Digital SLR Cameras Forum

Digital SLRs Forum Discuss digital SLRs, lenses, RAW conversion, or anything else related to digital SLRs. You may also want to see the Nikon, Canon, and Sony camera forums.
Digital Camera Pro Reviews >>
Read and Write Digital SLR Reviews >>
Digital SLR Buyer's Guide >>
Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    BC, Canada
    Posts
    2

    Question Bulb Exposure & Battery Life

    Hi everyone. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience shooting bulb exposures with the Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D), or other DSLR's. The question is: Assuming full charge, how long does a single Canon battery (i.e. no battery grip) typically last through an exposure? I'm planning to try a little astrophotography (star trails to be precise), so the exposures will probably be longer than half an hour.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Mineral Point, WI, USA
    Posts
    7,561

    Re: Bulb Exposure & Battery Life

    Welcome to the site. I have done some bulb exposures with my DRebel (300D) but nothing that long. Maybe a couple minutes at most. I have no dought that the battery will last for quite a while if need be. The reason I haven't done it longer is because of the level of noise long exposures produce in digital cameras. Long exposures is one place where film still beats digital IMO.

    I did do a star trails photo with digital a few years back, but I didn't do it with a single exposure. I did it by taking multiple photos and stitching them together. Here is a link to the thread the explains now I did it.

    Digital Star Trails
    Mike

    My website
    Twitter
    Blog


    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    BC, Canada
    Posts
    2

    Re: Bulb Exposure & Battery Life

    Thanks for the tip, Michael! The technique you described is an interesting one, and it probably requires a ton of patience to do for longer star trails compared to single exposure click-and-forget. Do you still get a lot of noise in your shots if you use lower ISO speed (e.g. ISO 100) for very long exposures?

  4. #4
    Check out our D300 Pro Review! deckcadet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Gainesville, Florida, USA
    Posts
    1,189

    Re: Bulb Exposure & Battery Life

    I'd say that you have to be careful about battery life with the XT, since the battery is somewhat lower capacity than some of hte higher end ones, but you should be able to get a reasonably long exposure.... If you need longer than it actually gives, though, then you'll have to either break down and use a grip with a second battery or find some way to use the A/C adapter.


    Quote Originally Posted by mjs1973
    Welcome to the site. I have done some bulb exposures with my DRebel (300D) but nothing that long. Maybe a couple minutes at most. I have no dought that the battery will last for quite a while if need be. The reason I haven't done it longer is because of the level of noise long exposures produce in digital cameras. Long exposures is one place where film still beats digital IMO.
    The 350D offers, like most recent DSLRs, long exposure NR based off Dark Frame Subtraction. This leads to high detail retention and extremely low noise.

    I have to disagree with you about film beating digital in terms of long exposures. While it's true that film doesn't have noise, it suffers from reciprocity failure which can be a pain. IMHO a DSLR with decent long exp. NR should be more than sufficient to displace film
    Harrison
    Nikon Forum / Digital SLR Forum Moderator | moderator bio
    Check out our new Nikon D300 Pro Review D3 review coming soon...
    Nikon Samurai #9 | NPS Member
    10 Lenses • 5 Bodies • 3 Macs • 1 Sore Back

  5. #5
    Panarus biarmicus Moderator (Sports) SmartWombat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    11,750

    Re: Bulb Exposure & Battery Life

    Quote Originally Posted by Shimakaze
    I'm planning to try a little astrophotography (star trails to be precise), so the exposures will probably be longer than half an hour.
    Accidentally I left the shutter open for 3/4 hour (in CLEANing mode) and then carried on to shoot for another 7 hours on two batteries in a grip.
    So I'd think you ought to get two or three photos on a single battery.
    PAul

    Scroll down to the Sports Forum and post your sports pictures !

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •