Night Photography Questions

[ABG]

A few questions for Dooda and the other night owls on the forum. Is there any way to get the camera to take images at night using aperture priority mode with a relatively small aperture, say f11? I've only experimented once, but the program seems to have a shutter time limit of 30 seconds. Am I missing something here? Alternatively do I need to buy an ML3 remote, using manual mode and bulb? What is the difference between an ML3 remote and an MC30 (other than the latter being triple the price)? Do you need to keep a cap over the eyepiece when using long shutter speeds?

I remember a post Dave made a while ago that discussed how he calculates his exposures at night, but after searching I couldn't find it. Can you please post this again, or can someone point me to the original post?

Thanks in advance

[radar]

Hi Andrew,

The camera won't give you a shutter slower then 30 seconds. To get longer exposures, you need to use bulb mode, so get yourself on the manual, set your aperture and time to bulb. Use a stop watch or count in your head for the exposure you need.

For my D70s, I have both the IR and corded remotes. Now that I have the cord, I much prefer using it over the IR remote.

Put the cover over the eyepiece for long exposures, helps keep stray light from entering.

For me, it has been a trial an error in terms of lenght of time to expose.

HTH but Dooda is certainly "king" of the night exposures.

André

[Glen]

Andrew, no matter what, buy a remote. Best $30 you will spend for night photography. I assume you have a tripod?

[Hlop]

Andrew, no matter what, buy a remote. Best $30 you will spend for night photography. I assume you have a tripod?

That's another best $1500 you will spend for night photography

[birddog114]

Want a MC30? good choice!
Go for it.

MC30 + D2x = $4850.00
or
MC30 + D200 = $2800.00



Nah! go back to the ML-L3 with D70 more safe bit for you & less cost.

MC30 won't work with D70 at all.

I read somewhere yesterday, one member stated: the D70 has more advantages over the D2x with built-ins remote capabilities and I replied to it.

Once again, the D70 and ML-L3 is just a simple wireless remote function.

[Glen]

[losfp]

I read somewhere yesterday, one member stated: the D70 has more advantages over the D2x with built-ins remote capabilities and I replied to it.

That was me, in this thread - http://dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=17 ... ght=remote

Remember Birdy, I said that was ONE advantage that the D70 had (amongst all the D2X advantages ).

And of course I was perfectly happy with the ML-L3's simple shutter release functionality until Birdy outlined all the other things that the more expensive remotes could do.

I'm going to have to use the ignore function on Birdy. He's a very bad man.

(Aw who am I kidding - I love the gear lust )

[gstark]

Andrew,

A couple of points that haven't yet been mentioned.

As you make your exposure, your sensor heats up, and this can lead to a colour distortion effect in your images. You may want to enable the in camera noise reduction to halp address this, but be warned that this will double your effective exposure time.

Put the cover over the eyepiece for long exposures, helps keep stray light from entering.

While I certainly don't disagree with this advice, I need to clarify one point here. Using the eyepiece blind will only be effective while your making exposure readings.

The physical characteristics of how the camera works prevent stray light from entering through the eypiece and into the mirror box during the actual exposure, because your mirror acts as a physical barrier to that light.

Again, what Andre has suggests is excellent practice, but I find it helps to fully understand what's hapenning.

[radar]

The physical characteristics of how the camera works prevent stray light from entering through the eypiece and into the mirror box during the actual exposure, because your mirror acts as a physical barrier to that light.

thanks for the clarification Gary,

cheers,

André

[ABG]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like I need to get my hands on an ML-3. Birdy, you got any in stock mate?

Glen, yep I have a tripod.

Hlop, no $1,500 jobbie here. I bought a Slik Master Standard 2nd hand for $40. It's built to withstand a nuclear conflict, but weighs a ton - I should know, having lugged it on my back for 3 days over the Easter long weekend. It also has a stupid head design, but for $40, I'm not gunna whinge about it too much... It's rock solid stable, and that's what really counts.

Birdy, I'm ignoring your post. I've already got one person in my life that's an expert at emptying my wallet - my wife. Come to think of it, my kids are pretty damn good at it too

Gary, thanks for the clarification re the eyepiece blind. I thought that was the case, but wasn't entirely sure.

[birddog114]

ABG,
Yep! it's here.

[ABG]

Email sent. Thanks mate

[birddog114]

Email sent. Thanks mate

Replied.

[ABG]

Now that's service!

[ABG]

Just wanted to say thank you once again to Thanh for his fantastic service. All of my emails were responded to within 10 minutes and the goods were ready for pick up at a time that suited me (well outside of retail hours). The members of this forum are so lucky to have such a wonderful resource!

[dooda]

Hi!

I must say I didn't realize that I was considered the king of night shots. Thank you.

I now use a little push button thingie on my d200. It's nice, but really expensive ($100). I couldn't believe how much it costed. Set me off.

Be more worried about the remotes IR beam going through your lens than stray light through the viewfinder; I've yet to have this happen (atleast 200 exposures, maybe more). But you indeed have to have a remote to operate the bulb speed.

To calculate exposure, I go mostly by experience. I guestimate, set the camera to 1600 and NR off. I then guess. Usually it's between 7 and 30 seconds. Check the histogram afterwards, and figure out if it's right on, or you need more or less. if you don't have enough info (all the way left or whatever) then try again and add a couple of seconds.

Now turn the NR on. Move ISO to 200, and multiply the shutter speed by 8. You'll need a timer, but the exposure works to a T as long as the lighting doesn't change. Keep in mind that often the longer exposure might leave you open to car lights shining on your subject, or even shining at your lens. In camera Noise reduction is an absolute must.

If you're planning on capturing star streaks, you'll need to be quite wide open, and even crank the ISO. I find that digital doesn't do star streaks really well, and I think they're kind of gimmicky regardless, but a lot of people go for them. And if you do, and it works with the composition, don't hesitate to wind up the ISO a little, and open up as far as you can stand.

At F11, you're going to need really really long exposures assuming you have little available light. I see no point at stopping down past F8 to be honest. The nice thing about shooting ultrawide is that the focus isn't as critical. If you're focusing at infinity, you don't want to be wide open, you'll notice the softness, even slight blur. Hope this helps.

[ABG]

Thanks Dave. Yep that helps.