FZ200 Bulb setting or equivalent?

[thygocanberra]

Any FZ200 users able to advise if this camera has a bulb exposure setting for very long exposures? Can't seem to find this in my web searcing.

 

[sherman_levine]

Not to my knowledge.
Sherm

 

[leerob]

I'd be interested also in that setting, but I don't think it has it.

 

[Killer Wolf]

the remote shutter release allows a Bulb feature. the official one's expensive but there's a bunch of cheap OEMs on ebay etc.

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

You can do up to 60 seconds max, but I don't know of a way in-camera beyond that. However, for $34, you can buy a Pixel remote timer that will allow continuous bulb exposures.

http://www.amazon.com/Pixel-Control-Shutter-Panasonic-compatible/dp/B00404X7V6

 

[sherman_levine]

Are you sure they support bulb with FZ200?

To my knowledge, they're just like pressing the shutter button. If a camera supports bulb, the remote will, but if not....

Sherm

the remote shutter release allows a Bulb feature. the official one's expensive but there's a bunch of cheap OEMs on ebay etc.

 

[Killer Wolf]

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/fz200/optional_accessories.html

stuff under the DMW-RSL1 entry says it has bulb function.

 

[sherman_levine]

It has a physical latch to hold the button down.
Sherm

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/fz200/optional_accessories.html

stuff under the DMW-RSL1 entry says it has bulb function.

 

[Juggler]

Well, as Sherman_levine stated, only cameras can have bulb feature... Remote shutters can't. "Bulb mode is supported" means, remote can send signal to the camera as if the shutter button remains pressed. I do have that remote, when you activate the bulb feature on the remote, camera thinks somebody press shutter button and keeps his finger on it. If you set the drive mode to single shot on the camera, it takes one picture and stops. If it is in continuous shooting mode, it keeps taking pictures (until the buffer is full), if it is in bulb mode, than it works.

So, there is no bulb mode in FZ200.. 60 second exposure is all we can have. If somebody will hack the firmware someday, may be we can have bulb and some other fantastic features...Otherwise It is not possible with a cable or wireless remote..

regards,

Melih

--

'Juggling is a metaphor for life.. Each ball represents one of life's concerns and the goal is to give each the appropriate amount of individual attention while simultaneously watching and guiding all the others. Life is about balance and staying quick and alert as everything threatens to spin out of control' from Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

 

[thygocanberra]

Thanks for all the responses.

I hope this isn't a dumb question - so star trails and shots of lightning, for example, are not really possible with this camera?

 

[Juggler]

If you want to 30min exposure, no, it is not possible, but you can do star trails, you should take many 1 min exposure photos and than 'stack' them.. It is commonly used technique among astrophotographers, if you google 'stacker software' you can find some free software to combine them..

And FZ200 can do deep space photography fine, check this post:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1033&thread=42478222

As for the lightning photos, you should be lucky, after you press the shutter, the lightning should strike in one min

you could try 60 fps, but it is for 'long' lightnings which take half a second or so to reach the ground...

This is where fz200 lacks... I had a Casio EX-F1 (now casio FH-100) and they have a very useful feature, when you press shutter halfway, they start to take pictures but don't write them to card, instead they keep the photos in buffer and when the buffer is full they erase the previous photos and keep taking.. When you press the shutter full, they write the photos in the buffer to the card, and keep taking photos to the card this time. This way, you wait for the lightning pressing the shutter halfway, when you see the lightning you just fully press, and the camera starts taking photos a second before you press the shutter. As they are very fast cameras (ex-f1 is 60fps at 6mp, and fh100 is 40fps at 9mp) you hardly miss the lightning..

If FZ200 had this feature, it would be unbeatable..

--

'Juggling is a metaphor for life.. Each ball represents one of life's concerns and the goal is to give each the appropriate amount of individual attention while simultaneously watching and guiding all the others. Life is about balance and staying quick and alert as everything threatens to spin out of control' from Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

 

[RevsCam]

Thanks for all the responses.

I hope this isn't a dumb question - so star trails and shots of lightning, for example, are not really possible with this camera?

No star trails. But lightning works very well at 15 seconds. Keep in mind after the exposure there is another dark frame exposure of the same duration for noise reduction.

 

[bolador]

Deep Sky Photography is possible, this is how it looks without any post proccesing from DeepSkyStacker.









I am at south hemisfere so you`ll see it upside down as used in the North,, It`s Orion bya the way.

Stacking softweare won`t help to get star trails.. I fact it will try to avoid trails. unless you have a fixed spot in the frame an tell the soft it is a comet and you whant to fix over it... (just a thougt)

FZ200 takes a drakframe so in a secuence of long shots you have a lon period of time in between without image, and then stacking them will make an interrupted line like this "- - - - - " unless you use shortertimes so the dark is short enogh to not to be seen...

 

[David FZ200]

How can we get Panasonic to modify the firmware to enable the bulb setting?