mihut_ionescu Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I'm thinking to buy a Nikon D70 and I was wondering if anybody took long exposure night shots with this camera. I enjoy doing those (30 sec+ exposures) and I wanted to know how well the D70 performs. I want 12x18 enlargments out of those, so I'm hopeful that the D70 could give me good 12x18 prints day or night. If you could comment or even post a link to any such night shots at full resolution, that would be great. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry_akiyoshi Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I'm curious about this as well. Intuitively I would think that the D70, or any camera with a non-cooled sensor, would be inadequate for very long exposures. If anybody has evidence to the contrary I'd love to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_quincy Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Count me in, Could somebody post some night shots from D70? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muellerworld Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 In his excellent D70 Test/Review Bjørn Rørslett showed two 3-minute exposures (of a polluted night sky) with the D70 (at 200 & 800 ISO with NR on). He commented that the D70 didn't do as well as the D2H (<a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/D2H_rev04.html">20-minute exposures</a>!), but that is seemed acceptable. <p> <blockquote> <a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/D70_rev04.html">http://www.naturfotograf.com/D70_rev04.html</a> </blockquote> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihut_ionescu Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 Can anybody contribute with some real night photos :)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvarko Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 bad shot<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvarko Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 crop<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihut_ionescu Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 Does the D70 manual say it would be damaging to the sensor to do long exposures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvarko Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansantry Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 <p>Though I'm fairly new to photography (never having owned a film camera other than a P&S), I've had good results with the D70. Here's a 30 second exposure at f/8, ISO 1600 on the D70 with a 50mm f/1.8:</p> <p><img src="http://seansantry.com/i/p/fenway_glow.jpg"></p> The glow left center is from the game at Fenway Park (Boston, MA) last night. This is shot from the Lee St. Pond in Brookline, 4-5 miles away. - Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_quincy Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 <pre>Not bad at all! Sean, although still far away from film ...How come Sean's sample is much better than Chris's? Did you use a tripod, Chris? </pre> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansantry Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 <p><i>Not bad at all! Sean, although still far away from film ... How come Sean's sample is much better than Chris's? Did you use a tripod, Chris?</i></p> <p>Thanks, Eric, and you're right--from what little I do know of photography, this type of shot would respond better to medium format film. I also would like to have exposed a bit longer, but don't have the remote for the D70 (wouldn't want to shake the camera, even on the tripod). Not bad for digital, though!</p> <p>- Sean</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvarko Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 I was using ISO 1600 - Sean was likely using 200. and yes, of course I used a tripod. :-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansantry Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 <p><i>I was using ISO 1600 - Sean was likely using 200.</i></p><p>Oops! Absolutely right, Chris. I mistakenly wrote that the shot was taken at ISO 1600. I just checked the EXIF data and It was ISO 200.</p><p>- Sean</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihut_ionescu Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 Eric, why do you say it's far away from film? Which type of film, 35mm or medium format? This shot looks pretty good to me compared to a 35mm film. BTW, is there remote control or wired cable release for the D70? I couldn't find anything on the B&H site ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levi_baker Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 I got my remote, the ML-L3 at the local camera shop, good luck on finding it online.<p>ISO 1600, kit lens, don't remember aperature, f7ish i think, 30 seconds<br><img src="http://www.scrypts.com/time/users/time/DSC1170.jpg"><p><img src="http://www.scrypts.com/time/users/time/DSC1177.jpg"><p>ISO 200, f4, 30 seconds<br><img src="http://www.scrypts.com/time/users/time/DSC0429.jpg"> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levi_baker Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 forgot to add that that last one I've made 8x12 prints of, they came out with good detail, hold up well at that size, and wouldn't hesitate to go to 12x18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihut_ionescu Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 Levi, is there such remote release with a timer? Say I want to preset the release for a 1 minute exposure ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levi_baker Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, about 1 minute shutter, or the self timer to open the shutter? The self timer is 2, 5 ,10, and 20 seconds. Shutter speed goes up to 30 seconds, then to bulb. The remote can be used to start the self-timer, focus and shoot, or just shoot with preset focus (either from preset auto or manual focus). If you're asking about a time lapse remote timer, I don't know if there's anything more portable than a laptop out there. I didn't use the remote in any of those shots, didn't have it at the time. Given the very very minimal shake caused by the mirror and pressing the shutter release versus the much longer exposure, having no remote is not the cause of any blurring (high wind in the case of the first picture). For something in the range of 1/4 of a second, I would use the remote, but at 30 seconds the shake from release becomes trivial. Some might disagree with that, but whatever. You're welcome to ask me more questions, although you're better off to email me with them as I don't check here very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustys pics Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Good photos from all, But here is some heavy duty info on the D70's low light CDD response: http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/us/d70/darksignal.htm The guy is an astronomer, and compares the D70, D10 (canon) and EOS Rebel. The results for the D70 are impressive. I still prefer the random grain pattern of C-41 film for lowlight, but the D70 will be more useful for handheld spontaneous night shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidweaverphoto Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Here is what I know. And a long shot too. I use the NR set to ON (Noise Reduction=NR). Yes you can shot long exposures. You need the hard-to-find remote (or a laptop w/ cord) to do anything longer. <BR>Two Issues:<BR>1. Battery Life<BR>2. NR processing.<BR><BR><B>Battery Life</B> is a problem. I did have a battery go dead on me during the middle of a 20 minutes shot and I lost the image. I had 2 spares to keep shooting with. The battery (I had been using all day) died during the NR processing stage which brings me to...<BR><B>NR Processing</B> TAKE NOTE that NR processing is equal to the length of the exposure. Thus a 20 minute exposure comsumes 40 minutes of camera time (aka: battery life). <BR> Nikon says use the AC adapter and that makes sense...now if I only had a 3 mile extension cord. :-)<BR><BR> The image below was still fairly noisy after the camera did it's NR processing. I used some color noise reduction in Nikon Capture and it really cleaned it up. No comparable tool in Photoshop CS I can find. Film seems better for these but I was already hauling around a 45 pound loaded photo trekker pack and happenend to find myself here at 0100.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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