# Bulb mode on Nikon D90 and it's accessories ?



## Babak_Deghat (Apr 6, 2011)

Hi
I'm a newbie to both photography and this Forum !
I wanted some help with the bulb mode on my nikon d90
last night i tried to take a long exposure shot from sky , but i wouldn't exceed more than 30 seconds . for over 30 second shots , i had to keep my finger on shutter button and THAT WAS EXHAUSTING !!!
is there any way that i can keep the shutter held for more than 30 seconds without any remote or my finger being involved ?

p.s. : can i use Nikon ML-L3 remote or Amazon wireless remote in these situations?? or only MC-DC2 remote can hold the shutter ?

p.s. 2 : sorry for my bad english !


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## spacefuzz (Apr 6, 2011)

I dont know of any way to do it without a remote (they sell corded ones for $8).


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## Josh66 (Apr 6, 2011)

Babak_Deghat said:


> is there any way that i can keep the shutter held for more than 30 seconds without any remote or my finger being involved ?


 No - remote is the way to go.

Wired remotes usually have a lock to hold the button down, and wireless ones let you click it once to open the shutter, then you click it again to close it.


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## Babak_Deghat (Apr 6, 2011)

somewhere i red that keeping the shutter open , for a very long time might hurt the sensor .
you think thats true ?


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## Josh66 (Apr 6, 2011)

Yes, the sensor will heat up.  How long were you thinking of?

I don't know how long it can stay on before you have to start worrying...  The longest I have personally done with a digital camera was 20-30 minutes.  I have heard of people doing exposures in the neighborhood of 1-2 hours without damage though...

There are a lot of factors, like ambient temperature, number of consecutive shots, time between shots, etc...  I have never heard of someone ruining their camera from a long exposure, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.  30 minutes or less shouldn't be a problem though.


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## Babak_Deghat (Apr 6, 2011)

What about CMOS sensors ? are they more resistance against heat ? (comparing to CCDs?)


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## Garbz (Apr 7, 2011)

They still cook something fierce. Ideally you want to take several darker photos and give the camera a bit of a rest between. Like take 3 10min exposures over a period of 45min, then stack them together with one of the many stacking programs out there.

As for long exposure, when my remote died on me I used a rubber band and piece of paper to hold the shutter for the long exposures.


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## Rocan (Apr 12, 2011)

as garbz said... multiple exposures then stack them, you can even do it using the built in time lapse mode (not sure if the d90 has one? I know the d200 does.) and that way you wont even have to keep clicking it.


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