Long Exposure (star trail) | Night Photos | Photo Forum

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Long Exposure (star trail)

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March 31, 2014
1:01 am

chasmz

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Good day.

Im a newbie in night photograpy please help me on star trailing..

What I have..
Nikon D7000 + 18-105 VR (kit lens)
Not very good tripod
Phottex IR remote (i will borrow from my friend – not yet on hand)

What I want to know..

1.) How can I know the right time for me to star trail? is there a site where I can see the schedule (Im from the Philippines)?

2.) What is the difference between bulb and time (for nikon D7000).. I already read the manual…

Bulb – to Open shutter keep the shutter-release button pressed until the exposure is complete then take your finger off the shutter-release button to close shutter.

Time – does it only work if you have a remote?

3.) If I have a phottix IR remote and in bulb mode, can I press once to open shutter then press the second time to close shutter?|

Thank you very much..

Best regards

Thank you.

Best regards,

March 31, 2014
10:15 am

mscharff

Spartanburg, SC

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Chasmz,

I’ve attached a pretty basic explanation of how do make one of these photos…

http://petapixel.com/2013/03/1…..to-finish/

As far as blub and time, most cameras will time the shutter speed out to 30 seconds… anything beyond that you will need bulb mode and time your shutter release (for this you will need the remote shutter release)

March 31, 2014
10:39 am

Mandrake

Long Island, New York

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ps……. If you don’t have duct tape you can use an eraser and a rubber band.
Also… Corregidor (not that far) is one of the preferred locations for low light pollution.

-- Mandrake --

April 1, 2014
6:32 pm

nikonguy

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Chaxmz
mscharff is absolutely right. Nikon D7000 and most other DSLR’s will take up to
30 second exposure with remote and then automatically close shutter.
If you want to take a longer exposure you have to set your camera to “bulb” and
then press the remote when you have determined when you have left the shutter open
long enough. It’s pretty simple really…just use phone or watch or whatever to watch
amount of seconds that have elapsed and then push button to close shutter. Done!
D7000 is a great camera – I have one and loved the images it produced until the shutter
broke. Only problem I had was oil spot issue on sensor – just like issues with D600 FX.
Apparently Nikon is going to replace parts in D600 for free but no such offer with D7000.
Where’s the nearest Canon store…I’m switching brands lol!!!
Dale.

April 2, 2014
4:27 am

mscharff

Spartanburg, SC

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Problem with switching is the cost of the lenses you already have… I think both Canon and Nikon know that – it is much harder to switch than just the camera…

April 2, 2014
6:11 am

Mandrake

Long Island, New York

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He’s not switching…. He’d have to change his name.

-- Mandrake --

April 3, 2014
11:07 pm

chasmz

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Thank you very much mscharff for the link you provided… It will surely help me… also to mandrake for the advice. The moonconnection.com will help me very much to prepare for the star trailing.

Hopefully there will be a clear sky chart for country in Asia (I am from the Philippines). And unfortunately I cannot go to Corregidor because of limited resources… J

please help…..

Setting above:

Nikon D7000

IR remote (see pic 1) not Remote with cord (see pic 2)

Mode: Manual

Release mode: Remote control (see pic 3)

Shutter speed: Bulb

What will happen if I press the IR remote once to open the shutter?
a) The shutter curtain will remain open until I press again the IR remote again

b) The shutter curtain will remain open for 30sec

c) None of the above. Please tell me what will happen

Your reply will be highly appreciated

pic 1