Bulb Shooting

**olderguy** · 05-05-2014, 10:40 AM

Sirs;
I own a Pentax K30 camera, purchased in the fall of 2013.
Great camera, can not say enough about it.
I do have one problem. I can not seem to take a time exposure
in the "Bulb" mode. For shutter release, in the custom settings I
have set to Mode 2. I also tried it in mode 1, to no avail. I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. Battery was fully charged.
The following is what happens. When I close the shutter and turn the camera off,
the "card access lamp" blinks continuously. I turn the camera back on and press the "Playback" button, nothing happens. I press the "Info" button, still a blank LCD screen.
The only way to stop the "card access lamp" from flashing is to remove the battery.
I turn the camera back on, press the "playback button" and the LCD screen
reads "No Image". All other functions work at that point.
I would appreciate any help or information about this problem.
Thank you for your time.

Ed

elliott · 05-05-2014, 10:50 AM

It was taking a dark frame, a second exposure with the shutter closed so it can map and remove the noise created by the extremely long exposure, this exposure is exactly as long as the first. In the capture menu it is called "Slow Shutter Noise Reduction". However, you really shouldn't be taking 45 minute exposures, the results are going to be terrible. Stacking multiple shorter exposures will give much better results.

fgaudet · 05-05-2014, 10:54 AM

On my K5 when taking a very long exposure, it is not uncommon for the picture to literally take several minutes to get saved onto the SD card. I would suggest for you to wait a little while (give the camera a solid 5-15 minutes) after the shot and see if the problem persists.

I haven't shot anything longer than about a minute recently but I do remember finding the saving process stupidly long when doing 10 minutes + exposure, especially when I was waiting to get another shot.

Macario · 05-05-2014, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by olderguy

Sirs;
I own a Pentax K30 camera, purchased in the fall of 2013.
Great camera, can not say enough about it.
I do have one problem. I can not seem to take a time exposure
in the "Bulb" mode. For shutter release, in the custom settings I
have set to Mode 2. I also tried it in mode 1, to no avail. I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. Battery was fully charged.
The following is what happens. When I close the shutter and turn the camera off,
the "card access lamp" blinks continuously. I turn the camera back on and press the "Playback" button, nothing happens. I press the "Info" button, still a blank LCD screen.
The only way to stop the "card access lamp" from flashing is to remove the battery.
I turn the camera back on, press the "playback button" and the LCD screen
reads "No Image". All other functions work at that point.
I would appreciate any help or information about this problem.
Thank you for your time.

Ed

when shooting in bulb mode, you should calculate that after the exposure, you have to wait the same amount of time for the camera to be finished (don't know if it takes that amount of time in the very long exposures). But if you take a shot in bulb mode for 1 minute, the camera needs to compute afterwards for one minute and so on. Don't know excactly why this is, but it is so

VisualDarkness · 05-05-2014, 11:43 AM

Originally posted by fgaudet

On my K5 when taking a very long exposure, it is not uncommon for the picture to literally take several minutes to get saved onto the SD card. I would suggest for you to wait a little while (give the camera a solid 5-15 minutes) after the shot and see if the problem persists.

I haven't shot anything longer than about a minute recently but I do remember finding the saving process stupidly long when doing 10 minutes + exposure, especially when I was waiting to get another shot.

It wasn't the saving, it was taking a dark frame of similar leght with the shutter closed to subtract noise, hot pixels and dead pixels from the final image.

lister6520 · 05-05-2014, 12:05 PM

It is as was already explained by Eliott in the second post. What perhaps hasn't been understood clearly here is that you can switch off that feature (the dark frame subtraction) and you will not have to wait at all after the exposure is completed. In other words even if you do a one hour exposure it will only take a second to save the photo once the hour long exposure is completed.

To switch off the dark frame subtraction on K-30 go to the third camera menu and select 'Slow shutter speed noise reduction' and set it to OFF. By default it is normally on AUTO.

Adam · 05-05-2014, 12:16 PM

If you go out of your way to get an exposure lasting several minutes, I'd recommend leaving the slow shutter speed noise reduction option enabled.

Also, as others have said, it's a good idea to split your long exposures into multiple exposures and then stack them. If you only shoot a 30s exposures then DFS isn't necessary.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)

PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

**olderguy** · 05-05-2014, 12:42 PM

Thank you all for your quick reply's. I will try all suggestions, they seem like the solutions I was looking for.
I did read some of the remarks in my operators manual, they just didn't register with my gray matter.
Thank you all again for all of your input.

DeadJohn · 05-05-2014, 12:57 PM

Originally posted by olderguy

SNIP ... I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. ...

Adding to what others already said, with film you had to do one long exposure but with digital you should take shorter exposures and stack them. See Startrails application for easy stacking software.

Turn off dark frame subraction on your camera, set to Manual mode, 30 sec, 800 ISO (vary those settings to match your sky conditions). Then find the interval shooting setting in your camera menu and set your camera to take an image every 32 seconds (the extra 2 seconds allows for some processing time).

