Page 144 of the manual says this (my emphasis)....

ADL Bracketing
In continuous low speed and continuous high speed modes, shooting
will pause after the number of shots specified in the bracketing
program have been taken. Shooting will resume the next time the
shutter-release button is pressed. In self-timer mode, the camera will
take the number of shots selected in Step 2 on page 141 each time the
shutter-release button is pressed, regardless of the option selected for
Custom Setting c3 (Self-timer) > Number of shots (p291); the interval
between shots is however controlled by Custom Setting c3 (Self-timer)
> Interval between shots. In other modes, one shot will be taken each
time the shutter-release button is pressed.

I should be able to take 3 ADL bracketed shots with one brief shutter button press (w/o holding the button down) when the release mode is set to Self-timer. And it shouldn't matter what number of shots the self-timer is set at.

Here's my settings:
-ADL Bracketing is set to 3F (that's 3 frames as stated in Step 2 page 141).
-c3 Self-timer is set to: Delay = 2s, Number of shots = 1, Interval between shots = 0.5s
-Release mode is set to Self-timer.

When I press the shutter only 1 shot is taken, then I have to press it again for the 2nd shot, and again for the 3rd.

The only way I can get all 3 shots taken with 1 brief shutter press is to set the Self-timer "Number of shots" to 3, even though the manual says it will take the number of ADL Bracketed shots regardless of the self-timer setting for number of shots.

Am I missing something about ADL Bracketing & Self-timer mode or is it not working as expected?

My camera has the current firmware A:1.00 / B: 1.01

Regards,
Frank

Bump!

See the blog "Stuck in Customs" for a tutorial on how to set the D 800 for this.

dgs

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Thanks dgs, but I found no tutorial there that addresses this particular issue with ADL Bracketing. Could you please supply a direct link?

The crux of the problem is that the manual says the camera will take the number of shots set for ADL Bracketing regardless of the number of shots set under the Self-timer menu. That is not entirely true.

Try this with your camera. Set ADL Bracketing to take 3, 4 or 5 shots. Set Self-timer to take only 2 shots. Press the shutter button once without holding it down. The camera will automatically fire all 3, 4 or 5 shots depending on the number of ADL brackets you chose. It essentially ignores the Self-timer setting for number of shots exactly as the manual indicates.

Now leave the ADL Bracketing setting where it is but set the Self-timer to 1 shot, and press the shutter button. The camera will take only 1 shot, and it will not advance to the 2nd ADL bracket even if you hold the button down. You must release the button after every shot in order to take the next bracket in the sequence.

So, is there a reason why camera correctly ignores the Self-timer setting when it's set to 2 or above, but doesn't ignore it when it's set to 1? If not, I suspect a firmware glitch.

I want to leave self-timer set to 1 shot because it's a very convenient way to avoid using my MC-30 cable release when I only need to take one shot. I should be able to toggle ADL Bracketing on/off simply by using the camera BKT control button, and without going into the menu system to adjust timer settings both before & after using ADL Bracketing if I'm to avoid taking duplicate shots once ADL Bracketing is turned off.

Regards,
Frank

Hi Frank

I tested my D8oo and it performs in the same manner as you describe.
I then did the same set up on my D7000 and it would take a whole
sequence of bracket shots with the the self timer set at 1. I tested
this with AE and ADL bracketing. The timer would also stop when it
filled a bracket sequence (i.e. 5 on timer, 3 on bracket) as per the manual.

I checked a couple of the D800 books that are out (Thom Hogan's, and
Darrell Young's) but I did not see any discussion about using the self timer
function to trigger a bracket sequence.

Firmware??

I am too tired to check to see what the Nikon manual for the D7000
says.


Jim H.

Hi Jim,

Thank you very much for going out of your way to test this for me with your D800 & D7000.

I downloaded the D7000 manual and the text on p115 is an exact match for the text from p144 in the D800 manual that I quoted in my first post.

I now have little doubt that this is in fact a firmware issue and have reported it to Nikon support.

Thanks again,
Frank