In Camera, d810, long exposure settings

Is there a menu setting for longer than 30s exposures on the d810?

 

If I set the shutter on manual to "- -" (Timer) I can shoot whatever duration I want, but if there were an internal timer in the camera, that would be better...but does that exist?

 

Is it possible to "trick" the timelapse function to do this?

 

Thanks and it appears the Canon has this feature.

John, you can use a suitable remote control, such as the Nikon MC-36, to time exposures longer than 30 seconds; the camera itself can't.

 

If you want such a remote, I can sell you my MC-36, which doesn't get used since I got a wireless one.

Longer exposures were an option added to the D810a for the "M*" mode. It's not on the base D810 or (for some reason) D850. Nikon would definitely rather sell you an MC-36, although there are relatively cheap third-party options.

I guess in a kinda existential way, the longer the initial exposure the longer an extra stop, time wise, is.:)

 

Very hard to manually double 1/10 sec exp. guessing a 1/5sec is impossible and any error is important.

 

However, with a 30sec exp, it is pretty easy to guess a minute and 10 sec either way is not really gonna show up.

 

One of the ludicrously cheap remotes with a slide-lock would be fine and any watch/phone with a second counter.

 

The reason why it's not there in the 'basic' D810 or the D850 is just plane stupid.

 

Maybe they're planning a D850A... or maybe even a D850A Mono for astronomers.;)

The reason why it's not there in the 'basic' D810 or the D850 is just plane stupid.

 

Well, allegedly because they don't want the meter left running for long enough to have reports of flat batteries. But I don't really see how it could be a problem unless you're actually using the functionality. Does a CMOS sensor draw current when it's just sitting exposed?

 

Having done the D810a, it does seem odd to have left it out, unless they thought customers would complain about the extra entry on the mode dial. I maintain that Nikon's UI woes would be improved by having some functionality that you can optionally "turn on", and which otherwise don't clutter the interface. Pretty much the entire video interface, for a start. (I don't want a camera that can't do video, but I'm happy to have to do something in order to see it...)

I think it was the D50 that had a user optional 'level' of menu choices. Basic and Advanced.

 

I was baffled at first 'cos i couldn't believe it didn't have the functionality I was after... Doh!

 

I still don't get the time limits on video length (inc. timelapse). I though it was to do with recording time v tax bracket being a deal-killer for long single takes.

 

So how do dash-cams manage?

Does a CMOS sensor draw current when it's just sitting exposed?

 

I don't know if the sensor draws current, but the electromagnets holding the shutter open and the mirror up surely do.

OK, why oh why, though! I have a cheapo wireless remote that I can use, and a timer on my phone, so I can Rube Goldberg it using the Timer setting on Manual.

I saw a youtube about long exposure shots...the guy was using a Canon something and he just dialed in 3:52 into the camera's menu and voila.

It would seem that the sensor would draw no more with an internal clock control than it would manually controlled. The only extra draw would be the timer counting down, and that would be minimal.

Thanks for the frustrating confirmation though.

You gotta wonder why 3 minutes and 52 seconds is so critical? Call it 4 mins!

 

I would challenge anyone to be able to tell between them. I even suspect the histograms would be identical..!

Ah, the good old days, when you could time your exposures with an hourglass and hang a hat over the lens to use as a shutter.

 

I'm not sure how useful incredibly long exposures really are. In my neck of the woods the sensor just saturates with light pollution, and you need really good tracking if you want the stars frozen (less if you just want trails). I'd generally prefer to take lots of shorter exposures and stack/align them - not least because you don't lose a lot of work when someone drives a car over a nearby hill, or when you accidentally kick your tripod. Even for meteor showers I don't really have a problem with a 30s exposure limit. (I should really check my third-party external timer and see whether I can leave it doing a time lapse - I've always just done it manually.)

 

That said, I'm a little disappointed that the only 24-hour exposure shots I've seen from the south pole were done with multiple shorter exposures. If you're in the one place in the world where a genuine 24-hour star trail is possible, it's sad that there's a need to cheat!

You gotta wonder why 3 minutes and 52 seconds is so critical? Call it 4 mins!

 

I would challenge anyone to be able to tell between them. I even suspect the histograms would be identical..!

 

Ha, well, that wasn't the point. He arrived at 3:52 (I think it was a video on F-Stoppers???), by getting a reading w/o his 16 stop ND filter on, then put the ND on, then he had an app on his phone that calculated the + 16 stops exposure based on what he entered as the metered reading w/o ND and that = 3:52. If it were 4:00 the point is the same. It is a convenience to have it in camera and likely a simple timer function. Timers abound in the camera, why not one more? There is a timer with three settings for exposure delay after the mirror "slaps" up, in addition to the self timer delay---all good and important functions esp for critical focus like macro and astro; but being able to simply dial in longer than 30s exposures would be useful also, i think.

I think you're right! I'd like to as-well, but resorted to a slide-lock cheap remote for Astro stuff.