P.S. I see you only have 3 posts. Welcome to PF!

**olderguy** · 05-06-2014, 09:45 AM

Thank you DeadJohn for your comments. I think I will try the "Startrails application".
Also thanks for the welcome to PF

**olderguy** · 05-31-2014, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by Adam

If you go out of your way to get an exposure lasting several minutes, I'd recommend leaving the slow shutter speed noise reduction option enabled.

Also, as others have said, it's a good idea to split your long exposures into multiple exposures and then stack them. If you only shoot a 30s exposures then DFS isn't necessary.

Hi Adam;
I decided to try your suggestion for a 30 second exposures. Still having a problem. As per instructions in the K-30 operating manual, page 123, "Interval Shooting".
I set my camera as follows.
Interval = 00:00' 30"
Number of shots = 20
Start interval =set time
Start time = 09:00pm
Program dial set to manual with manual focus.
D.F.S. off
I followed instructions, 1 thru 12. My problem is that only one photo is taken and that happens to be the one when I first press the shutter for the first time.
I guess I must be missing something somewhere. Any suggestions would be very helpful, thank you to anyone who might have an idea.

slartibartfast01 · 05-02-2018, 10:08 AM

Originally posted by olderguy

Hi Adam;
I decided to try your suggestion for a 30 second exposures. Still having a problem. As per instructions in the K-30 operating manual, page 123, "Interval Shooting".
I set my camera as follows.
Interval = 00:00' 30"
Number of shots = 20
Start interval =set time
Start time = 09:00pm
Program dial set to manual with manual focus.
D.F.S. off
I followed instructions, 1 thru 12. My problem is that only one photo is taken and that happens to be the one when I first press the shutter for the first time.
I guess I must be missing something somewhere. Any suggestions would be very helpful, thank you to anyone who might have an idea.

If you are taking 30 second exposures you will need to set your interval for around 33 seconds. Particularly as 30 seconds is actually 32 seconds.

05-05-2014, 10:40 AM	#1
olderguy Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: FL Posts: 31	Bulb Shooting Sirs; I own a Pentax K30 camera, purchased in the fall of 2013. Great camera, can not say enough about it. I do have one problem. I can not seem to take a time exposure in the "Bulb" mode. For shutter release, in the custom settings I have set to Mode 2. I also tried it in mode 1, to no avail. I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. Battery was fully charged. The following is what happens. When I close the shutter and turn the camera off, the "card access lamp" blinks continuously. I turn the camera back on and press the "Playback" button, nothing happens. I press the "Info" button, still a blank LCD screen. The only way to stop the "card access lamp" from flashing is to remove the battery. I turn the camera back on, press the "playback button" and the LCD screen reads "No Image". All other functions work at that point. I would appreciate any help or information about this problem. Thank you for your time. Ed

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Interval Shooting needs more options?	brosephchillaxta	Pentax K-3 & K-3 II	12	02-21-2014 07:57 AM
Continuous Shooting, Exposure Bracketing, Interval Shooting etc in B Mode!	kamayok3	Pentax DSLR Discussion	8	02-12-2014 01:45 PM
Shooting in Bulb mode.	JD44	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	7	10-24-2012 01:22 AM
bulb	alman123	Visitors' Center	2	08-18-2012 09:26 PM
Hi-Speed Shooting vs Single Frame Shooting?	Kieron	Pentax K-r	14	08-13-2012 03:31 PM

05-05-2014, 10:50 AM	#2
elliott Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Photos: Albums Posts: 1,720	It was taking a dark frame, a second exposure with the shutter closed so it can map and remove the noise created by the extremely long exposure, this exposure is exactly as long as the first. In the capture menu it is called "Slow Shutter Noise Reduction". However, you really shouldn't be taking 45 minute exposures, the results are going to be terrible. Stacking multiple shorter exposures will give much better results.

05-05-2014, 10:54 AM	#3
fgaudet Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 726	On my K5 when taking a very long exposure, it is not uncommon for the picture to literally take several minutes to get saved onto the SD card. I would suggest for you to wait a little while (give the camera a solid 5-15 minutes) after the shot and see if the problem persists. I haven't shot anything longer than about a minute recently but I do remember finding the saving process stupidly long when doing 10 minutes + exposure, especially when I was waiting to get another shot.

