Guide to Auto Exposure Bracketing on Canon DSLRs

For most Canon cameras, exposure bracketing is straightforward to setup and use, there are few options, and changing them has little impact on the results. That changes with Canon’s 1-series DSLRs starting with the Mark 3s and newer. The following is a, as complete as possible, list of settings and how they affect auto exposure bracketing on Canon DSLRs.

This post reflects the state of Canon cameras as best as possible as of summer 2012. I’ve broken this post into major sections based on the similarity and capabilities of the cameras. If there’s one thing that’s somewhat surprising about bracketing on Canon SLRs, it’s that in 12 plus years of building SLRs Canon’s auto exposure bracketing (AEB) options fall into essentially 4 major groups.

Overview of Exposure Bracketing Capabilities on Canon SLRs

The following table breaks down the exposure bracketing capabilities of most Canon SLR bodies. Clicking on the name of the camera will take you to the relevant section in this article for that camera.

Exposure bracketing is achieved by altering the “uncontrolled” exposure variable (i.e. shutter speed or aperture), depending on what auto exposure mode the camera is operating in. The following table shows the exposure variable that will be adjusted depending on the mode. There is one exception to this rule, which only applies to EOS-1D bodies and will be discussed in more depth further on.

The smallest exposure bracketing “step size” that can be set is the same as the camera’s exposure level increment. This will usually be 1/3rd of a stop, but many bodies support changing it to 1/2 stops.

Exposure Bracketing on Most Canon DSLRs

By far the vast majority of Canon SLRs fall in this category. Their exposure bracketing is limited to 3 exposures, the metered exposure (0) an exposure one step size up (+) from the central exposure, and an exposure 1 step-size down (-) from the central exposure. The central exposure can be biased, in either direction up to the camera’s max exposure compensation range.

For example a Canon 400D can have an exposure set biased by +2 stops with a step size of 2-stops, resulting in exposures of 0 (the – exposure), +2 (the 0 exposure) and +4 (the + exposure) on the exposure meter.

Enabling/Disabling AEB

On bodies with a single command dial, (i.e. Rebels, ###D, ####D, EOS Kiss) exposure bracketing is enabled by going into the second shooting menu, highlighting the option labeled either Exposure Compensation/AEB or just AEB, pressing set to enter the menu, then turning the main command dial to the desired step size.

On dual dial bodies the procedure is similar, except the rear quick command dial must be used to set the bracket size after entering the menu.

AEB is disabled setting the step size in the Shooting 2 AEB menu so that no bracketing exposure indicators are shown.

Bracketing Order

Dual dial cameras, like the EOS 40D or EOS 7D support changing the bracketing order from “0, -, +” to “-, 0, +”, however, because brackets are symmetrical, other than lining up your images in order of increasing brightness there’s little need to change the setting. Entry level single-dial cameras can not change the bracketing order and will always shoot “0, -, +” in that order.

Changing the bracketing order is done the custom function listed in the table below.

C. Fn-09

C. Fn. I-5

C. Fn. I-5

C. Fn-09

C. Fn. I-5

Bracketing Step Size

The “step size” of 1/3 or 1/2 stop used by the bracketing program matches the exposure level increment set for the camera’s exposure meter. The table below lists the exposure level custom functions on various cameras on which changing them is supported.

C. Fn-6

C. Fn-1

C. Fn-06

C. Fn. I-1

C. Fn-6

C. Fn. I-1

C. Fn. I-1

Exposure Bracketing on Pro Canon SLRs

Enabling and Disabling Bracketing on Pro Bodies

With the exception of the 5D Mark 3—who’s bracketing capabilities are in line with other pro bodies, but it’s user interface shares more in common with the lower tier cameras—bracketing is enabled or disabled by holding the front-most and center buttons on the left shoulder simultaneously and rotating either of the command dials to set the bracket step size. For the 1D and 1Ds bodies prior to the Mark 3s, the two buttons are MODE and AF Mode. From the Mark 3s onwards, the two buttons are MODE and AF/Drive Mode.

Early EOS-1D Bodies (1st and 2nd Generation)

The first 2 generations of the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds cameras set the tone for what to expect from Canon pro dSLRs when it came to bracketing. They were capable of 2, 3, 5, and 7 frame brackets, with 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments from 1/3 to 3 stops from the central exposure. However, unlike the 3rd generation on, or even the consumer/prosumer cameras, not all of the bracket configuration options could be set on the camera without connecting it to a computer. Specifically, the number of bracket exposures is controlled with personal function 08.

Bracketing order and Auto Cancle is set though C.Fn-9.

These bodies could also bracket using the ISO in 1/3-stop increments, a feature that’s since been removed.

