A Small But Very Useful Feature In The Nikon Z6 And Z7 That I Wish Were In My Other Cameras

Live Oaks and Spanish Moss (click to enlarge)
Nikon D700; 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 100mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/5.3; ISO 400

The feature to which I'm referring is a "two shot" automated bracket.  The Nikon cameras allow me to set bracketing to "normal exposure plus 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2 or 3 stops over" or "normal exposure minus 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2 or 3 stops under."  I'm not forced to make a minimum of a three shot bracket.  I like that.  Let me tell you why.

In recent weeks, I've been thinking about how I can become more efficient, simplify and optimize my photography.  I feel as though I now spend more time than I want to in the editing process.  But shooting RAW files require each to be edited.  So what I would like to do is figure out how can I optimally expose for JPEGs and RAWs at the same time in some sort of automated or efficient fashion?

I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Why would you use the JPEG file format anyway?"  The reason is, with image quality from today's digital cameras being excellent, JPEGs can serve the majority of my needs.  Most of the time I don't need the maximum quality and maximum flexibility of RAW files.  Of course, the operative word here is most.  Hold that thought.

In the past, I've experimented with using just JPEG images for this blog and no one could tell the difference nor could I see any deficiencies in the posted images.  Additionally, when photographing family events and such, already having properly exposed JPEGs to send to the family members is much more expedient than having to convert and size every RAW image (usually in the hundreds) to a JPEG in Lightroom.  Also, I post every couple of days on Instagram and certainly JPEGs are more than enough for that purpose.  

Another aspect of shooting both RAW and JPEG is that if you configure your camera correctly (to your taste), then there is very little or no editing necessary in editing software.  Set your camera profile, your contrast, saturation, color balance, sharpness, clarity, etc., in-camera and your work is pretty much done.  You may have to implement a slight white balance tweak or so, but that can be done batch processed very quickly.  That is a huge time saver.  However, I highly recommend you experiment first to find the sweet spots for each of those settings I mentioned.  You won't regret it.  Otherwise the JPEGs won't be what you want them to be.

So, my conclusion is that JPEG image quality is more than "good enough" for most purposes.  But not all.

The rub is that I don't want to give up RAW files and you already know all of the reasons why RAW files are technically better than JPEGs.  By also having RAW files, they act as insurance if the JPEG file, on rare occasion, just doesn't cut it.  Additionally, if I want to make a print for display, I'd rather edit from the RAW file rather than a JPEG.  The bottom line is that I want the best of both worlds!  But can I have it?

(One Tip:  If you do shoot JPEGs and need to edit them, convert the original to a TIFF file so you can open, edit and save it as much as you want so you don't lose quality by opening and re-saving the original JPEG file.  Each time you do, the JPEG file is re-compressed and eventually you will see a degradation of image quality.)

The one issue to consider is that the best exposure for a JPEG is different than the optimal exposure for a RAW file.  Using the Expose To The Right (ETTR) technique, an optimally exposed RAW file, in my experiments, requires about 2/3 to 1 stop more exposure than the JPEG to capture all of the data in the best manner.  It varies by camera, in my experience.

My solution is, when possible (and it won't work in all circumstances), a) shoot RAW + JPEG and b) automatically bracket my exposures.  i want to be able to push the shutter button once and properly record both exposures for their file type.  This is where the Nikon feature comes in nicely.

Every camera I've owned allows you to set auto bracketing for normal, plus and minus exposures.  Automatic bracketing is adjustable to as little as 1/3 stop to as much as 3 stops between each bracketed image.  Some cameras allow as many as 9 images to be bracketed.  If I were to use one of my cameras other than the Nikon I would have to make a minimum of 3 images per bracket.  Shooting RAW + JPEG, that means a minimum of 6 image files. The more brackets made the more room it takes up on my memory card, the more time it takes to upload them to my computer and the more time it takes to initially go through them in Lightroom.  Also, taking into consideration that some subjects may not necessarily require exactly 1 stop overexposure to ensure the best RAW file, that may require me to bracket by 1/2 stops or even 1/3 stops.  Now, we're getting into a lot of bracketed exposures—especially considering RAW + JPEG.

What Nikon allows me to do is set auto bracketing for just 2 exposures.  It can set it for normal/plus or normal/minus.  It can set the brackets from as close as 1/3 stop to as far as 3 stops apart.  Realistically, two bracketed image files is all you need with today's wide dynamic range sensors for almost every situation anyway.

By setting the camera for automated 2-shot bracketing with the Normal Plus setting, with one push of the shutter button I will have a straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) properly exposed JPEG file as well as an optimally exposed RAW file.  Upon importing the 4 files into Lightroom, I can easily delete the overexposed JPEG and the less than optimally exposed RAW, leaving me with just the two files.  I then can choose which one I would rather use for any specific purpose.  If, per chance, the Plus 1-stop RAW file has blown out highlights, I still have the other one.  Again, if my camera is properly configured, there should be little or no editing required in Lightroom for use of the JPEG files.  At least, that is my theory!  

(Another Tip: For generalized practical application in most circumstances I make the assertion that you need only two bracketed exposures anyway.  In manual mode, you adjust your first exposure so all of your shadow detail is within your histogram.  Then for the second exposure, you adjust your histogram so none of the highlights are clipped.  The two shot bracket will have significant overlap of the midtones and should easily combine into a file that captures all the detail available at the scene.)

I like this 2-shot auto bracketing feature so much that I wish it were on my other cameras.  A 2-stop bracket is perfect for most situations and I'm surprised other manufacturers haven't implemented this.  Some may have, but in none of the cameras I've owned.  If your camera allows you to auto bracket two exposures, either up or down, let me know.  That may prove helpful to others who may be considering a new camera.

Let's hope other manufacturers implement this feature in the future.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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