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Crazy long exposure with Nikon D5000

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David Hogan

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So here is an hour long exposure from the Nikon D5000. I have temporarily posted the full resolution version here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/3771671661/sizes/o/ for all you pixel peepers out there who want to check it out.

The settings are F/3.5, ISO 200, High ISO NR turned off, Long Exposure NR turned off, Active D-Lighting=Extra High. This was Saturday morning so there was no moon. I was using the Nikkor 18-200 AF-S lens. I made a couple of very minor adjustments to curves and contrast. Other than that, it's straight out of the camera.



Here is another shot at the other end of the spectrum. This one is 83 seconds at ISO 3200, F/3.5 with the high ISO NR turned on and the long exposure NR turned on. Active D-Lighting set at normal. Also with the 18-200 AF-S lens. I'm pretty sure this lens focuses past infinity because this looks a bit soft. I think next time I will manually focus to infinity and then back off a bit.



Shooting the stars is one of the reasons I always wanted to learn photography. I shot for a couple years with a Pentax K1000 before I switched to digicams. I have been waiting and waiting to be able to do this with digital and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the performance of the D5000. I am going to have a hell of a lot of fun, and take many amazing pictures with this camera. I can't wait!!

I'm probably not going to have many more chances to practice star shots before my honeymoon, so if there's anyone on this forum that has any experience I'd love to hear what you've learned. Especially concerning the different types of noise reduction and their effects. What does the high ISO noise reduction do? how effective is it? What white balance setting do people like to use for starlight? Moonlight? Any info helps. Thanks!!
--
Dave Hogan
http://flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/
 
Mountain climbers making their summit attempts. The two groups on the far left are hiking from camp Muir, which is one route's high camp. The squiggly group in the middle are making the climb from camp Shurman which is another route's high camp. Then you can see another group hiking up to camp Shurman. It's a two day climb. On the first day you climb up to the high camp, rest and get acclimated. The second day you summit and then hike all the way back down. They must have left for the summit at about midnight. The summit of Mt. Rainier is at 14,400 ft. I took the pictures from the fire lookout atop Mt. Fremont, just above 7,000 feet.
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Dave Hogan
http://flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/
 
damn that 1st one is funky but an hour!! :O !! lol

i cant wait to break out the bulb mode on my d40, but i think i might need ot invest in the remote shutter which apparently holds it shutter open on a single press and release and then closes it again with a 2nd press?
 
I was using the wired remote in bulb mode. It has a button that you lock on.

I think if you use the wireless remote, then it's called timer mode and the first press starts the exposure and the second press ends the exposure. I'm not entirely sure though, hopefully someone else can confirm.
--
Dave Hogan
http://flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/
 
David Hogan said:
Here is another shot at the other end of the spectrum. This one is 83 seconds at ISO 3200, F/3.5 with the high ISO NR turned on and the long exposure NR turned on. Active D-Lighting set at normal. Also with the 18-200 AF-S lens. I'm pretty sure this lens focuses past infinity because this looks a bit soft. I think next time I will manually focus to infinity and then back off a bit.
Click to expand...
Modern lenses have ED elements in them which are affected by temperature, so the lenses have to be able to focus past infinity to provide enough tolerance for all situations.

My method is to autofocus on a distant subject before I get to my shooting location (and try not to turn the focus ring afterwards!). It's also a good idea to do a few shorter high-ISO shots to check the focus (and exposure/composition) before starting the long exposure.
David Hogan said:
I'm probably not going to have many more chances to practice star shots before my honeymoon, so if there's anyone on this forum that has any experience I'd love to hear what you've learned. Especially concerning the different types of noise reduction and their effects. What does the high ISO noise reduction do?
Click to expand...
At the risk of stating the obvious, it removes noise from high ISO exposures! It would help with the ISO 3200 shot, but not with long exposures. Long Exposure NR will take a 2nd exposure and remove it from the 1st one, to remove hot pixels, but a 1-hour exposure means the camera needs to take a 1-hour dark frame.
David Hogan said:
how effective is it? What white balance setting do people like to use for starlight? Moonlight? Any info helps. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Sunlight is a good starting point, but I would strongly advise you to shoot raw in these situations, or at least shoot Raw + JPEG. With a raw file you have a lot more room to adjust things like white balance later on, and in the case of high-ISO images you will have complete control over the NR instead of having to choose the right amount of NR when you take the shot.
David Hogan said:
--
Dave Hogan
http://flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/
Click to expand...
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http://www.pixelfixer.org
 
For the D90 at least, the "bulb" setting is not available when using the cordless remote - in spite of what the manual implies. If you want to take an long exposure with bulb and not touch the camera, you have to use the cable release.
 
Your star photos are great! Here are my recent attempts from Lake Tahoe . Both are 30-sec exposures with my D90, ISO 3200 and a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor. I used a home-made "barn-door" drive to track the stars.





Settings: Active-D lighting OFF (otherwise you get dark halos around objects in the sky); long exposure NR = ON; white balance ="Incandescent"; contrast +2. Pix would have been sharper if I'd stopped down to f/2.8 or f/4, but then I would need a longer exposure and very accurate tracking.
 
(photos didn't embed - here's another try)

Milky Way pix are 30-sec exposures with my D90, ISO 3200 and a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor. I used a home-made "barn-door" drive to track the stars.

http://www.pbase.com/bucsela/tahoe

Settings: Active-D lighting OFF (otherwise you get dark halos around objects in the sky); long exposure NR = ON; white balance ="Incandescent"; contrast +2. Pix would have been sharper if I'd stopped down to f/2.8 or f/4, but then I would need a longer exposure and very accurate tracking.
 
On my D90 I put it in 'bulb' mode and then select remote. The word 'bulb' disappears, replaced by two dashes. You can now use the remote: one click on and one click off!
 
Thanks for sharing. Hope you discover Hogan's Comet.

--
Namtarn
Panasonic TZ7
Nikon D90
Nikkor: DX 18-105 VR, DX 10-24, DX 35 f/1.8, 70-300 VR
 
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