Camera people

[Rubycon]

At F36, 50 ISO how long could you hold the shutter open outside at night with the lens pointed at the dark sky before overexposure?

 

[tfinch2]

You're shooting digital with instant feedback. Experiment to find the right setting. It's never the same with long exposures and different conditions like that.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
You're shooting digital with instant feedback. Experiment to find the right setting. It's never the same with long exposures and different conditions like that.

Problem is the camera can never be perfectly still.

Even when tied up to the pier movement is evident. I want to catch Leonids but between the movement factor and stupid clouds (every time we overnight somewhere and I actually want to use shore leave it's friggin' cloudy! Enough already! :| )

 

[arrfep]

OP--Like any other subject, the length of exposure is going to be determined by the total amount of illumination in the scene. If you're trying to catch the Leonids, you could probably leave it open literally all night and get some fantastic streaks.
Are you using a tripod? I hope so!!! You are asking for disaster by not using one with a bulb setting.

Also, google "star trail photography" or something like that. Lots of good star trail photographs leave the shutter open for a half hour...sometimes many hours.

Depending on you camera, however, you do have to be careful with super long exposures. If you are using a film camera, you have to be sure your film won't suffer from reciprocity failure. This is when film is exposed to light for a significantly longer period of time more than it was intended. Then the colors begin to shift and the end result doesn't turn out properly.

Likewise, with digital, if you leave your shutter open for a long time, you are going to get increased noise/artifacts, and this is also when your hot pixels begin to show up in the final product. These problems will be less with a DSLR. If you are using a DSLR, check to see if it has a "dark frame subtraction" function, aka night photo noise reduction. The camera will take a picture of the same shutter speed but with the shutter closed, which creates a completely black frame, except for the hot pixels (which will be the same as the frame before). THe camera then uses this info to subtract the hot pixels from the original picture.

Whew. Sorry for rambling. CLIFFS: Experiment! If you do have digital, it's like previous poster said. Instant feedback. Good luck...hope the skies stay clear.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: tfinch2
You're shooting digital with instant feedback. Experiment to find the right setting. It's never the same with long exposures and different conditions like that.

Problem is the camera can never be perfectly still.

Even when tied up to the pier movement is evident. I want to catch Leonids but between the movement factor and stupid clouds (every time we overnight somewhere and I actually want to use shore leave it's friggin' cloudy! Enough already! :| )

Sounds like you are trying from a boat -- you need to be on land for bulb photography.

 

[paulney]

If you are truly working with Bulb (and not T) setting, then the camera limit would be around 30 mins I believe (at least for Nikons). But then you have to hold the shutter button with your finger, so it's more of a question of your endurance. Oh, and you'll inevitable shake the tripod while holding the shutter button for that long...

Get a release cable or remote and work with T setting when doing work like that. It gives you much better results.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: arrfep
OP--Like any other subject, the length of exposure is going to be determined by the total amount of illumination in the scene. If you're trying to catch the Leonids, you could probably leave it open literally all night and get some fantastic streaks.
Are you using a tripod? I hope so!!! You are asking for disaster by not using one with a bulb setting.

Also, google "star trail photography" or something like that. Lots of good star trail photographs leave the shutter open for a half hour...sometimes many hours.

Depending on you camera, however, you do have to be careful with super long exposures. If you are using a film camera, you have to be sure your film won't suffer from reciprocity failure. This is when film is exposed to light for a significantly longer period of time more than it was intended. Then the colors begin to shift and the end result doesn't turn out properly.

Likewise, with digital, if you leave your shutter open for a long time, you are going to get increased noise/artifacts, and this is also when your hot pixels begin to show up in the final product. These problems will be less with a DSLR. If you are using a DSLR, check to see if it has a "dark frame subtraction" function, aka night photo noise reduction. The camera will take a picture of the same shutter speed but with the shutter closed, which creates a completely black frame, except for the hot pixels (which will be the same as the frame before). THe camera then uses this info to subtract the hot pixels from the original picture.

Whew. Sorry for rambling. CLIFFS: Experiment! If you do have digital, it's like previous poster said. Instant feedback. Good luck...hope the skies stay clear.

Thanks and yes it's a DSLR - Canon 5D which is decent.

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Sounds like you are trying from a boat -- you need to be on land for bulb photography.

Ship actually and exposures up to 20 sec or so can turn out but I'm trying for exposures in the minutes. :Q

Originally posted by: paulney
If you are truly working with Bulb (and not T) setting, then the camera limit would be around 30 mins I believe (at least for Nikons). But then you have to hold the shutter button with your finger, so it's more of a question of your endurance. Oh, and you'll inevitable shake the tripod while holding the shutter button for that long...

Get a release cable or remote and work with T setting when doing work like that. It gives you much better results.

No it's Bulb. Yes I agree holding the shutter button SUCKS. On my old Mamiya I could screw a cable in that had a button on the end. It looked like a radio aerial and could be locked for long exposures - like all night long! The shutter button on the 5D is solid but there has to be a way (perhaps electronic or wireless) to HOLD that shutter open. The sensor clean will hold it as long as the battery stays good.

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

No it's Bulb. Yes I agree holding the shutter button SUCKS. On my old Mamiya I could screw a cable in that had a button on the end. It looked like a radio aerial and could be locked for long exposures - like all night long! The shutter button on the 5D is solid but there has to be a way (perhaps electronic or wireless) to HOLD that shutter open. The sensor clean will hold it as long as the battery stays good.

I can't speak for Canons, but on Nikon D70 you don't get T mode working with the body. You can only enable it by using IR remote ($16 or so). Click once - shutter opens. Click again - it closes. No cables, no shake.

 

[Rubycon]

This was taken by manually holding the shutter open. Camera was on a tripod and we were going about 15 knots with the storm behind us. Flashes of lightning were occurring every 20 seconds or so. This is the best way to get a bolt but as always it seems like the storm wimps out when I break out the camera or have time to!