Why won’t a Nikon D5000 auto-expose longer than a few seconds at night?
Asked 3/10/2024
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2 answers
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I’m shooting a day-to-night timelapse on a Nikon D5000 with gphoto2, taking one frame every 2 minutes. At night, the images are very dark. In Aperture Priority at f/4 with Auto ISO capped at 1600, the camera seems to stop at about 3 seconds. In Program mode it’s even shorter, around 1 second.
Why doesn’t the camera automatically use longer shutter speeds, up to 30 seconds, when the scene is very dark? Is there any way to make it do this automatically, or do I need to switch to another mode for night exposures?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
1
I've never used gphoto2, so have no idea about its capabilities. My answer assumes stand-alone use. Your software might have similar functionality.
It's standard fayre that the auto timer only goes to a few seconds. After that you have a 'bulb' setting that will stay open as long as the shutter release is held - which is a recipe for shaky photos, even on a tripod.
The cheap way round this is to get a remote with timer from eBay etc. There are a myriad of them, all cost next to nothing. eBay UK search for 'remote shutter timer' They come with interchangeable plugs on the end, pick one for Nikon. You can dial the exposure time into the remote & not have to touch the camera at all, so no shake.
Originally by user57929. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user57929
2y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is normal behavior. On the D5000, auto-exposure modes such as A and P generally won’t choose very long shutter speeds in extremely dark scenes. At that point, the meter can’t reliably distinguish between “needs 10 seconds” and “needs 30 seconds” from a quick reading, so the camera limits what it will do automatically.
To use long night exposures, switch to S or M mode. On Nikon bodies like the D5000, the extended shutter speeds down to 30 seconds are accessed there, and exposures longer than 30 seconds require Bulb or Time mode. For Bulb/Time, a remote release or interval timer is recommended to avoid camera shake and to control exposure length.
So if you want properly exposed night timelapse frames, don’t rely on A/P auto-exposure once it gets very dark—use manual long exposures instead.
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