Bracketing on the D200

[Fractal]

When you have the bracketing feature turned on in the D200, do you have to reacquire your auto exposure reading before each picture in the series? (If I'm photographing a sheep's face, and my initial auto exposure (through spot metering) reading was off of the sheep's white ears, do I have to return to spot meter off of the white ears before shot two and three?) Or does the D200 just remember what the first shot in the series was and you don't have to reacquire your composition each time?

[dcclark]

Bracketing is entirely based on your initial exposure. So, if you meter off of a sheep's face and get a shutter speed, aperture, and ISO -- then the bracketing will take one shot with those settings, one shot at some higher exposure, and one shot at some lower exposure (HOW much higher or lower is something you have to set when setting up bracketing).

Basically, the entire point of bracketing is to take several shots, each at a slight variation on one exposure. Totally changing the exposure before each of the bracketed shots would be ignoring the point of bracketing in the first place.

[Fractal]

What concerned me was after the first exposure, I'd see the shutter speed numbers change at the bottom of my viewfinder.

I have another question then: If you are two exposures into a bracketing shot and want to stop (i.e. reset), what does the D200 need? Turning the camera off then on? Turning bracketing off then on?

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by Fractal

What concerned me was after the first exposure, I'd see the shutter speed numbers change at the bottom of my viewfinder.

I have another question then: If you are two exposures into a bracketing shot and want to stop (i.e. reset), what does the D200 need? Turning the camera off then on? Turning bracketing off then on?

Yes, of course the shutter speed will change. The exposure changes for every shot -- that's the purpose of bracketing. But, the exposure changes in a predictable way. For example, if you did a 1-stop bracket, then you should have taken one photo at your correct exposure, 1 photo at half the shutter speed (but same aperture), and 1 photo at double the shutter speed (but same aperture).

I have no clue how to turn on/off the bracketing on the D200 -- but it's definitely in your manual.

[Fractal]

Sorry, I meant that when I would move the viewfinder to other areas in the scene, I'd see the shutter speed go up, down, and sideways. I wouldn't see it take one step down or one step up. I'd watch it fluctuate all over the place.

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by Fractal

Sorry, I meant that when I would move the viewfinder to other areas in the scene, I'd see the shutter speed go up, down, and sideways. I wouldn't see it take one step down or one step up. I'd watch it fluctuate all over the place.

OK... so when you move the camera around, the exposure changes. That's what it should do.

However, why are you moving the camera around, while bracketing? The idea of bracketing is to take the SAME photo of the SAME scene with several different exposures.

Maybe you are trying to do something specific here that I don't understand. Could you explain?

[Fractal]

I wouldn't have my lens set on manual focus so I would have to shift the composition to re-focus the frame (because where the final composition rested the focus point was somewhere I didn't want it to be).

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by Fractal

I wouldn't have my lens set on manual focus so I would have to shift the composition to re-focus the frame (because where the final composition rested the focus point was somewhere I didn't want it to be).

This is a very confusing statement. I assume you mean that you did the following:

1. Turn on bracketing,
2. Point at your desired subject and press the shutter button halfway down
3. Recompose to your desired composition
4. Take the photo

And when you do #3, the composition change also changes the exposure.

What you probably want is to use the Exposure Lock button -- press it when you initially point at your subject, to lock the exposure where it is. You may even be able to make your shutter button do this for you.

[Fractal]

Ahhhhhh...