Nikon D40 question from a novice

[Gokstate]

Hi all,

I'm a big lurker on the photography board and have learned a ton! I just joined a local photography class to help beef up my skills before my family and I head off to the World next month.

I do have one question that I can't find an answer for in my instruction manual (blech) or my Digital Field Guide.

My assignment this week is to go around town and take night photos of neon signs. I would really like to figure out how to have longer exposures so I can catch light trails from passing cars or catch the spinning of a moving sign.

So... if I am in Aperature Mode can I change my exposure length? I was taking a couple of pictures last night where my exposure changed to 6.5 once and I couldn't get it to repeat.

I also tried Manual Mode and Shutter Mode with no luck.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!
Kelly

I'm mooching a tripod off of my Dad (old school film photographer) tonight to try my experiment again because I'm too shaky to capture an extended exposure pic.

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

One solution would be to use Shutter Priority mode and set a longer shutter speed. That should give you the light trails you want.

 

[crazydadguy]

Im pretty sure that you can set the shutter on the D40 for upto a 30sec exposure, more if you have the remote. Ah yes, on page 43 of the D40 manual, at the very top it says "Shutter speed can be set to values between 30s and 1/4000s , or the shutter can be held open for indefinitely for longer exposures (bulb)." So there ya are.
Rotate the Dial to "M" for manual mode.
Rotate the command dial to choose a shutter speed and set it for however long you want it. BUT make sure your aperature is set to get a proper exposure, not just a blownout mess. Good luck, I just got my D40 and can't wait to take some shots with it.

 

[Gokstate]

Cool - thanks so much for the help! I am going to have to give it a whirl tonight and see what I can come up with.

 

[crazydadguy]

I have a question now, Does anyone know if the D40 supports SDHC cards? I ordered two 4GB cards, thinking they were just SD no SDHC. HELP!!

 

[annnewjerz]

I have a question now, Does anyone know if the D40 supports SDHC cards? I ordered two 4GB cards, thinking they were just SD no SDHC. HELP!!

No worries, it should work fine.

 

[handicap18]

For shots that show the streaks of car tail lights a shutter speed of anywhere from 5-15 seconds should be fine depending on how much space your allowing in your image. Just count to yourself how long it takes the cars to go from one side of your viewfinder to the other. Thats about how long you'll need your shutter to be. Also how much traffic there is will make a difference too. If its real busy then you wont need it to long, if only a few cars are going by at a time, then you'll want it a bit longer.

Use manual mode at ISO 200 and a f/stop of around f/8 to f/11. Experiment from there.

A tripod is a must and also a remote shutter release is HIGHLY recommended. If not, then set the self timer to 2 seconds. This will allow enough time to get the camera steady after pressing the shutter release and before it actually opens and will help prevent any camera shake from pressing the shutter.

For shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds you will need a remote shutter release. The only way to get "BULB" is in Manual mode and the only way the shutter will stay open is to hold the shutter release down and for more than 30 seconds this will be impossible if you don't have a remote shutter release. There is no way you can hold the shutter button down for 30 or more seconds without causing camera shake even on a tripod. For the D40, the way the remote shutter release works is you press the button (on the remote) once and it opens it, you press it again and it closes.