How Do You Set Long Exposure?

[RedSun]

Most of the lenses I have have speed up to 1 sec only, then B and T. Is there an easy way to set long exposure time?

On the Sinar auto shutter, the speed goes up to 8 sec.

[Regular Rod]

Use T with your iPhone's stop watch.

RR

[Corran]

I assume you mean something that would literally keep the shutter open for only, say, 30 seconds, or maybe 4 minutes?

Then no, there isn't anything made to easily to do that.

[Heroique]

I'm a "B" person thru 10 seconds or so.

Longer, I become a "T" person.

Either way, I use the second hand of my analog wrist watch.

[RedSun]

I just need something slightly more than 1 sec.

I have the Sinar auto shutter on the other camera. I figure I'll use that more often.

[Oren Grad]

There's a Prontor long-exposure timer / cable release that can give you settings in the range 2 to 32 seconds. Unfortunately, it tends to be hard to find, and expensive when you do come across one.

There's also the Autoknips:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?100136-Autoknips-self-timers

[Drew Bedo]

What about multiple shutter snaps? Do the short snaps first, then the one second snap. There will be a problem with movement.

What about altering the aperture for a shorter exposure?

[evan clarke]

Actually, a long exposure is measured in hours..

[Light Guru]

Use T with your iPhone's stop watch.

RR

I use the timer in the reciprocity timer app. With with long exposures your calculating reciprocity anyway and the timer in the app has the ability to start on noise, so as long as your not in a noisy place it will hear you trip the shutter open in T mode and start the timer.

[ic-racer]

Most of the lenses I have have speed up to 1 sec only, then B and T. Is there an easy way to set long exposure time?

On the Sinar auto shutter, the speed goes up to 8 sec.

I never liked "T." I don't like putting the cable release down and then picking it up again because I suspect I'll shake the camera. So, if' I'm going to stand there with the cable release in my hand, I'll just use "B."

[jcc]

I never liked "T." I don't like putting the cable release down and then picking it up again because I suspect I'll shake the camera. So, if' I'm going to stand there with the cable release in my hand, I'll just use "B."

I usually do 10's if minutes to almost an hour, so standing there is a bit of a pain. I set it in T, with the cable loosely tied around the tripod head or on a leg via bungee cord. The shaking from picking up the shutter release stops at the pinning point. Most annoying cause of shaking is wind on the bellows.

[Jim Jones]

For exposures up to maybe 10 or 15 seconds, Autoknips and similar devices from other countries might be useful.
ic-racer, when making long exposures, hold the dark slide over the lens, open the shutter, and control the length of the exposure with the darkslide. However, any vibration from using only a cable release usually lasts a small fraction of the exposure.

[Heroique]

Below is an entertaining thread which I naturally remember:

Shutter speeds in the seconds – is “B” or “T” best?

Here's the link:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?51615-Shutter-speeds-in-the-seconds-–-is-“B”-or-“T”-best

[Doremus Scudder]

For long exposures I usually use the lens cap. I could use "T" but the cap is usually easier. No shake that way either: pull the cap but leave it blocking the light path for a second or so till the camera settles down, then start the exposure. Reverse for stopping the exposure.

For shorter exposures in the 2-10 sec. range, I use "B". Exposures between 1 and 2 seconds require an aperture adjustment. Sometimes it's just easier to close a stop and make a longer exposure.

As for timing, it's easy to just count seconds in your head. I'm a musician and march tempo (120bps) is imprinted on my brain. I just count 1 & 2 & 3 &... etc. I can count up to 5 minutes this way and be off by only a second or so. For longer than 5 minutes, I use a watch.

Doremus

[Jim Noel]

I assume you mean something that would literally keep the shutter open for only, say, 30 seconds, or maybe 4 minutes?

Then no, there isn't anything made to easily to do that.

There isn't, but there used to be. I have a cable release which will keep the shutter open for up to several minutes. I have forgotten the limit and am too lazy to go dig it out to look.

[jbenedict]

For long exposures I usually use the lens cap. I could use "T" but the cap is usually easier. No shake that way either: pull the cap but leave it blocking the light path for a second or so till the camera settles down, then start the exposure. Reverse for stopping the exposure.

That was frequently done in the "old days". I have noticed that it was a special kind of lens cap that was frequently used in this application. Many of those 'classic' lenses had a barrel that stuck out two or three inches from the lens board/camera. A 'loose but long' lens cap was used. Meaning, the cap was a two inch or so leather/cloth tube. The lens was a hard wood/metal/leather end on it that would, if used by itself, would be very loose on the lens. So a combination of the leather tube (flexible but kind of snug on the lens) plus the cap on the end would make a cap that was easy to remove but still light tight. It is probably good practice to give a second or two with the cap to make sure it hasn't moved but, if it is a 30 sec. exposure. it is kind of a 'belt and suspenders" approach. Or, for that matter, if it is a 30 sec+ exposure, you could probably just use the dark slide of the holder. I have been making a 1 minute exposure when someone has stepped in front of the camera for ten or fifteen seconds before I bought them a clue and asked them to move. There was no evidence in the final product that a person stood in front of the camera.

