A couple questions for Nikon users

[PepperT]

I have a couple questions for Nikon DSLR users, I'm specifically looking at the D7100 and the D800. 1) When using live mode instead of the view finder is mirror automatically locked up or do I still need to set the camera to mirror lock up? 2) When using the bracketing feature do you have to depress the shutter release three times or just once to get the three exposures?. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
PepperT

[Polar01]

When using live, yes the mirror automatically moves up to get out of the way when you turn on live view. The question of bracketing can be interesting, if I am set up on a tripod is because I am usually using a slow shutter speed with low ISO, so I usually set the shutter release to single, however if I am hand holding and I know that the slowest speed is in the range that I can hand hold I set the shutter release to high speed. Lets say that the camera's bracketing is set for 3 shots, shutter release is high speed then I just depress the shutter and hold until the 3 frames are shot. As the camera was set to a 3 shot bracket it will only take the 3 shots.

Cheers: Allan

[Simon Garrett]

Just to clarify, D800 in single shot mode: you press the shutter 3 times if you have the shutter set to 3-shot bracket.
Rotate the control wheel top left from Single shot mode to Continuous (low-speed) or Continuous (high-speed) and you just hold the button down and it keeps going until all the shots in the bracket group have been taken.

[george013]

The D700 is 2 live view modes: handheld and tripod. I couldn't find those difference modes in the D800 manual. I would like to know if the D800 only has 1 mode based on contrast?

George

[Manfred M]

George - The D800 has two live view modes; one for still photos and one for video.

If you are asking about the focus in LiveView; then yes, the focus is solely contrast detect. Phase detect requires the mirror to be in the down position, and as Alan has explained, the mirror must be out of the way to use LiveView mode.

Pepper - on the D800, if you set the camera to burst mode and have set the number of bracketed shots and hold the shutter release done, the camera will fire off a burst of shots you have set and will then stop.

[george013]

George - The D800 has two live view modes; one for still photos and one for video.

If you are asking about the focus in LiveView; then yes, the focus is solely contrast detect. Phase detect requires the mirror to be in the down position, and as Alan has explained, the mirror must be out of the way to use LiveView mode.

Pepper - on the D800, if you set the camera to burst mode and have set the number of bracketed shots and hold the shutter release done, the camera will fire off a burst of shots you have set and will then stop.

I just was curious how the camera works in liveview.
The D700 has no video and 2 liveviews. The difference is that in handheld liveview a re-focusing is done when you take the shot. So 1) mirror up and curtains full open, 2) liveview, 3)manipulate the picture. When taking the picture 4) mirror down, 5) if in handheld mode the standard phase focussystem will be used, 6) mirror up, 7) curtains open, 8) mirror down..

What I understood of the D800 now, is that the refocusing is not done. But what about the extra mirror movement? Or is the liveview picture just written to card, or something like that.

George

[barrydoig]

I use a D7100. For bracketing, set the number of frames you want. For one at a time, you must press the button each time. Up to five overexposed, or up to three underexposed. If you want them in exact register, use a tripod. Set the controller on the top left of the camera to either Single, Continuous Low, or Continuous High. Then use either a remote release or use your time delay (on the same controller knob). When you press the button it will fire continuously for the number of frames you have set. Hope this helps. Barry from Down Under

[Manfred M]

I just was curious how the camera works in liveview.
The D700 has no video and 2 liveviews. The difference is that in handheld liveview a re-focusing is done when you take the shot. So 1) mirror up and curtains full open, 2) liveview, 3)manipulate the picture. When taking the picture 4) mirror down, 5) if in handheld mode the standard phase focussystem will be used, 6) mirror up, 7) curtains open, 8) mirror down..

What I understood of the D800 now, is that the refocusing is not done. But what about the extra mirror movement? Or is the liveview picture just written to card, or something like that.

George

George I rarely use LiveView view, so I'm not an expert with all its intricacies and often when I do, I'm doing critical focusing manually. I have my D800 in hand and checked things out just now by taking a few pictures to check things out..

So far as I can tell, the moment you select LiveView, the mirror moves into the up position. You then compose your image and let autofocus (contrast detect) make focus. The moment you depress the shutter release, the picture is taken and the mirror remains in the up position, so there is no mirror movement at all. It takes a while for the image to show up on the view screen.

If you are shooting in normal default mode, the camera is not ready to take the next shot until the image has been displayed and the camera will focus again. If you have separated the shutter release action from the focus action using back-button focus (which is the way I normally shoot), the focus stays locked. If you shoot in burst mode, the action is just as fast as in normal mode and the camera does not refocus between shots during the burst.

[Simon Garrett]

George I rarely use LiveView view...

Nor me, but for macro I find it very useful. In Liveview you can focus anywhere on the image, not just at the camera's normal phase-detect focus points, which are all towards the centre of the image. This is because Liveview uses contrast detect focusing, which doesn't rely on the auto-focus sensors. This is (for me) ideal for macro work, where focus-and-recompose may not be a good idea if the camera is on a tripod and I don't want to move anything, but want to check focus all over (and maybe use focus-stacking).

[george013]

Thus the extra mirror movement has gone. And there is no need anymore for mirror up to prevent camera shake.

I never use live view normally. But when I'm playing with macro or reproduction it's handy. It also eliminates eventually front or back focus.

George

[Harrie]

The extra in live view is, you can zoom in on the screen, to manual focus. This way you most of the time get a better focus. When you shoot the picture, the mirror stays up. In the D810, you even can use the electronic first curtain to reduce further shake from the shutter.