If you use the self timer with Auto Bracketing, all the exposures will be taken with a single shutter press. The first image will be taken after the Self-timer delay in CSM C3. The Interval between shots in CSM C3 will be used for the rest of the shots. The CSM C3 Number of shots setting is ignored with Auto Bracketing. See page 136 in the English Nikon manual.

This allows for hands off HDR bracketing without a remoter shutter release.

A similar trick works with the D4, but on the D4 the Number of shots in CSM C3 must be greater than 1,

Thanks to Dennis on PlanetNikon for this trick. He mentioned it in comments about his new D4. I discovered it also works with a D800.

Note that neither Darrell Young (Digital Darrell) or Thom Hogan mention this in their D800 guides.

Gary in SE Michigan, USA. Co-organizer of the Southern Michigan Chapter
Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the camera.
D4, D800e, D300, D90, F6, FM3a (black), FM2n (chrome)
YashicaMat 124, Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5
My Nikonians Gallery & Our Chapter Gallery

Hi Gary,

I tried it but couldn't get it to work.

My settings:
BKT - 3F, 1.0
Release Mode - Self Timer
CSM c3 - Self timer delay 2s, Number of shots 1, Interval between shots 0.5s

When I press the shutter release I get the timer delay, then the first shot, then nothing. I have to press the shutter release again for each of the other 2 bracketing exposures.

What am I missing?

John

John...the only thing I notice right now just looking at your settings is I have the number of shots I want to take in CSM set to 5 not 1.(Try setting yours to 3 instead of 1) Will check my camera settings and see if I have anything else set different from you.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

On the D800 I found if you set the number of shots in C3 to anything above 1 then the number of shots set in Bracketing will fire properly.

Len

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I just tried it again. As you state the number of shots must be grater than 1. I selected 2 shots and it went completely through my 5 shot bracket sequence. I thought I tested at 1 last night, but apparently did not.

The greater than 1 requirement is specified in the D4 manual but the way I read the D800 manual is not necessary. Obviously the D800 manual is wrong, unless the requirement changed with a firmware update.

Gary in SE Michigan, USA. Co-organizer of the Southern Michigan Chapter
Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the camera.
D4, D800e, D300, D90, F6, FM3a (black), FM2n (chrome)
YashicaMat 124, Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5
My Nikonians Gallery & Our Chapter Gallery

I just set the number of shots in C3 to 2 and it worked on a 3 shot bracket as Len said. So apparently the no. of shots in C3 doesn't have to agree with the no. of shots in the bracket but it does have to be set greater than 1.

Thanks guys.

John

Hi Gary

There was a thread about this subject back on 23 Oct.; the OP
felt that there was a firmware glitch because the D800E had to
be set to at least 2 in order to trigger a bracket sequence.
The D7000 self-timer can be set to 1 shot and it will fire off a
complete bracket sequence.

Also, if you set your self timer to 5, for example, and set your bracket to 3 shots, the D800 will only fire off the 3 bracket shots and then stop.

Your D90 has this feature as well, however, the number of shots
set on the self-timer has to coincide with the number of bracket
shots you set.

I do not know if it is available on the D300/s, I couldn't find it
on the D700. Ciao.

Jim H.

I just tried it on my D90. It appears to work if the C3 number of shot value is equal to or greater than the number of bracket steps. On the D90, C3 does not have an interval and used the CL (continuous low) rate between bracket shots. I can't find any reference to this trick in the D90 manual.

The D300 does not have this ability, C3 does not have a number of shots setting either.

Others have responded that this trick works on the D7000 too. It looks like it started with the D90. I suspect it will work on a D600 as well. I don't know if it goes down to lower level cameras such as the D5200 as well.

Gary in SE Michigan, USA. Co-organizer of the Southern Michigan Chapter
Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the camera.
D4, D800e, D300, D90, F6, FM3a (black), FM2n (chrome)
YashicaMat 124, Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5
My Nikonians Gallery & Our Chapter Gallery

Hi fellow shooters,

thanks for posting, sounds promising, I will try this definitly out on D7000 and D600

Best
clickhans