Minimum Shutter Speed

[William B McLaughlin]

Hi All,

The 400D has a minimum of 30 second shutter speed. Is it then not capable of an astro-photograph wherein, as an example, a skyscape of stars displays trails some arc-minutes long? An open shutter of some minutes, not 30 seconds. If not the 400D, then what competitive camera can do that?

TIA,

Bill M.

 

[Clint Sanders]

For longer shots, you need to set it to 'bulb' and use a remote trigger that can remain depressed.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

30 seconds is the longest automatic shutter speed, but using the bulb mode you can have the shutter open as long as you want it.

It will do it either as long as you hold the shutter button (a tad awkward) or via a remote control

 

[William B McLaughlin]

Thanks for the answer. I do have a remote which can lock into position. BTW, what is meant by "bulb"?

Bill M.

 

[Clint Sanders]

Thanks for the answer. I do have a remote which can lock into
position. BTW, what is meant by "bulb"?

Bill M.

In the old days, they held this rubber 'bulb' that would use air pressure to depress the shudder release mechanism.

"The term "bulb" is a reference to old-style pneumatically actuated shutters; squeezing an air bulb would open the shutter and releasing the bulb would close it. According to the Focal Encyclopedia of Photography[1]:"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_release

 

[ledittmar]

Thanks for the answer. I do have a remote which can lock into
position. BTW, what is meant by "bulb"?

Bill M.

You could set the camera to bulb while on a tripod and walk around the subject exposing it with several burst of flashes.

Like a building that may be too far away from the camera. set the camera , walk up to the building , expose it with several flashes.

 

[William B McLaughlin]

Interesting trivia, that.

On a quasi-related note: what would be proper settings for the 400D for the aforementioned star shot? In order to keep the night sky from looking like daylight, would the aperture best be stopped down to double-digits? Needless to say, I'd like the shutter open for 10-30 minutes.

Bill M.

 

[conorboyd]

I've been trying star trail shots over the last couple of weekens with varying success.

Here are links to a couple if you're interested (you should be able to find a link to the EXIF info on the same page), sorry, I don't think my gallery will let me link directly to the image.

http://gallery.ildica.com/v/LakeHeron/IMG_0658.jpg.html

This one I had the ISO up a bit high, and it was a cold night, and the lens had frosted over by the time I got back, so it's not great.
http://gallery.ildica.com/v/CastleHillWithKeohanes/IMG_0732.jpg.html

Interested to hear how you get on.

Cheers,

Conor

 

[CityLights]

With the right lens/telescope the rebel is quite capable of taking astro photography.

With just a stout tripod and remote shutter release you can get shots like these, taken with my 300D and 350D:

1440s f/8.0 at 22.0mm iso100
(6, 4 minute exposures digitally combined.)
http://www.pbase.com/citylights/image/71175588

25s f/16.0 at 17.0mm iso200
http://www.pbase.com/citylights/image/68235714

28s f/8.0 at 10.0mm iso200
http://www.pbase.com/citylights/image/78666783

I need to take some more long night exposures. They are cool.

--
CityLights
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[kiwi2]

On a quasi-related note: what would be proper settings for the 400D
for the aforementioned star shot? In order to keep the night sky
from looking like daylight, would the aperture best be stopped down
to double-digits? Needless to say, I'd like the shutter open for
10-30 minutes.

It largely depends on a factors such as - is there any light pollution from built-up areas, or will you be in a dark rural sky? Is the moon up at all? Is it a thin crescent or nearly full?

If shooting from a dark location with no moon, then you can easily go for an hour or more at around f/4 ISO 100 without overexposing the sky.

--
If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?