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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Shooting 'bulb'
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 03/06/2005 08:32:04 PM · #1
I have recently become aware of a setting (that i'm sure you all knew about and are now thinking what kind of an idiot didn't know) in the shutter speed called 'bulb'. For the weird occurance that someone reading this (other than me) doesn't know what that is.. It's at the bottom of the shutter dial.. It allows you to hold the shutter open manually for extreme shutter drag. I didn't know you could do this, let alone on a digital. Anyone else use that setting?
 03/06/2005 08:33:56 PM · #2
It works great with the D70 remote. You press the remote once to open the shutter, second time to close it. Have not used it successfully as of yet.
 03/06/2005 08:36:05 PM · #3
Originally posted by magicshutter:
I have recently become aware of a setting (that i'm sure you all knew about and are now thinking what kind of an idiot didn't know) in the shutter speed called 'bulb'. For the weird occurance that someone reading this (other than me) doesn't know what that is.. It's at the bottom of the shutter dial.. It allows you to hold the shutter open manually for extreme shutter drag. I didn't know you could do this, let alone on a digital. Anyone else use that setting?

I use it occasionally when I need exposures longer than 30 seconds. I used it for some of my star trail photos, but otherwise i use it on rare occasions as 30 seconds usually will suffice. The preferred method of using it is using a cable release or a remote since it is nearly impossible to not get any camera shake if you try and hold down the shutter by yourself. There are other ways to do it which include taping down the shutter and there are other methods as well... but the safest and most reliable is using a shutter release remote.

Hope this helps,
Lee
 03/06/2005 08:41:04 PM · #4
Originally posted by eugene:
It works great with the D70 remote. You press the remote once to open the shutter, second time to close it. Have not used it successfully as of yet.


Thanx Eugene-I got the remote(nearly impossible to find)a few weeks back and wondered how it worked on bulb after recently discovering a photog that uses 5-8 minutes exposures during full moon settings.

Perfect.
 03/06/2005 08:43:59 PM · #5
I've never used it properly, not really sure how it would be useful to me without a remote. I did balance a chair on it the other day to see what my sensor noise was like on a 45 min exposure tho :P
 03/06/2005 08:54:52 PM · #6
I've never understood why digital cams don't have a "time" exposure like the old Nikons (and others) did, not to mention the Copal view camera shutters, where you click once to open and a second time to close. Cable release for a camera like mine is very expensive. But then, I've never needed more than 30 seconds for an exposure yet, and I use self-timer to eliminate shake...

Robt.
 03/06/2005 09:22:27 PM · #7
One thing I was playing with is a single exposure with controlling the light while having the shutter open in bulb mode.
For example, I would arrange items for the photo, turn off all lights, open the shutter (using remote), turn on the lights on then off, put the lens cap on, turn the lights on, rearrange objects, light off, cap off, light on... you get the idea.

I haven't been able to produce anything worth sharing... yet, but I hope to have something ready for the surreal challenge.


03/06/2005 09:49:01 PM · #8
I havn't really used it yet either.. from my understanding it's mostly for near black night shots etc.. This dude I know used a 13 minute exposure in near pitch black.. everything exposed properly but the light seemed to 'move' accross the frame, loved the shot and the creepy haunted feel it had.

Joe
 03/06/2005 10:01:00 PM · #9
I have used it but since I don't have a remote shutter release I use a wad of tape and tape it on the shutter button. When the shot is done I remove the tape. It helps too if you use the timer so that you don't get all the vibration while you are taping your wad.
 03/06/2005 10:13:01 PM · #10
If you are using the ML-3 remote, it is my understanding that in 'bulb' mode you press once to open & again to shut. There is a max time which I can't recall but it is in the manual. Haven't used this feature yet, let us know how it turns out.
 03/06/2005 10:16:27 PM · #11
What is the time limit for the 20D? I have the shutter release cable, but don't know the limits on bulb exposure.

Thanks in advance!
 03/06/2005 10:27:00 PM · #12
Originally posted by bear_music:
I've never understood why digital cams don't have a "time" exposure like the old Nikons (and others) did, not to mention the Copal view camera shutters, where you click once to open and a second time to close. Cable release for a camera like mine is very expensive. But then, I've never needed more than 30 seconds for an exposure yet, and I use self-timer to eliminate shake...

Robt.


Noise

03/06/2005 10:38:50 PM · #13
lol- 'Extreme shutter drag'. I've never heard that expression before in relation to the bulb setting. It's cool.

I've used the bulb setting on a film camera. Exposed for about 30 seconds to get blurred shots of cars on a busy street at night. It is fun.

Message edited by author 2005-03-06 22:39:53.
 03/06/2005 10:44:16 PM · #14
Truegsht, to answer your question, the EOS 20D manual states that the elapsed exposure time displayed on the camera during the bulb exposure is from 1 to 999 seconds. 999 seconds translates to 16.65 minutes, but the manual doesn't say if that is the limit.

From browsing the web, it looks to me like there really is no limit (besides battery life). The exposure display must just stay at 999 after 999 seconds. This is cool. I'll have to try it.

I just bought a new eos 20d today. That's why I have the manual close at hand. :)

Message edited by author 2005-03-06 22:50:27.
 03/06/2005 11:16:20 PM · #15
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by bear_music:
I've never understood why digital cams don't have a "time" exposure like the old Nikons (and others) did, not to mention the Copal view camera shutters, where you click once to open and a second time to close. Cable release for a camera like mine is very expensive. But then, I've never needed more than 30 seconds for an exposure yet, and I use self-timer to eliminate shake...

Robt.


Noise


the D70 manual says that you 'may' experience bright pixels at random locations on longer exposures.
 03/06/2005 11:18:28 PM · #16
Here is three minute exposure, the full moon is fun to use as the light source.
Russell
 03/06/2005 11:30:53 PM · #17
Originally posted by Links 2 3 4:
Here is three minute exposure, the full moon is fun to use as the light source.
Russell


What WB would you use for moon-reflected sunlight?
 03/06/2005 11:39:08 PM · #18
I thought the same thing I just used AWB, I was going to use the coffee filter for custom setting, but I forgot to bring one.
Russell
 03/06/2005 11:46:36 PM · #19
Moonlight is the exact same spectrum as sunlight, just less of it. Daylight balance works fine.

Robt.
 03/06/2005 11:49:59 PM · #20
here is my longest single expoure of 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Comet macholz

my camera was mounted on my telescope mount to properly track the stars.

600 seconds @ f2.0, canon 50mm 1.4 with 2x TC, ISO 200
I did a little post processing to darken the background and removed some noise

James
 03/08/2005 08:04:22 AM · #21
Originally posted by Truegsht:
What is the time limit for the 20D? I have the shutter release cable, but don't know the limits on bulb exposure.

Thanks in advance!


As far as i understand it, there is no limit - after 999 seconds the counter just stops counting. With a freshly charged battery you should be able to pull off at least an hour, i would think? Obviously with a mains adaptor you'd theoretically have infinite shutter times, but i don't imagine you could produce any usable results longer than maybe an hour in very low light, if only due to hot pixels and so on... still, i've never had a chance to try anything that long yet so i'm just guessing.
 03/08/2005 08:25:40 AM · #22
This was a 6 minute exposure

03/08/2005 08:50:25 AM · #23

I took this photo last weekend. It is straight out of the camera, has no post editing at all not even NEF/RAW editing. It was around a 10 minute timed by my watch shot.

I love this type of photography!

No moon that night either, just the city lights in the background and a little bit of light from the motel I was in in the fore ground.
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