BarbK Loc: Cinnaminson, NJ

I upgraded to the 5100 because the reviews said it had bracketing for HDR. I tried using it and nothing happened. The manual is of no help but the field guide I purchased for the camera says it will bracket 2 shots (not 3 like most HDR uses as a minimum) and process it in the camera. Does anyone have any experience with this? I have Photomatix so I could manually bracket but I was under the impression the camera would do it. Thanks in advance for any help.

MtnMan Loc: ID

The Nikon D5100 will make in-camera HDR shots. You have to tell it do so in the menu. It will do one image at a time. Your picture style has to be jpeg (i.e. not RAW) for it to work. When set it takes both images with one press of the shutter and computes the HDR automatically.

I'm not impressed with it's capability. My D800 has the same capability but I can set it to take multiple HDR images. I don't know why Nikon hasn't done a better job on this.

Bracketing is another matter. Please consult your manual on how to set it do that. It is generally best to be in Aperture priority for bracketing. You can bracket RAW images.

Another choice you have with your D5100 is Active D-Lighting. I always leave it on. It also only affects jpeg images, though, so I get little use from it nowadays. I think it does a better job than the in-camera HDR. I achieve a similar result with RAW images by punching up the shadows in Lightroom.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

You need to be in JPG mode, not RAW mode... then you set the HDR mode settings in the shooting menu, under the HDR selection.

I had a D5100 and HDR worked, it did not do a great job in my opinion, but yeah, it combined the two shots....

I think you can do better bracketing and merging manually or with Photomatix myself.

Just confirmed the D7100, my current camera, works the same way, with the same results in my opinion....

BarbK Loc: Cinnaminson, NJ

Thanks that helps. I was shooting JPEG & RAW when I tried it so that is the problem.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

From a post I did yesterday in response to a similar question. I agree with others here that using Photomatix with the 3 bracketed shots works best. Here's my details:

I do a lot of landscapes and cityscapes bracketed. I use single shot mode with a wireless remote on a tripod with a D5200, which takes 3 photos for each bracket. I also use autofocus to get the first shot lined up, then turn it off on the lens. This keeps the lens from hunting during each shot and speeds things up a lot. Make sure VR is off. I've gotten consistently sharper results since doing this. I'm also crazy enough to take handheld HDR brackets from the back of my bass boat when it is super calm. By turning off autofocus on the lens and using continuous shooting mode, I've done pretty well also. Hope this helps.

In addition to what I wrote yesterday, I shoot in RAW for my HDR shots to get the most dynamic range possible. You can really bring details out of shadows that would not be possible using JPG. Good luck.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

In addition to the other posts, shooting HDR with a Nikon in jpg is okay but I get better results by shooting bracketing in .nef (raw) and then combining them in an hdr software. I use Photoshop but there are several good ones out there including Photomatix. You can also shoot manually in the D5100 in raw and manually bracket which will give you the ability to have more than 3 shots to stack for your hdr. Just remember that shots showing motion may or probably will not come out well because of the motion. I have found that shooting seascapes in hdr works well because it tends to give a blur showing motion to the waves and breakers.. a building with cars at an intersection doesn't work so well.

sidney Loc: London.Eng.

Did you know that you can HDR with a single shot photo.
try it in Photomatix .of course it's always better with a
3/4 shots.

fjrwillie Loc: MA

I have a D5100 and take bracketed shots all the time. The base bracketing for a D5100 is 3 brackets at an EV interval from 1/3 to 2 EV.

So how do you do this. PG 88 of your manual has the instructions. On the back panel not in Live View select the I button, Move the cursor down to the item that say BKT. Select Use the dial to AE 0.3 or 0.7 or 1.0 up to 2.0 This sets the bracketing sequence.

Now go up to the menu item that say S. It is right under the ISO setting. Set it to continuous.

Set to Aperature mode. Aim Focus, shoot holding camera steady at some object or scene. The camera will shot 3 shots at the EV level you have set producing 3 frames at the EV level you set.

Note you can take JPG+RAW this way. It will produce 3 JPG's and 3 RAW files

Viola you have a 3 bracket sequence.

I use Photomatix Pro to do the HDR processing. If I use the RAW files I first convert to TIFF in Nikon's Raw processing software that came with your camera.

Hope this helps

Willie

Edited forget the in camera HDR, it is only jpg and will only bracket 2 frames. MPO

Endedit

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

I agree. I've tried to use HDR with my 5100. Hardly a noticeable difference. If I want HDR now, I'll use DCE Tools ReDynamix filter in PSE. It's a little grainier than I'd like, but some nice effects for pseudo HDR. Otherwise, I set the camera for 3 shots (bracketing) with different exposures.

BarbK Loc: Cinnaminson, NJ

Thanks everyone. I am saving these posts and will try it.
Barb