exposures longer than 1 second?

[dh003i]

All of my shutters max out at 1 second exposures.

What do you guys do for exposures longer than 1 second?

I had to do a 2sec exposure, and I think I just used the stop-setting where I press to open shutter, then press again to close. Although maybe for vibrations is better to set the cock to the one where you press to open the shutter, and let go to close it. In any event, I counted. Doesn't seem accurate at all. Do you guys use timers or something like that?

Other possibility is to set he cock to 1 second, expose, then re-cock it and expose again. Although this seems to introduce the possibility of creating some fuzziness if you change the camera positioning at all.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Filmnut]

I just count them out. When I go beyond 1 sec., I try to stop down an extra stop so that I'm in the 4 sec range, so I've more room for error. I generally shoot B&W and this technique serves me well. Even for the times when I shot trannies this still works for me, but I do bracket a bit.
I trick that I learned from my father, when doing really long exposures, is to pull the dark slide out, put it in front of the lens, then open the shutter.
Keith

[Jim Galli]

1 anseladams 2 anseladams 3 anseladams 4......and so on.

[Mike1234]

^^^ You can also use "1 johnsexton..." or "1 brettweston...".

[sanking]

All of my shutters max out at 1 second exposures.

What do you guys do for exposures longer than 1 second?




Fuji Acros, if possible. And the second hand on my watch if necessary.

Sandy King

[Jim Galli]

^^^ You can also use "1 johnsexton..." or "1 brettweston...".

Maybe, but 1 william mortensen 2 william mortensen simply won't work.

[Jan Pedersen]

1 William Mortensen 2 William Mortensen works and already have build in reciprocity factor :D

[BetterSense]

I've been known to measure pinhole exposures in units of cigarettes.

[jeroldharter]

Exposures between 1-2 seconds are the worst because the accuracy of using the B setting is suspect. But stopping down to increase the time further could result in reciprocity issues if not anticipated. I use the BTZS software on a Palm and it has a timer function which helps time the multisecond exposures. If you have a solid tripod you could use multiple 1s exposures plus 1/2, 1/8, etc. as needed.

[kev curry]

I've done a few 2&3sec exposures in multiples of one seconds...carefully cocking and tripping the shutter each time. The prints are sharp but I guess its still a bit of a gamble using this method. If I though I was presented with a really killer image would I take the gamble, or would I opt for (B) & 1 anseladams 2anseladams?

[ki6mf]

What you are getting into is reciprocity failure. This happens for all exposures beyond 1 second and faster than 1/1000 of a second. The spec sheet for the film, check the manufacturers web site on line, should have recommendations. Search this web site for answers as its been covered here before this post.

To compensate use a reciprocity chart and a stop watch. As always your mileage may vary and testing may be in order.

Steve Simmons recommends this for HP5 1=2, 2=4, 4=7, 8=19, 12=33, 16=50, 24=93, 32=145

[Preston]

I have used the multiple exposure method many times. However, one must be careful. Look to see if there are objects in the scene that may move between one exposure and the next. Also, allow time for any vibrations that occur as a result of recocking the shutter to damp out before releasing the shutter the second time. Using the multiple exposure method is a bit of gamble, as Kev says, but counting a two-second exposure is quite error-prone, in my opinion.

If you practice counting with a metronome, or a clock, before going into the field, you will be able to get very accurate longer exposures.

-Preston

[Jim Rice]

In terms of measuring long exposures I've found an electronic metronome (cheap) to be the best solution.

[Robert Hughes]

a thousand ONE, a thousand TWO... it's close enough...

[dh003i]

I use my Olympus E-3 DSLR to meter exposures. It serves a dual role -- scouting out shots and allowing me to be creative, if I find something I really like, I take it with my 4x5.

[Brian Ellis]

I use a wrist watch just because it's always there. But once you get past 5 or 10 seconds you can count "mississippis" or whatever just as well, a few seconds off here and there isn't going to matter once you get into the longer exposures.

