A6000 not counting shots correctly in BRC3 mode

[EichenseerMarco]

Hi,

I just installed the app on my a6000 (firmware 3.21) and was playing around with it.
I noticed that the BRC3 mode doesn't work as expected (as explained in the README).

My Settings:

• Drive Mode: Single Bracket 3.0EV 3 Image or 0.3EV 3 Image (tested both as well as continuous bracket because the README didn't mention which one)
  There is also a setting to change the order for exposure bracketing. I did chance the default order from 0-+ to -0+ but I also tested this with the default setting.
• Interval: 10s
• Shots: 2
• SS: On or Off (tested both)
• MF: On
• AEL: On or Off (tested both)
• BRC3 On
• DOFF: Off

Expected Result:
Either 2 shots following the bracketing order or 6 shots (i.e. two full brackets).

Actual Result:
The app takes two shots in quick succession and immediately counts up to 3, it pauses due to the set interval, then takes another 2 shots and counts up to 6.
These four resulting shots do follow the bracketing order but seem to ignore the EV setting I chose for the Drive Mode.
It seems to always use 3.0EV based on the recorded shutter speeds in aperture priority mode with a constant ISO of 200.

Recorded shutter speeds: 1/50 s -> 1/6 -> 1.3s

Always using a 3.0EV bracket might be by design but not getting the correct number of shots is probably a bug or a user error on my side.
I have little to no experience with exposure bracketing outside the builtin HDR options so maybe I'm doing something wrong.

If always using a 3.0EV bracket is by design, this feature could be improved by respecting the drive mode setting.

 

I don't have any other Sony cameras to test if this only happens on the a6000 unfortunately.

 

Regarding the EV setting:
I'm not familiar with the OpenMemories framework (TimeLapse is the first custom app I've installed so far) but I had a look at the BetterManual project because it also has bracketing options as far as I know.
I found the following comment:

dumpList(paramsModifier.getSupportedExposureBracketPeriods(), "SupportedExposureBracketPeriods"); // 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, 30

I didn't find any documentation on the exact meaning of the bracket period value but ShootActivity.java sets it to 30.
This might be related because 3, 5, 7, 10, 20 and 30 seem to correspond to the 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 EV options for the exposure bracket drive mode.

Regarding the shot counting bug:
I think I'm not familiar enough with the OpenMemories framework, the code base and android in general to properly investigate this but I noticed that onShutter() calls cancelTakePicture() and that there is a takingPicture flag inside shoot() which is never set to true. Maybe there is a timing problem when BRC3 is enabled.

 

Best regards,
Marco

[DeShirtless]

I'm having the same 3.0 EV bracketing issue. No matter which drive mode I select beforehand it uses 3.0 EV every time. I'd love to see this fixed because I love making HDR timelapses using this app, and I need more control over bracketing.