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MC-30 for the D200

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Steve Bingham

Steve Bingham

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I assume, because it is a 10 pin, that it will work on the D200. It fits the D2x fine. If anyone has used it, is it a battery killer? I am looking at a series of night photos around 4 min each. No backup batteries available yet, so I am wondering what a series of 4 minute exposures (like 20) will do to the battery. Nikon is pretty vague on this!!!!!
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
 
I've done a ton of long exposure photography and I can both confirm that the colder the temperature is the (much) shorter the battery lasts and I can also mention that it's not so much the cable release that sucks the power but the sensor being on full time that creates the most power drain.

Normally on the D70 I get around 500-1000 images. However on a full charge doing time lapse I would be lucky to get 40-50 shots off. However, these shots are up to 30 mins each.
--
-Dan - BHOA
'Cameras don't take pictures, people do.'
'No one sees your camera when they're looking at your pictures.'
http://www.danharperphoto.com/ -My commercial photography site
http://www.wpgphoto.com/ -My Winnipeg based photography community
 
I have just been playing with my d200 and you can actually get it to do some interval photography. I just did a test with a sunrise in cape town.

I took the pictures as M size Jpg's, it managed to take around 170 pictures before the battery ran out (was a 90% full battry before). I intended to make a small video from them, hence the M size. I was on ISO 400 and I think around have the pictures were taken at night, which would mean they had a fairly long exposure (> 10 secs).

Foo
 
Steve Bingham said:
I assume, because it is a 10 pin, that it will work on the D200. It
fits the D2x fine. If anyone has used it, is it a battery killer? I
am looking at a series of night photos around 4 min each. No backup
batteries available yet, so I am wondering what a series of 4
minute exposures (like 20) will do to the battery. Nikon is pretty
vague on this!!!!!
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
Click to expand...
Steve, i just bought the MC-30 a couple of hours ago. I do take quite some shots at night but mostly in the 30 to 60 second range. Your question did make me curious though so while i was processing some NEFs i decided to test your question.

I connected the MC-30 and set my watches timer to 4 minutes.

I did 10 exposures of 4 minutes, with camera set to manual focus but kept the LCD on, as well as any other settings i have set. The battery wasnt completely full - it went from 78% to 26% in that time. My batteries are relatively new of course, and not having the LCD come on might increase performance somewhat. I didnt have long exposure noise reduction on, which might decrease performance again.

Hope that helps a bit.

tensai
 
Steve Bingham said:
I assume, because it is a 10 pin, that it will work on the D200. It
fits the D2x fine. If anyone has used it, is it a battery killer?
Click to expand...
I've been using the new MC-36 for time lapse on the D200. The MC-36 has it's own batteries, and thus appears to be a simple switch. I've noticed no difference in the length of battery usage with the MC-36 attached.

If you're attempting to try some light painting with long exposures, you can probably increase your battery life by turning the NR function off. This way you can at least double the number of exposures per charge and contend with any noise in PP.

the born 2 design
design guy
 
Hey. I used to teach high school photography (and college) - for 30 years! Retired 15 years ago but still teach one PS class in the spring at the local college. Just for the pure joy of it. I really don't need the money - or the work.

I used to paint nudes with a flashlight and colored jells 25 years ago. I even have a shot where I went under water in a hot tub with the lights (three different colors). It took 2-5 minutes but the movement equalized itself out. The photo is hanging in my bedroom. I guess I should put it on my web page. (Too lazy to find it and scan it!)

I will try a little this weekend if time permits. Going to San Diego and watch the Chargers beat the Broncos - maybe. (I retired to the mountains of Arizona)

Good hearing from a fellow teacher!
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
 
That's exactly what I figured would happen. I really do need a second battery for the D200!!!!
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
 
This is hard to find empirical data! Good info to know - and a valuable asset to the forum.
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
 
nunatak said:
I've been using the new MC-36 for time lapse on the D200. The MC-36
has it's own batteries, and thus appears to be a simple switch.
I've noticed no difference in the length of battery usage with the
MC-36 attached.
Click to expand...
i might be wrong but in my case i dont think its the MC-30 thats draining the battery. it has no display or anything, just a swith to trigger the shutter and a lock to keep it there if need be. thats it.

i think, like Dan Harper states, that its more the sensor thats using al that juice.
 
Where did you get the MC-36? Every place I have tried says it won't be here until January! Curious. Real curious! The timer part might make life easier, although I am not sure it would help the battery life.
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
 
Steve Bingham said:
Where did you get the MC-36? Every place I have tried says it won't
be here until January! Curious. Real curious! The timer part might
make life easier, although I am not sure it would help the battery
life.
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
Click to expand...
i feel somewhat guilty as i live in gear heaven here. read posts about people not being able to get the grip, batteries, remotes, adapters. here in japan its readily available. at least where i go to.

the bodies and body plus 18-200 lens kit are all spoken for though, just like in the states and europe.

tensai
 
Last I had enquired, Calumet still has half a dozen or so in stock.

Make sure you order from their web site as the stores don't have any stock yet.

the born 2 design
design guy
 
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