05-05-2014, 11:25 AM	#4
Macario Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Hoek van Holland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,393	Originally posted by olderguy Sirs; I own a Pentax K30 camera, purchased in the fall of 2013. Great camera, can not say enough about it. I do have one problem. I can not seem to take a time exposure in the "Bulb" mode. For shutter release, in the custom settings I have set to Mode 2. I also tried it in mode 1, to no avail. I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. Battery was fully charged. The following is what happens. When I close the shutter and turn the camera off, the "card access lamp" blinks continuously. I turn the camera back on and press the "Playback" button, nothing happens. I press the "Info" button, still a blank LCD screen. The only way to stop the "card access lamp" from flashing is to remove the battery. I turn the camera back on, press the "playback button" and the LCD screen reads "No Image". All other functions work at that point. I would appreciate any help or information about this problem. Thank you for your time. Ed when shooting in bulb mode, you should calculate that after the exposure, you have to wait the same amount of time for the camera to be finished (don't know if it takes that amount of time in the very long exposures). But if you take a shot in bulb mode for 1 minute, the camera needs to compute afterwards for one minute and so on. Don't know excactly why this is, but it is so

05-05-2014, 11:43 AM	#5
VisualDarkness Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Uppsala, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,439	Originally posted by fgaudet On my K5 when taking a very long exposure, it is not uncommon for the picture to literally take several minutes to get saved onto the SD card. I would suggest for you to wait a little while (give the camera a solid 5-15 minutes) after the shot and see if the problem persists. I haven't shot anything longer than about a minute recently but I do remember finding the saving process stupidly long when doing 10 minutes + exposure, especially when I was waiting to get another shot. It wasn't the saving, it was taking a dark frame of similar leght with the shutter closed to subtract noise, hot pixels and dead pixels from the final image.

05-05-2014, 12:05 PM	#6
lister6520 Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 733	It is as was already explained by Eliott in the second post. What perhaps hasn't been understood clearly here is that you can switch off that feature (the dark frame subtraction) and you will not have to wait at all after the exposure is completed. In other words even if you do a one hour exposure it will only take a second to save the photo once the hour long exposure is completed. To switch off the dark frame subtraction on K-30 go to the third camera menu and select 'Slow shutter speed noise reduction' and set it to OFF. By default it is normally on AUTO.

05-05-2014, 12:16 PM	#7
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608	If you go out of your way to get an exposure lasting several minutes, I'd recommend leaving the slow shutter speed noise reduction option enabled. Also, as others have said, it's a good idea to split your long exposures into multiple exposures and then stack them. If you only shoot a 30s exposures then DFS isn't necessary. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

05-05-2014, 12:42 PM	#8
olderguy Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: FL Posts: 31 Original Poster	Thank you all for your quick reply's. I will try all suggestions, they seem like the solutions I was looking for. I did read some of the remarks in my operators manual, they just didn't register with my gray matter. Thank you all again for all of your input.

05-05-2014, 12:57 PM	#9
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,834	Originally posted by olderguy SNIP ... I tried to shoot a star trace at F 8.0, ISO 100 for 45 minutes. ... Adding to what others already said, with film you had to do one long exposure but with digital you should take shorter exposures and stack them. See Startrails application for easy stacking software. Turn off dark frame subraction on your camera, set to Manual mode, 30 sec, 800 ISO (vary those settings to match your sky conditions). Then find the interval shooting setting in your camera menu and set your camera to take an image every 32 seconds (the extra 2 seconds allows for some processing time). P.S. I see you only have 3 posts. Welcome to PF!

05-06-2014, 09:45 AM	#10
olderguy Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: FL Posts: 31 Original Poster	Thank you DeadJohn for your comments. I think I will try the "Startrails application". Also thanks for the welcome to PF

05-31-2014, 10:16 AM	#11
olderguy Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: FL Posts: 31 Original Poster	Originally posted by Adam If you go out of your way to get an exposure lasting several minutes, I'd recommend leaving the slow shutter speed noise reduction option enabled. Also, as others have said, it's a good idea to split your long exposures into multiple exposures and then stack them. If you only shoot a 30s exposures then DFS isn't necessary. Hi Adam; I decided to try your suggestion for a 30 second exposures. Still having a problem. As per instructions in the K-30 operating manual, page 123, "Interval Shooting". I set my camera as follows. Interval = 00:00' 30" Number of shots = 20 Start interval =set time Start time = 09:00pm Program dial set to manual with manual focus. D.F.S. off I followed instructions, 1 thru 12. My problem is that only one photo is taken and that happens to be the one when I first press the shutter for the first time. I guess I must be missing something somewhere. Any suggestions would be very helpful, thank you to anyone who might have an idea.

05-02-2018, 10:08 AM	#12
slartibartfast01 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,931	Originally posted by olderguy Hi Adam; I decided to try your suggestion for a 30 second exposures. Still having a problem. As per instructions in the K-30 operating manual, page 123, "Interval Shooting". I set my camera as follows. Interval = 00:00' 30" Number of shots = 20 Start interval =set time Start time = 09:00pm Program dial set to manual with manual focus. D.F.S. off I followed instructions, 1 thru 12. My problem is that only one photo is taken and that happens to be the one when I first press the shutter for the first time. I guess I must be missing something somewhere. Any suggestions would be very helpful, thank you to anyone who might have an idea. If you are taking 30 second exposures you will need to set your interval for around 33 seconds. Particularly as 30 seconds is actually 32 seconds.