Autobracketing

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Autobracketing is a feature of some more advanced cameras, whether film or digital cameras, particularly single-lens reflex cameras, where the camera will take several successive shots (usually three) with slightly different settings. Later, the best-looking pictures can be picked from the batch. When the photographer achieves the same result by changing the camera settings between each shot, this is simply called bracketing.

The most common type of autobracketing is exposure autobracketing, where the camera is set to capture the same image several times with slightly different exposure settings, both over-exposed and under-exposed (lighter and darker) compared to the current setting on the camera. Depending on the camera, the difference between each of the autobracketed shots could be anywhere up to two stops in each direction, in half-stop or one-third stop increments.

Cameras can perform autobracketing by adjusting either the shutter speed or the aperture setting, but not both at the same time. Exposure autobracketing is most commonly used with color reversal film (slide film) because of its small exposure latitude compared with print film (which has a wide exposure latitude) and digital cameras (which enable the photographer to review the captured image). In digital photography, autobracketing is convenient to shoot pictures for High dynamic range imaging.

Another common form of autobracketing is white balance autobracketing; this applies only to digital cameras, not to film cameras. This setting causes the camera to capture the same image several times with slightly different white balance settings, with both higher and lower color temperatures (bluer and redder) compared to the current setting on the camera.