Can I use BULB setting when taking remote pictures?

Question

I have a Canon XTi/400D, which I connect to my Mac OS X 10.6 and try to take remote pictures with it using EOS Utility, but I am not able to use the BULB setting on my laptop. Is this normal functionality?

If the above is normal behavior(no access to BULB), is there a way to take a picture on BULB not on remote, and not having to hold down the shutter button?

What I essentially want to do is shoot star trails...and I am not able to go above 30 secs while shooting with the camera connected to the computer.

Asked by user1160022

Answer

Yes, I'm afraid this does seem to be standard when tethered (i.e. triggering your camera's shutter from a connected computer).

However, the good news is that most remote shutter release cables have a "press and lock" feature for use with Bulb mode (or for continuous shooting). You can see this pretty clearly on this Canon remote:

Pressing the button once will fire the shutter once, but pressing and sliding upwards will either lock the shutter open (in Bulb mode) or trigger continuous shooting (in any other mode). This is exactly what I use for all my long exposures over 30 seconds.

Answered by Mark Whitaker

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