With the prices rising and availability of materials falling, we might have to pick up some of these techniques that pre-1900 photographers had to use.

[Corran]

There isn't, but there used to be. I have a cable release which will keep the shutter open for up to several minutes. I have forgotten the limit and am too lazy to go dig it out to look.

Interesting...I actually own one of the Prontor ones that can time exposures up to 32 seconds, but I hadn't heard of a solution for longer.

I bought the Prontor one here in the Classifieds, thinking I would use it, but I never do. I don't see the point of a timer that would keep a shutter open for really long, multi-minute exposures, unless one needs to be away from the camera while the exposure is happening. Seems like a very rare thing to want to do.

[Heroique]

I'm a musician and march tempo (120bps) is imprinted on my brain.

A march tempo at 120 bps would kick up a lot of dust!!!

:D

[Jody_S]

I've had trouble with cheap cable releases for long exposures. I'm more inclined these days, when shooting at night, to use a barrel lens and lens-cap shutter.

[DannL]

Page 22 of this shutter manual (http://www.galerie-photo.com/manuels/sinar-mode-emploi-shutter-system.pdf) explains the basics. Which is what many would have suggested even without having read the manual. As already mentioned, cables releases with locks for this purpose are readily available. With the shutter locked open I would use the lens cap and time the exposures manually with a stop watch. Without a shutter I would just use the lens cap and time the exposures with a stop watch.

[Richard Rau]

I ususally just count 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi ... unless I've had dental work that day and my mouth has been shot up with a bunch of novocaine ... then it becomes as lot more difficult to count! Normally, I just use my analog watch. Anything under 5 seconds I use B, anything over, I resort to using T.

[gevalia]

I'm a "B" person thru 10 seconds or so.

Longer, I become a "T" person.

Either way, I use the second hand of my analog wrist watch.

+1 on the analog wristwatch.

[tom thomas]

Standard military cadence.

[tom thomas]

A march tempo at 120 bps would kick up a lot of dust!!!

:D
120 is standard military cadence.

[Heroique]

Let's just say I'd hate to follow a drum major who ordered 120 bps, not 120 bpm!

Unless I were a hummingbird. :cool:

[ShannonG]

I use B most of the time as my favorite lens does not have T.My exposures usually range from 1 min. to 90min. ( i usually use F 64) My timer on my smart fone works good,,before smart phones i used a stop watch.

[David_Senesac]

For anything more then 2 seconds just use my cheap analog wrist watch, shutter release cable, with lens on B bulb. However really try to avoid having to use bulb for less than 6 seconds and instead will change the aperture to fit. Sometimes will used the 1 second shutter speed multiple times for 2 or 3 second exposures. Usually that comes out clean however sometimes also can result in misregistrations if camera moves in even the tiniest from cranking the lens. Thus try to set such shots up stably then am extra gentle.

My outdoor landscape work using Provia 100F and stopping down to get reasonable depth of field is often in shady places with light between EV6 and EV9 so end up using bulb quite a bit. Places like redwood forests during diffuse overcast or foggy conditions. This image at Fern Canyon in Redwood National Park is typical at about 16 seconds.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/12-F-9.jpg

Or in the fall down under dim forest canopies in cloudy diffuse light.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/13-K-6.jpg

Am much better at it the last few years than earliest years with a view camera. Getting a long exposure correct is a lot more than just taking a few lightmeter readings and certainly one of the most difficult aspects of using a view camera. For some time now I've also been using a digital camera at times to calculate what EV levels might come out like because my G10 seemed to match results with my lightmeter rather nicely and am doing the same now with an A6000.

[Doremus Scudder]

A march tempo at 120 bps would kick up a lot of dust!!!
:D


Let's just say I'd hate to follow a drum major who ordered 120 bps, not 120 bpm!

Unless I were a hummingbird. :cool:

...oops! I must have not had enough coffee before posting... Of course I meant 120 bpm... beats per minute, not bps... beats per second...

At any rate, counting to a cadence or march tempo is surprisingly accurate for long exposures in the few seconds to few minutes range. I wear out though after four or five minutes and revert to a watch or the like. I like a diver's-style watch with a rotating bezel so I can mark my exposure time and not have to remember a specific end time.

I remember some times in slot canyons when I had 20+ minute exposures. I'd set the rotating bezel on my watch to the right time and then go looking for the next photo or two. I'd mark them with stones or the like and then return to the camera when the exposure time was up. I had enough time between exposures that I could have worked with two cameras, leap-frogging one while the other was exposing...

Best,

Doremus

[Steven Tribe]

There's a Prontor long-exposure timer / cable release that can give you settings in the range 2 to 32 seconds. Unfortunately, it tends to be hard to find, and expensive when you do come across one.

I have always found the "locking" systems on normal releases to be very unreliable. The Prontar professional timer is often a loose item lurking in the bottom of job lots - exactly as sinar/copal shutters and their release cables do!

[ImSoNegative]

I'm a "B" person thru 10 seconds or so.

Longer, I become a "T" person.

Either way, I use the second hand of my analog wrist watch.
Me too

[ImSoNegative]

Did a shot the other day. 37 minites