The step size is set by changing C.Fn-6. However, due to a limitation in the camera’s ISO controls, setting the camera to 1/2 stop exposure increments, disables bracketing using ISO.

Custom Functions Related to Bracketing

3rd Generation EOS-1 Bodies (1D mark 3, 1Ds Mark 3, and 1D Mark 4)

The 3rd generation of EOS-1D bodies retained most of the functionality of their predecessors with 2 major changes. First, bracketing is now fully configurable though the camera’s interface without having to hook the camera up to a computer. This is now done though C. Fn I-6: Number of Bracketed Shots.

Second, the ISO bracketing has been removed.

Bracket Ordering & Controlling 2 Frame Brackets

At first glance, it would seem like the order of bracketed exposures didn’t matter anymore than it does on any other body. That would be correct, if there wasn’t a 2-frame bracketing mode.

The order of bracketed shots is set using C. Fn I-5: Bracketing Sequence. The available options are 1: “0,-,+”, 2: “-,0,+”, and 3: “+,0,-”. When the camera is set to either the first or second options a 2 frame bracket will be made with the non-biased “0” frame and a negatively biased “-” frame. When C.Fn. I-6 is set to option 3, the second frame in the 2-frame bracket is biased positively.

AEB exposures with oEV, -3Ev and +3Ev of exposure compensation for a 2-frame bracket when Custom Function 1-5, Bracketing Sequence, is set to 0 or 1. Note the arrow on the vertical meter for the -3EV frame, indicating another exposure exists outside of what can be displayed.

AEB exposures with 0Ev, -3Ev and +3Ev of exposure compensation for a 2-frame bracket when Custom Function 1-5, Bracketing Sequence, is set to 2. Note the arrow on the vertical meter for the +3 Ev frame, indicating that another exposure exists outside of what can be displayed

This is an important distinction, because it allows you to retain the full +/- 3 stop exposure compensation range when shooting brackets that would be past either end of the scale.

Affected Exposure Control

By default the exposure variable used to derive the bracket sequence is the same as all other cameras. However, uniquely among Canon cameras, when in manual mode the exposure variable can be reversed by changing the C. Fn. IV-5: Tv/Av Setting for Manual Exposure. This is a rather unintuitive

C. Fn. VI-5 Setting	Manual Mode Exposure Variable Used
1:	Shutter Speed (default)
2:	Aperture

On one hand, I really do like that you can change the bracketing behavior in manual mode, it’s definitely hand if you’re one for making aperture based exposure brackets. On the other hand, the way Canon went about doing it by tying it to the control positions, makes it somewhat unwieldy—at least if you’re like me who uses manually mostly for flash work and shoots with the controls reversed.

Custom Functions Related to Bracketing

Exposure Bracketing on the EOS 5D mark 3 and EOS 1D X

With the introduction of the 5D mark 3 and the EOS 1DX (and likely EOS 1DC) in 2012, Canon has finally expanded their professional level bracketing to their 5D series. These new bodies largely match the exposure capabilities of the preceding EOS-1D bodies, with brackets up to 7 frames and an exposure latitude of up to 3 stops per step.

Enabling/Disabling Exposure Bracketing

Enabling and disabling bracketing on the 5D mark 3 follows the procedure outlined in the first section, Bracketing for Most Canon DSLRs. It’s enabled by going to the Shooting 2 menu, selecting the Expo.Comp/AEB menu, pressing set to select it, adn then turning the main (front) command dial to set the bracket size.

The EOS 1DX follows the same procedure as previous EOS 1D bodies. That is hold down the Mode and AF•Drive buttons (on the left shoulder) and rotate either of the command dials to set the bracket step size.

Number of Bracketed Shots

On both the EOS 5D and EOS 1D X, the number of shots in an exposure bracket is determined by the setting in C. Fn 1: Number of bracketed shots.

Bracket Order

The bracketing order is set by C.Fn 1: Bracketing Sequence. Like the preceding EOS 1D bodies, the options are “0, -, +”, “-, 0, +”, and “+, 0, -”. However, unlike previous EOS 1D bodies, it is no longer necessary to adjust this setting to change the order of a 2 shot bracket.

For 2 shot brackets, the bracketing direction (either over or under) is set when you make the bracket step setup in the AEB menu. That is, a 2 shot under + normal bracket would bet setup by entering the AEB menu and then rotating the bracket “size” to the darker side of the base exposure indicator.

Affected Exposure Control

The table below shows the what exposure element (shutter speed or aperture) is adjusted by the exposure bracketing program.

Unlike on previous EOS 1D bodies, you are no longer able to change the adjusted exposure control from shutter speed to aperture during a manual exposure AEB by changing a custom function or by remapping the main and quick control dials.

Custom Functions Related to Bracketing