’ve tested out is Smart Shooter which only costs $50 and supports both Canon and Nikons as well as running on both PCs and Macs:
http://www.hartcw.com/
Supported Cameras:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Canon 40D
Canon 50D
Canon 60D
Canon 450D
Canon 500D
Canon 550D
Canon 1000D
Canon Rebel XS
Canon Rebel XSi
Canon Rebel T1i
Canon Rebel T2i
Nikon D3
Nikon D3s
Nikon D3x
Nikon D40
Nikon D60
Nikon D80
Nikon D90
Nikon D200
Nikon D300
Nikon D300s
Nikon D700
Nikon D5000
Nikon D7000
It controls the camera as you’d expect and does Timelapse, HDR as well as HDR Timelapse, but I’m working with the developer to change settings of all of the above that I would use myself.
Instead of lugging a computer to a shoot have you tried the Promote remote? https://www.promotesystems.com/categories/All-Products/Remote-Controls/.
This is available from the manufacturer for $329 but is actually cheaper from some of the larger retailers, and is a lot smaller and more convenient to carry around than a PC.
John, if you go to their site you’ll notice it refers to my YouTube channel for the videos showing how to use it.
I’ve blogged about the promote control here on my site a half dozen times, but within other blog topics (such as last night’s post).
I’ve been using it since 2009. It’s very useful.
Can the Promote be used to do both HDR and time lapse at the same time? I’m using a Nikon D7000 and I’m exploring ways to control the camera for HDR time lapse and go beyond the 3 bracketed exposures …
Ryan, sorry for the delay. I’m a bit under the weather with the flu. To your question…
Yes, the promote control does HDR Timelapse. It combines the separate functions to allow you to do HDR Timelapse.
You can also of course just do either bracketing (for HDR) in HDR Mode or you can do Timelapse only.
You can even set a delay to get out of the way of the shot if need be.
The nice thing is that the promote allows you to do wacky (anything goes as long as your shutter can hit it) bracketing. So for example…
You could do a 4 frame bracket like… -4EV, -2EV, 0, +2EV, if you wanted to only take four shots and were more concerned about the highlights.
or…
You could take say…
An 13 shot bracket at 2/3rd EV jumps the whole way through if shooting a dungeon dark interior with sun blazing through the windows along the horizon.. thereby making sure you have everything you’d need in post.
Just remember to get the extra (optional) shutter release cable for your camera if you want to keep the FPS capture as high as your camera can handle. Otherwise the USB only connection is limited in speed a bit.
Thanks for this Michael! It was really helpful. I’m going to play with it now.
So with the dynamic range of the sensor on the D7000, would you go with the promote control with the D7000 or D300s alone? Seems like you’d have the best of both worlds with the pair.
Interesting article. I’ve only played around with 3 exposures because that’s all my camera does (Nikon D7000). I noticed that Trey Ratcliff uses the intervalometer to get all his exposures, but not exactly sure how he adjusts the EV between shots (he also has a D3S). I’ve tried some of these tethering solutions and they do work well, but just a pain once you decide to leave your house.
Michael, you’re awesome. It’s refreshing to see that there are people out there who don’t mind helping others. Thanks for the information.
Nice writeup. I have been shooting with the D7000 for 4 months or so now and for the most part love it. The exposure bracketing limitations have frustrated me a bit (I usually get by with 3 exposures, tweaking a bit in lightroom before sending to photomatix). I am currently at work until 6AM and plan on trying this out for tomorrow’s sunrise. Thanks for the tips!! I wish Nikon would have included more range… Oh well. I am waiting for the D800 to come out to upgrade to a full frame and hopefully the best camera on the market! Thanks!
Nikon AEB in Aperture priority mode doesn’t seem to hold when auto bracketing is turned on. I have a D5000 and it appears to work the same way as the 7000. I started by setting the camera in Aperture priority mode. However when I follow the directions using AEB & exposure compensation, I see the the fstop change…I set the f-stop at 4 and starting on the 5th shot the fstop changed to 3.5.