Fox Glacier. Bracket of 7 images from +1 to -1 EV in 1/3 steps.
Before it got all complicated, let’s just go back to the beginning: I wanted a camera that would automatically take exposure series (brackets) so that I could paste them together and achieve a result as good as or better than the eye can see. Without an automatic mechanism, I’d be stuck with taking one shot after another and having to wait for the camera to settle down between each shot.
The main problem here is time. Even if I were careful enough not to disturb the camera each time I reset the exposure, at least 10 seconds were required between pressing the button and shutter release to reduce camera movement. Theoretically, shorter times could be achieved by using a remote shutter release, but the time taken to reset the exposure has still to be taken into account. And in tens of seconds a lot can happen. Clouds shoot across the sky and other objects move.
Eventually I found a list of automatic exposure bracketing cameras (AEB) on the web at this site. Plenty of models to choose from, so let’s start by eliminating the ones that won’t be worth the effort. In effect any camera takes just 3 shots can be left off the list. Most such cameras are not really doing AEB, they are just performing some sort of “best shot” insurance, so that at least one of the shots is going to be right in a scene with moderately high dynamic range. Burst rate is not that critical for shooting landscapes, as even the fastest rate in this list will not stop blurring of e.g. branch movements.
This reduces the size of the list considerably. Now let’s look at the prices. A Fuji S5 Pro will set you back about €500, without the lens, a Canon 5D Mark III about €3000. Yes, that’s three thousand. No lens. At that price I wouldn’t dare placing the camera anywhere near where it might decide to go for a swim in a creek. Most of these cameras are the full monty, i.e. anything other than portable. (During the course of my European tramps I had the pleasure of staying with photographer Bernd Naumann, the guy who used to do the Australia/New Zealand/Scotland/Ireland etc super slide shows when they were a la mode, and he confirmed my fears that “real” photography is all about schlepping tonnes of equipment to the furthest corners of the planet.)
So, wistfully I and I so wistfully observed this list for a couple of months, checking on progress every now and then, and deciding that indeed, my pay grade had not yet cometh. Until one day – for comic relief I suppose – I decided to read the preface instead. At some unassuming point in this treatise the anonymous author states, “but [this list] does not take into account possible firmware upgrade enhancements via third-parties tools such as CHDK.”
What the hell was CHDK? I was just about to find out.
