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Hi all I am looking to buy a dslr and thought I would pick your brains first I have looked at quite a few but none tell you if you can adjust the exposure time on the list of instructions is there a technical bit for this that I am not seeing or do I need to find one that says it can do 5 min exposures or do you have to get the camera modded for such long expos hope you can help

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Dean, any DSLR will fit the bill really but lots of folks here use Canon as they have a lot of support software for them. As long as a camera has a 'bulb' mode and can be triggered either with a wired plug-in remote release or wireless release then you will be fine. The vast majority of camera's will go to 30 seconds long exposure anyway and the majority then, will have a bulb mode. It is not that technical as in bulb mode you start the camera running and stop it whenever you wish to. But long exposures require accurate tracking and very accurate guiding if you go down that route. And that is a whole other world of considerations beyond this simple post. If you don't already have a camera, look at a second hand Canon EOS 300D or 350D to start off. I personally use a Pentax Kr, but that's just because I was a Pentax user anyway and it made no sense to swap over. :)

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I think Scott pretty much nailed it BUT I wouldn't look at the 300 or 350D. They are obsolete and have been replaced by significantly better cameras like the 1100D. Imo the 1100D should now be considered the entry level model for astrophotography.

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I agree with Kev - an 1100D would be a great start and immensely better than the other two. If budget is a consideration then also consider a s/h 1000D - I've seen them go for as low as £150 in good working order with all the standard accessories. :)

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Most, if not all, DSLRs will have a maximum shutter speed of 30s and a "B" setting which will allow you to shoot longer exposures. I would recommend that you purchase a programmable shutter release cable which will allow you to shoot a series of images at a set time interval.

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The canon 1100D sells for around £280 on Amazon, less for a refurbished, and lesser still if no lens required the remote controls are around £12-15 and do every thing that's required, also APT is cheap if you have a USB lead and a laptop, or a 10m extender USB lead into a PC under cover....

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one thing missing tho. with a film camera i was able to shoot an hour long exposure with no problems. but a dslr (mine is a 1000d) i cant shoot longer than 30 seconds without it turning red.

a 5 minute exposure will go bright pink. and a 10 minute exposure will be completly white. i dont know why this is. people say i need to get a light polution filter but that will turn the image to blue. i dont understand this much.

this picture is a film shot of 30 minutes at iso 400, this one is a 25 minute exposure at iso 200

CNV00005_zps89bf946f.jpgIMG_9721_zps34c49074.jpg

sorry about the big pictures. i cant figure out how to thumbnail them. nor can i find a how to on this

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I recommend Nikon. Bulb mode is what you need and can be used in manual mode.

I bought D5100 a ywar ago and love it. The articulating screen is pretty neat too, i use it when using tripods and to take pics at awkward angles.

Go and try a few and see how they feel and how easy the menus are to navigate - base your decission on that. Its different strokes for different folks....

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one thing missing tho. with a film camera i was able to shoot an hour long exposure with no problems. but a dslr (mine is a 1000d) i cant shoot longer than 30 seconds without it turning red.

a 5 minute exposure will go bright pink. and a 10 minute exposure will be completly white. i dont know why this is. people say i need to get a light polution filter but that will turn the image to blue. i dont understand this much.

this picture is a film shot of 30 minutes at iso 400, this one is a 25 minute exposure at iso 200

CNV00005_zps89bf946f.jpgIMG_9721_zps34c49074.jpg

sorry about the big pictures. i cant figure out how to thumbnail them. nor can i find a how to on this

That's really interesting... Strange , I guess that the digital sensor equivalent of ISO isn't quite as accurate as we believe?

or maybe the light polition wasn't so bad when you used film?

or maybe it was the way it was developed?

very interesting though.

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That's really interesting... Strange , I guess that the digital sensor equivalent of ISO isn't quite as accurate as we believe?

or maybe the light polition wasn't so bad when you used film?

or maybe it was the way it was developed?

very interesting though.

funny you should say that. but light polution has acctually gotten better since because they now turn the lights off at midnight.

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I have the Canon 450D and it is a great camera, however the later Canon's have live view screens which will make set up and focus much more easier. The 600, 650D etc all have bulb mode which will allow long exposures. I am looking at upgrading to a Canon with a live view screen.

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That's really interesting... Strange , I guess that the digital sensor equivalent of ISO isn't quite as accurate as we believe?

Film suffers from reciprocity failure, which means its sensitivity drops (very) sharply the longer the exposure (probably anything much over a second). DSLRs are linear, so in 25 minutes you get precisely 25 times the signal in one minute. Hence the DSLR shot is much more saturated.

There may also have been some adjustment for the background when the film was printed.

NigelM

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The remote timers are brilliant and great value - about £12 from Amazon for full control over exposure length, no of exposures, delay, etc. All dead easy. I have tried creating time lapse videos with mine as well as astro photography.

However if you have a laptop to hand then the Canon utility software that comes with their dslrs also allows you to control exposure lengths, delays and number of exposures via the cameras usb cable - alternatively there may be free software around that does the same.

I upgraded from and old dslr without live view to a new 650D and the difference is fantastic. Live view makes focusing so much easier.

Martin

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