All films don't exhibit reciprocity failure at 1 second. Different films have different reciprocity characteristics. I use one reciprocity table for TMax films and another one for HP5+ (the only two b&w films I use) since TMax has different reciprocity characteristics than other films (or at least different than HP5+).

[BetterSense]

You can never trust manufacturer's reciprocity tables anyway, IME. They usually exaggerate the effect, erring on the side of overexposure.

I feel that counting one thousand ONE one thousand TWO... is plenty accurate for negative film exposure starting at one second. I'm sure I can do +- 1/3 stop which is insignificant to me and probably better than my shutters are anyway.

[MIke Sherck]

The "B" setting on your shutter stands for "Bulb": when you press the shutter release the shutter opens and when you release the shutter button the shutter closes. If your shutter has a "T" setting, it stands for "Time": the shutter opens when you press the shutter release and closes when you press it again.

I usually time exposures up to three seconds by counting; over three seconds I use the stopwatch function on my wristwatch (these days, shooting LF is the only time I wear a wristwatch!) I use B&W film pretty much always and in longer exposures (say, seven or eight seconds or more,) a second one way or another doesn't seem to make much difference so sub-second accuracy isn't necessary. If you're shooting chromes you may have a different experience.

Mike

[evan clarke]

At 2 seconds exposure, an error of 1/10 second is 1/20th of a stop....don't worry about it, close is pretty good...Evan Clarke

[ic-racer]

One more vote here for "one-one thousand, two-one thousand..." (B&W Negative film)

[ki6mf]

The issue is not a percentage of a stop. When you go over 1 second or shorter than 1/1000 of a second the film emulsion reacts differently than an exposure that falls withing the 1 second to 1/1000 of a second range. You do need to compensate for this difference by adding time to get the proper exposure.

New England School of Photography tests show the following if after placing shadow readings:
1 Sec = 2 Secs, 2secs = 4 Secs, 4 Secs = 10 Secs, 8 Secs = 25 Secs, 15 Secs = 1 Minute 10 Secs, 30 Secs = 3 Minutes Secs, 1 Minute = 9 Minutes, 2 Minutes = 22 Minutes, 4 Minutes = 48 Minutes, and 8 minutes = 1.5 Hours.

The scale is not Linear. Carry a stop watch for timing and if your off slightly when tripping the shutter it wont affect the exposure to much.

[Preston]

"...over three seconds I use the stopwatch function on my wristwatch (these days, shooting LF is the only time I wear a wristwatch!) "

Great minds do think alike! I never wear a watch unless I expect to be making long exposures. (OT: I also use the oldest GPS system available--a map and a Silva Ranger compass.)

-Preston

[rdenney]

If your shutter times one second accurately, you can get a two-second exposure by just recocking the shutter and releasing it again.

I bet I can count two seconds as accurately as most of my shutters can time one second, though.

I count in seconds--1..2..3...4..press cable release while saying 5..6..release cable release while saying 7..8. If you can count accurately in seconds, then that works for up to a handful of seconds. Remember that 4 seconds is only a stop more than 2 seconds.

For 8 seconds and longer, I use the metronome app on my iPhone. What can I say? My wristwatch doesn't have a second hand.

That metronome app will help you with counting seconds accurately, too, even for the above counting method. The trick is to internalize the rhythm before pressing the cable release button.

Rick "enjoying the irony of timing a 1950's Compur shutter with an iPhone" Denney

[sanking]

All films don't exhibit reciprocity failure at 1 second. Different films have different reciprocity characteristics. I use one reciprocity table for TMax films and another one for HP5+ (the only two b&w films I use) since TMax has different reciprocity characteristics than other films (or at least different than HP5+).

This is exactly right, and in general the modern T-grain films have less reciprocity failure than traditional emulsions.

