How to Take an HDR Photo with a Nikon D50 or Similar Digital SLR Camera (Video)
Thu, Sep 27, 2007
This is my first instructional photography video, so please excuse the camera shake. In this video, I’m showing you how to setup your camera to take the 3 differently exposed shots you will need to create an HDR photo.
In the video the steps are:
Set the dial to “P” “A” (aperture priority - per Helmut’s comment)
Go to “Menu”, Settings (pencil on the left), and scroll down to #12 (BKT Set), press the dial right, Go down to AE & Flash, press the dial right, Select 2.0 Step, and press the dial right “OK”.
Now you will see a BKT setting on your top LCD panel that looks like this:
Take 3 photos (each little black bar disappears once you take them in turn). Voila - you have the photos you need for your HDR.
The 3 consecutive photos taken from the shot in the video are here:
Each one is taken with a different exposure setting - the EV Steps. Once you combine them all in HDR processing software (I use Photomatix) and tweak the settings, the resulting photo should look like this:
Maybe next time I’ll take a photo of something more exciting than some garbage cans and a driveway 
Tags: bracketing, d50, HDR, high dynamic range, nikon, tutorial, video
November 15th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Hi, That’s a very nice pic of the garbage
I just looked up Photomatix in Google and the first thing that came up was your Aug 10th post about the discount. Does this still apply? I’m hoping to get it for my birthday
Much enjoyed reading the blog, thanks for all the useful tips and info
November 15th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Thanks for the kind words.
Yes, the VPG15 discount code still works for Photomatix.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Not a bad tutorial.
I love seeing the world through tonemapped images.
December 4th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Thanks again. I got it
January 13th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I have a Nikon D50 and when i attempt to Go to “Menu”, Settings (pencil on the left), and scroll down to #12 (BKT Set), press the dial right, Go down to AE & Flash, press the dial right, Select 2.0 Step, and press the dial right “OK” i find i do not have the option??. the Menu does not scroll past 6 ?? New to this what am i doing wrong???
January 13th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Good question, Steve. You need to make sure you have your menu set to “detailed”. If it doesn’t scroll past 6 - first go to Menu, then CSM/Setup Menu, and set it to detailed (not simple).
January 14th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Marcus,
Your a genius - Many Thanks!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
i got photomatix, but i still cant join them together and make it look good
could u help me with that??
thanks
February 7th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
The tutorial that comes with Photomatix had instructions on how to combine it. I’ll try to do a video tutorial sometime soon that shows the steps in detail.
Here’s the short of it: Go to HDR > Generate > Browse. Click on the 3 photos while holding down Ctrl. Once the 3 photos are selected, click ok, ok. Once the photo is up, go to HDR > Tone mapping and make your adjustments. Than save the photo.
February 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Hi mate, great video. However i ve a D40, and i don’t seem to find that option for “bkt set” on my menu. It’s wierd being that Mine camera is from 2006, and yours from 2004/05. Can u help me out?
February 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hey Hugo. I’ve never played with a D40 so I’m not sure about its settings. Maybe someone else can chime in here?
February 14th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Just found this but to help those with a d40…I have a d40x but unfortuneately the d40/d40x does not offer exposure bracketing… you would have to adjust the exposure through the “M”/manual mode which is simple either way and keep dropping the exposure through each shot. a slight more of a pain but easily achievable.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Thanks for letting us know about that, Nick. I’m surprised the d40 doesn’t have exposure bracketing. The trick is to keep the camera steady as you change settings so be sure to have it on a solid surface. Photomatix can adjust for some variation in the shots but it’s not perfect. You’re much better off having 3 of the same shot (same alignment I mean).
February 14th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Who knew it was that easy? Thanks for the video!
February 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
How do I take an HDR photo with a NIKON D40X ?
Could I just use 3-6 different exposure comp.?
also all I have for editing is what came with the NIKON.
What will I need for HDR merging
February 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
@Darren, yes you just need 3-6 of the same shot taken at different exposures.
For merging you need a program like Photomatix.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:24 pm
OK Thank you .Will Photomatix convert my raw photos to jep and keep the same (7mb) file. Because no photo shop in my area can open an RAW file to get prints…………shooting in 12 bit RAW is better than 8 bit jep , right…and to merging……..this is just a hobby for my but when my friends get married or what ever they really like the CD that i give them of there wedding..I just want to go to the next level to see what i can do your advice will be greatly appreciated….thank you will Photomatix be on CD (there will be no ties with online ) DIALUP is all i have right now until 2009. I will check out Photomatix to see if I can get it in CANADA.
LATER DARREN.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Should you shoot in RAW vs any other setting when shooting HDR? And also, you mentioned above that you could take between 3-6 pictures for the merge. What bracket setting should it be instead of “2.0″ to capture the 6 images? Hope this makes sense.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Hey Will. You can shoot in JPG or RAW. A lot of people prefer RAW for HDR. Since I’ve never shot more than 3 images for HDR, I’m not sure what settings are best for bracketing the wider range. I would say probably 1, 1.5 apart - you might want to experiment to see what looks best.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Actually, using “P” is normally not a good choice as then the aperture might change from pic to pic, resulting in different depth of field.
Shooting RAW is generally better than JPG for HDR software like Photomatix. Also, if you shoot RAW, you can create “Pseudo HDRs” out of a single picture, which is nice if you have moving objects, such as a car.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Marcus
i am still at a loss - CSM/Setup Menu, and set it to detailed (not simple).
but when i scroll down to #12 it’s greyed out (set at ‘off’). i have tried evrything but cannot find out what is preventing me fom accessing the BKT settings!!
Any other ideas, Help!!
Regards
March 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
@Helmut: Thanks for the tip.
@Steve: Hmmm. I’m not sure what it could be that’s interfering with the menu. It must be one of your other settings conflicting with it.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:00 am
does changing the apature matter?
March 17th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
@tyler: for HDR you want the same aperture in all 3 shots - don’t change it.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:25 am
I have a D80 and can’t seem to find these options anyone have any advice I can get to the bracketing settings (it’s 13 not 12 on this model) but I can’t do the part where I click right to set to 2.0 or anything like that any hel please would be appriciated.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Never mind I found out there’s a bracket button on the front near the lens mount…I feel stupid now but I figured it out, thanks anyways sorry for the double post etc etc.
March 27th, 2008 at 6:38 am
I have looked along with an experienced photographer but my D50 only goes up to number 6 (not 12) in P mode. Am I doing something wrong?
I thought perhaps a firmware update might need to be done but it doesn’t make much sense to me…
July 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Damon, per posts above you need to set your menus to detailed
Steve, sounds as though you don’t have your mode dial on P A S or M
Good article, Thanks
July 14th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
can u a make hdr’s in photoshop ?
July 21st, 2008 at 3:23 am
You should turn your dial to the “A” (Aperture) setting. With the “P” (Program) mode set some of the control decisions are made by the camera. I use a Nikon D50 and it works for me following the instructions above. Maybe on the D40 it works with the “P” setting, but I don’t know that never having used one.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hey for those who had the problem of only having 6 options in the pen menu, if you go into the spanner menu and go on CSM/setUp menu and change it from simple to detailed you should have 12 options
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi! Dumb question: what if you leave your camera on that detailed setting all the time? Will it affect your photographs?
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
@kelly no, it won’t affect your photographs at all.