Multiple Exposure

G button U C photo shooting menu

Record two to ten NEF (RAW) exposures as a single photograph.

Option	Description
[Multiple exposure mode]	[On (series)]: Take a series of multiple exposures. To end multiple exposure photography, select [Multiple exposure mode] again and choose [Off]. [On (single photo)]: End multiple exposure photography after creating a single multiple exposure. [Off]: End multiple exposure photography.
[Number of shots]	Choose the number of exposures that will be combined to form a single photograph.
[Overlay mode]	[Add]: The exposures are overlaid without modification; gain is not adjusted. [Average]: Gain is adjusted before the exposures are overlaid. The gain for each exposure is equal to 1 divided by the total number of exposures taken. For example, in a photo made by combining two exposures, the gain for each exposure will be set to ¹⁄₂, while in a photo combining three exposures, gain will be set to ¹⁄₃. [Lighten]: The camera compares the pixels in each picture and uses only the brightest. [Darken]: The camera compares the pixels in each picture and uses only the darkest.
[Save individual pictures (RAW)]	[ON]: Save both the multiple exposure and the shots that make it up; the pictures are saved in NEF (RAW) format. [OFF]: Discard the individual shots and save only the multiple exposure.
[Overlay shooting]	If [ON] is selected, earlier exposures will be superimposed on the view through the lens. The earlier exposures aid composition of the next shot.
[Select first exposure (RAW)]	Choose the first exposure from the NEF (RAW) pictures on the memory card.

Creating a Multiple Exposure

Highlight [Multiple exposure] in the photo shooting menu and press 2.
Choose an option for [Multiple exposure mode].
- Highlight [Multiple exposure mode] and press 2.
- Highlight [On (series)] or [On (single photo)] using 1 or 3 and press J.
- An icon will appear in the shooting display.
Choose a value for [Number of shots] (number of exposures).
- Highlight [Number of shots] and press 2.
- Choose the number of exposures using 1 or 3 and press J.
Select an [Overlay mode].
- Highlight [Overlay mode] and press 2.
- Highlight an option using 1 or 3 and press J.
Choose a setting for [Save individual pictures (RAW)].

To save both the multiple exposure and the shots that make it up, select [ON]; the individual shots are saved in NEF (RAW) format. To save only the multiple exposure, select [OFF].
Choose an option for [Overlay shooting].

Select [ON] to superimpose earlier exposures on the view through the lens. You can use the earlier exposures as a guide when composing subsequent shots.
Choose an option for [Select first exposure (RAW)].
- To choose the first exposure from existing NEF (RAW) photos, highlight [Select first exposure (RAW)] and press 2.
- Highlight the desired picture using the multi selector.
- To view the highlighted picture full screen, press and hold the X button.
- After highlighting the desired picture, press J.
Start shooting.
- Take the selected number of shots. If you used [Select first exposure (RAW)] to select an existing NEF (RAW) picture as the first exposure in Step 7, shooting will start from the second exposure.
- Once you have taken the selected number of shots, the pictures will be overlaid to create a multiple exposure. Multiple exposures are recorded in JPEG format regardless of the option selected for image quality.
- If [On (series)] is selected for [Multiple exposure mode], you can continue to take additional multiple exposures until [Off] is selected.
- If [On (single photo)] is selected for [Multiple exposure mode], the camera will exit multiple exposure mode once the number of shots selected in Step 3 has been taken.

The i Menu

Pictures can be viewed by pressing the K button while a multiple exposure is in progress. The most recent shot in the current multiple exposure is indicated by a $ icon; pressing the i button when this icon is present displays the multiple exposure i menu.

Highlight items and press J to select.
You also have the option of using touch controls after pressing the i button.

Option	Description
[View progress]	View a preview created from the exposures recorded to the current point.
[Retake last exposure]	Retake the most recent exposure.
[Save and exit]	Create a multiple exposure from the exposures taken to current point.
[Discard and exit]	Exit without recording a multiple exposure. If [ON] is selected for [Save individual pictures (RAW)], the individual exposures will be saved separately.

Cautions: Multiple Exposure

If you use the menus or view pictures in the display while shooting a multiple exposure, remember that shooting will end and the multiple exposure will be recorded if no operations are performed for about 40 seconds (or in the case of menus, about 90 seconds). The time available to record the next exposure can be extended by choosing longer times for Custom Setting c3 [Power off delay] > [Playback] or [Menus].
Multiple exposures may be affected by “noise” in the form of randomly-spaced bright pixels, fog, or lines.
In continuous shooting modes, the camera records all exposures in a single burst. If [On (single photo)] is selected, multiple exposure shooting will end after the first multiple exposure is recorded. If [On (series)] is selected, an additional multiple exposure will be recorded each time the shutter-release button is pressed.
In self-timer mode, the interval between each shot in the exposure is selected using Custom Setting c2 [Self-timer] > [Interval between shots]. Regardless of the value selected for the c2 [Number of shots] option, shooting will however end after the number of shots selected for the multiple exposure.
Multiple exposures may end if settings are changed while shooting is in progress.
Shooting settings and photo info for multiple exposure photographs are those for the first exposure.
Do not remove or replace the memory card while a multiple exposure is in progress.
Memory cards cannot be formatted while a multiple exposure is in progress. Some menu items will be grayed out and unavailable.

Multiple Exposure: Restrictions

Multiple exposure cannot be combined with some camera features, including:

b (auto) mode,
video recording,
high-speed frame capture +,
bracketing,
HDR overlay,
interval-timer photography,
time-lapse video recording,
focus shift, and
pixel shift.

Ending Multiple Exposures

To end a multiple exposure before the specified number of exposures have been taken, select [Off] for multiple exposure mode. A multiple exposure will be created from the exposures that have been recorded to that point (if [Average] is selected for [Overlay mode], gain will be adjusted to reflect the number of exposures actually recorded).

The multiple exposure will also end if:

the standby timer expires after the first exposure has been taken, or
you press the K button followed by the i button and select either [Save and exit] or [Discard and exit].