The film with the very lowest reciprocity failure that I have used is Fuji Acros. The difference is so great compared to traditional films like TRI-X 320 or HP5+ that in many low lighting situations you would find that actual exposures will be much less with Acros than with the traditional grain films.

Sandy King

[iamjanco]

I've been known to measure pinhole exposures in units of cigarettes.

1 cancer tumor, 2 cancer tumors, 3 cancer tumors... :D

Jan C.

[eddie]

i pull the DS. hold it in front of the lens. open the shutter on T. remove DS. count:

1 ihopethisworks. 2 thisbettercomeoutnice. 3 icannotremeberthenext#

then replace DS. close shutter. repeat.

[ki6mf]

Sandy is right on. Traditionally the thick emulation films needed reciprocity failure correction starting around 1 Second of exposure now the thin emulsions films, T Max, Fuji HP5, may start correction at 2 or 3 seconds!

[MIke Sherck]

"...over three seconds I use the stopwatch function on my wristwatch (these days, shooting LF is the only time I wear a wristwatch!) "

Great minds do think alike! I never wear a watch unless I expect to be making long exposures. (OT: I also use the oldest GPS system available--a map and a Silva Ranger compass.)

-Preston

When my kids started driving I helped them out by equipping their cars with emergency kits (packed in surplus US Army ammo boxes -- what can I say, it was a different time!) and gave each of them an excellent road atlas. Today they all have GPS systems and I have what may be Indiana's largest collection of old road atlases. *grin*

It cracks me up to drive on the interstate at night and see the glowing little GPS screens in virtually every passing car or truck. If the satellites ever die, the only people who are going to be able to find the next state will be old farts like you and I. Well, actually, I'm not all that old, an honorary old fart, if you will... Presumably, you too.

Mike

[evan clarke]

The issue is not a percentage of a stop. When you go over 1 second or shorter than 1/1000 of a second the film emulsion reacts differently than an exposure that falls withing the 1 second to 1/1000 of a second range. You do need to compensate for this difference by adding time to get the proper exposure.

New England School of Photography tests show the following if after placing shadow readings:
1 Sec = 2 Secs, 2secs = 4 Secs, 4 Secs = 10 Secs, 8 Secs = 25 Secs, 15 Secs = 1 Minute 10 Secs, 30 Secs = 3 Minutes Secs, 1 Minute = 9 Minutes, 2 Minutes = 22 Minutes, 4 Minutes = 48 Minutes, and 8 minutes = 1.5 Hours.

The scale is not Linear. Carry a stop watch for timing and if your off slightly when tripping the shutter it wont affect the exposure to much.

This depends on the film and I have tested results for my combinations. The O.P. is worried about accuracy of exposure time and as the exposures go longer one stop of light whether adjusted for reciprocity or not gets to be an immense amount of time. A stop is a stop is a stop...Evan Clarke

[Gary L. Quay]

For anything longer than 10 seconds I use a Bell clip on sports timer. It has a red LED on the front, which comes in handy for night photography. They cost about $10.00.

--Gary

[Frank Petronio]

And in the end, since judging the precise "correct" exposure is next to impossible, if you really want the shot (and why are you out in the dark in the first place?), you do this quaint practice of BRACKETING.

If it is a decent photo then it's worth a few sheets of film. I ain't like you're stopping action here.

[eddie]

It cracks me up to drive on the interstate at night and see the glowing little GPS screens in virtually every passing car or truck. If the satellites ever die, the only people who are going to be able to find the next state will be old farts like you and I. Well, actually, I'm not all that old, an honorary old fart, if you will... Presumably, you too.

Mike

i just count.

i have no nav system or mobile phone......and i can use a compass.......

[Robert A. Zeichner]

If you take a piece of string and tie a washer to one end and mark the point on the string that is one meter away from the washer, you will have a portable metronome. Fits easily in your camera bag or pocket. Just hold the string at the 1 meter mark and give the washer a push. If you are near a tree limb, you could tie it to that to free both hands. Try it, it works!