Slow shutter speed question.

Hello All,

I am trying out some slow shutter speed pics in the shutter priority mode and the least I can go on a 18-55 lens is I think 1/6th.

I have read that in order to capture the movement of the stars in the night, the shutter can be delayed upto 30mins or more.. so how do I achieve this on my D5100 ? is there a different setting ?

​Thanks in advance.

shot said:

Hello All,

I am trying out some slow shutter speed pics in the shutter priority mode and the least I can go on a 18-55 lens is I think 1/6th.

I have read that in order to capture the movement of the stars in the night, the shutter can be delayed upto 30mins or more.. so how do I achieve this on my D5100 ? is there a different setting ?

​Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

You'll want to shoot in "M"anual mode, not "A"perture priority. You can then set the exposure manually, using the command dial, for up to 30 seconds, or use "Bulb" for manually timed exposures.

If you think you're going to be doing a lot of these types of exposures, do yourself a huge favor and invest a few bucks in the Vello Shutterboss. It will make your life soooo much easier.

.....

Horoscope Fish said:

You'll want to shoot in "M"anual mode, not "A"perture priority. You can then set the exposure manually, using the command dial, for up to 30 seconds, or use "Bulb" for manually timed exposures.

If you think you're going to be doing a lot of these types of exposures, do yourself a huge favor and invest a few bucks in the Vello Shutterboss. It will make your life soooo much easier.

.....

Click to expand...

I already bought the wireless remote for it.

I was trying it out in "S" shutter priority but what is "Bulb" ? I have read the owner's manual cover to cover but might have missed it if its already there.. I will read it again.
​

shot said:

Hello All,

I am trying out some slow shutter speed pics in the shutter priority mode and the least I can go on a 18-55 lens is I think 1/6th.

I have read that in order to capture the movement of the stars in the night, the shutter can be delayed upto 30mins or more.. so how do I achieve this on my D5100 ? is there a different setting ?

​Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

And remember, as I just learned, long exposures take some time to process in the camera so don't just go fire off some long exposures and then immediately turn the camera off or remove the memory card. Give it five or ten minutes to process.

shot said:

I already bought the wireless remote for it.

I was trying it out in "S" shutter priority but what is "Bulb" ? I have read the owner's manual cover to cover but might have missed it if its already there.. I will read it again.
​

Click to expand...

When the camera is in "Manual" mode turn your shutter speed (command dial) all the way down and "Bulb" will appear as a choice setting. I don't think you can access "Bulb" setting in any other mode than Manual.

If you do 30min exposures you will be introducing a lot of noise and unless you are at a really dark site your sky will be blown out by light pollution. The following settings will serve you much better. M Mode, Manual focus, stop down your lens by a few f stops, 30 secs exposures, ISO between 400-1600 depending on how many stars you want to be in your trails. Shooting time is up to you but the more shots you take the longer the star trails. Use a program like Starstax to stack all your images together and save the final result as one image showing the long star trails. Google Star Trailing and you will bring up a wealth of information on this subject.

Once in Manual you'll find Bulb mode is the last, and slowest, possible option for shutter speed. In Bulb mode you open and close the shutter manually: the first actuation will open the shutter, and the next actuation will close it. You can trigger the shutter actuations using a remote release (preferred method) or you can use the shutter button on the body, but they both accomplish the same thing, the shutter being open until you close it with another activation.

I don't know which remote release you have, but you'll need a stopwatch (or something) to time your shots if your remote release does not have a timer in it. The most basic wireless releases only open and close the shutter for you, while things like the Shutterboss give you total control over things like timer delay, exposure times, and multiple exposures over time (interval shooting).

.....

I was messing with my bulb mode the other day and noticed something odd that I'm sure didn't used to be the case. I've looked through all the settigns and can't see what I might have changed! Anyway, when in bulb, the shutter will only stay open as long as I have the button pressed, rather than push to open, push to close. I'm sure that's ho it used to work! lol. I could be wrong though as I normally use the method I'm about to say...

You can buy a remote for a couple of quid on ebay, very handy. In bulb it's press to open, press to close.

Alternatively, if you have a mobile with an IR blaster like the Samsung Galaxy s4, there is an app called DSLR Remote which is really really handy

Vinnydude said:

I was messing with my bulb mode the other day and noticed something odd that I'm sure didn't used to be the case. I've looked through all the settigns and can't see what I might have changed! Anyway, when in bulb, the shutter will only stay open as long as I have the button pressed, rather than push to open, push to close. I'm sure that's ho it used to work! lol. I could be wrong though as I normally use the method I'm about to say...

Click to expand...

The D5100 manual says its shutter has both Bulb and Time. Time works as you describe, Bulb works while you hold it.
Few if any other camera models have the Time option, but D5100 apparently does.

I'm pretty sure that I've just always used my remote for long exposures then as I got it not long after I got my body lol

For long exposure, I'd much rather trigger it off camera anyway, to avoid any wobble you may cause.

Odd, as my D5100 will get all the way down to 30second and Bulb mode in Shutter Priority mode, or manual.

Even more odd, my D5100 USED to get to bulb in S, but now only does it in manual.

Yeah, the Nikon remote... It offers the Time mode, one click on, one click off. It does not send any continuous signal for the entire duration, only sends start and stop signals.

But using the actual shutter button itself, or a Remote Cord, Bulb works only while you hold it.

Thanks for all the info guys.. that was very helpful. Can't wait to get home and try it out.

I have a photonia wireless remote, its just a small button and doesn't have any inbuilt timer.

I also have the tripod.. so pretty much have everything to start shooting

​Thanks.

SamRothstein said:

Even more odd, my D5100 USED to get to bulb in S, but now only does it in manual.

Click to expand...

In S mode a calculation is done by the camera to set the aperture for the current lighting, the aperture number will flash in the viewfinder if you exceed what the camera can calculate as a correct exposure.
It 'bulb', the camera can't work out what aperture is required because it doesn't know how long you are going to hold the shutter open in bulb.
​Hence it will not allow bulb use in S mode.

Rexer John said:

In S mode a calculation is done by the camera to set the aperture for the current lighting, the aperture number will flash in the viewfinder if you exceed what the camera can calculate as a correct exposure. It 'bulb', the camera can't work out what aperture is required because it doesn't know how long you are going to hold the shutter open in bulb. ​Hence it will not allow bulb use in S mode.

Click to expand...

You know thinking back on it, I never have used bulb mode in S, only M mode.

I checked the shutter priority mode and the shutter delay goes all the way up to 30 mins but no bulb mode.

Bulb mode is in manual mode. Like in the previous posts, in bulb mode the shutter stays open till I continue to press the shutter release. What is the timer setting?

I checked the menu and it has an interval setting where the camera will take picture at certain intervals but how do I set the camera so that in bulb mode it opens at first actuation and closes during other.

shot said:

the shutter delay goes all the way up to 30 mins.

how do I set the camera so that in bulb mode it opens at first actuation and closes during other.

Click to expand...

I think you will find that's 30 seconds.

You need to use the infra red remote, it does exactly what you are after and the shutter can be held open for as long as you like, not sure if there is a maximum but l-o-n-g exposures are possible.