How can I set an exposure time over 30 seconds with a DSLR?

Question

Most DSLRs have an exposure time limit of 30 seconds. Now I'm asking myself how is it possible to create images about over 1 hour or longer, like these two:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/froge/3899184535/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/_belial/481126091/

(I have a Canon 60D)

Asked by Poru

Answer

Yes it is possible with all DSLRs.

The 30s limit of all non-Olympus DSLRs is for timed exposures, meaning you dial in the time ahead of time and the exposure takes up to 30s (or 60s for Olympus).

All DSLRs also have a bulb mode which you press the shutter to start the exposure and let go when you are done. This can also be done with a remote control which is highly recommended to avoid shaking the camera during the exposure.

Bulb modes also have limits but manufacturers do not all publish what it is. For Olympus and Panasonic, this is known to be 30 minutes. Some cameras can take a single exposure of several hours. Regardless of the model you are always limited to the battery-life of your camera unless you use an AC-Adapter and have somewhere to plug it in.

Digitally you can simulate extremely long exposures using Exposure Stacking which basically adds up multiple exposures to make a longer one. A lot of astro photography is done that way, just make sure that your camera does not apply Dark-Frame subtraction between shots otherwise you will have gaps in your star trails. On some cameras you can disable Dark-Frame Subtraction but not on all.

Answered by Itai

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Are Intervalometers different for standard Time-Lapse and HDR Time-Lapse

Question

I am a Nikon D90 user and fairly new to photography. I am considering purchasing a wired remote shutter release as intervalometer for taking time-lapses. However since I'm also a fan of HDR, it will be a matter of time before I want to experiment with HDR time-lapse.

My question is, will any intervalometer work the same? Or do I need an HDR-specialized intervalometer?

An example intervalometer I had my eyes on that is relatively cheap and has the full features: http://cgi.ebay.com/130338921382

I have also seen expensive ones mentioning they take HDR time lapse: http://www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control.html

Thanks in advance. :)

EDIT:

I was inspired by Philip Bloom's HDR Time-lapse tutorial and it seems like his intervalometer(s) do more than standard interval with auto-bracketing on camera. Instead of "[ev0] [wait] [ev-1] [wait] [ev+1]...", it seems like his intervalometer(s) are doing "[ev0] [ev-1] [ev+1] [wait]...". Is that right??

EDIT2:

After reading John Rappold's article, I think the reason most shutter releases ask you to set to bulb mode is so it can accurately time the shutter open time. Does this mean if I set "hold time" to 2 seconds, use continuous mode and takes 3 brackets of 0.25sec, 0.50sec, 1sec, it will produce the desired result I seek for??

Answer

Based on the Promote Control page, it sounds like its HDR capabilities are limited by the camera. Some cameras may support a continuous stream of bracketed shots, while others may require a pause between each. I figure that is because some cameras support burst-mode bracketing, while others require separate shutter releases for each shot of a bracket.

Based on Philip Bloom's 'HDR' timelapse video, I'm not really sure I see anything there that probably couldn't be achieved with single RAW frames from a camera with decent enough dynamic range. Most HDR images are not actually physically high-dynamic-range...they are low dynamic range images tone mapped from high dynamic range images. According to DxO Mark, the Nikon D90 has about 12.5 stops of dynamic range, which gives you quite a bit of headroom to eek out a quality "HDR" video comparable to Philip Bloom's with single shots.

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Is there OS X software for timed shutter release with a Canon 30D?

Question

I'm trying to do some time lapse photography with my Canon 30D, and I'm looking for a program for OS X that I can use to fire the shutter over time instead of using an intervalometer.

Does the EOS Capture utility have a timed shutter release function? Or do you know any other software with this feature?

Answer

EOS Utility has this feature, at least the 2.5.1. version for Mac does. Simple and free... Click the clock icon:

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