Thanks for your long reply! And yes, I do set my 7D to bracket 3 shots in AEB while in Aperature Priority. I just wish it could be programmed to take 5-7 shots. Denise’s suggestion is one I will follow up on as it may be a solution. And your solution to buy a 5D Mark III is one I will be working on as well!

Hi Andrea, Sorry to be late to the party. Thanks to Lady D for chiming in. And I am confused by your question(s)…. You asked, “Is there anything on the market that will allow you to program a Canon to shoot multiple exposure brackets while in Aperture priority mode without having to touch the camera?”

I am confused because the 7D has an Automatic Exposure Bracketing feature that allows you to make 3-frame AEBs automatically. If you are in either continuous drive mode you can press and hold the shutter button once and the camera will make the three bracketed images…. It will continue to do so until you either turn off the camera or manually set the AEB value back to zero.

The 7D, however, can only do 3-frame AEBs. Other Canon cameras off you a choice of 3, 5, and 7 (and possibly more) AEB sequences. If you wish to create more than a 3 image AEB you need to do that manually. If you are on a tripod as you should be that is a simple task….

BTW, did you mean P for Program or Av for Aperture Priority when you wrote AP?

Below is an excerpt from page 13 of our killer 7D User’s Guide. Do you have a copy? The first paragraph is for your information only, the second paragraph is somewhat relevant to your questions.

On “Shooting 2,” the second red menu (with the camera set to P, Tv, Av, or M):

Exp.Comp./AEB: With this menu item active you can set Exposure Compensation by first pressing the Set button in the center of the thumb wheel (the large round dial on the back of the camera that Canon calls the Quick Control Dial) and then rotating the thumb wheel clockwise to add light in 1/3 stop increments or counter-clockwise to subtract light in third stop increments. This however makes no sense to me at all. It is far easier to simply press the shutter button halfway without activating the menu and then dial in exposure compensation as above with the thumb wheel. Just to be clear on that: after you evaluate a scene or a histogram and wish to add or subtract light, simply press the shutter button half way and then turn the thumb wheel clockwise to add light in 1/3 stop increments or counter-clockwise to subtract light in third stop increments. There is no need to utilize the Exp.Comp./AEB menu function to set exposure compensation during the course of normal shooting.

It is, however, necessary to utilize the Exp.Comp./AEB menu function should you wish to set Automatic Exposure Bracketing with the 7D. To do so, press the Set button with the Exp.Comp./AEB menu item active and then set the amount of bracketing that you desire by turning the index finger dial (Canon calls this the Main Dial) clockwise to set AEB in third stop increments. You can reduce the amount of AEB that you have set in third stop increments by turning the index finger dial counter-clockwise. When you have set the desired amount of bracketing you must remember to press the Set button. You can cancel AEB either by turning the camera off and on (easiest and recommended) or by activating the menu item, pressing Set, turning the Index Finger Dial until the indicator returns to the null value. You can bracket around a compensated exposure by entering the desired amount of compensation either before or after setting the AEB. Note: AEB is most commonly used in nature photography when creating High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery.

A final note: if you like to do HDR stuff start saving for a 5D Mark III or shoot an e-mail to Santa. It offers tons of great AEB and HDR options plus in-camera Multiple Exposure.