Long exposure question - When starts it getting really grainy.

haring · May 30, 2014

When does the long exposure start getting really grainy? After 3 minutes, 5 minutes?
I would like to do some night photography over the weekend. I would like to take some long exposure pictures in darkness where the exposure is longer than 30 seconds.

I intend to use Aperture 9 and iso 100.

How long should I keep the exposure maximum?

ann · May 31, 2014

Noise is a by product of high ISO's, not time (at least in my experience)

haring · Jun 15, 2014

I agree however I am thinking about exposure of 1-3 minutes. Noise is an issue for sure.

toyotadesigner · Jun 15, 2014

Film? Slide? Negative? Digital?

Film/Slide: you can expose up to 30 minutes (my personal experience) if you use a Fuji Provia 100F without increasing the grain.
Film/Negative: not enough experience, just starting with Fuji Pro 400 H.
Digital: depends on the sensor. The sensor of i.e. the Nikon D600 appears to handle 5 minutes exposure @ 100 ISO without producing grain (again my personal experience). Longer exposure times not yet tested. But you have to turn off all in-camera options for sharpening, D-Lighting, noise reduction, color effects, etc.

Pioneer · Jun 15, 2014

I have made some long exposures (15 minutes) using my LX and had no issues with grain. But I used TMX100, not a high ISO film.

On the other hand I have done the same with digital on my Pentax K7 and had huge noise issues that I had to deal with.

jeffgla · Jun 16, 2014

I can't offer advice but you might want to view this six minute video by Shawn Reeder. I am not familiar with him but a friend sent me the link and it is well worth watching especially since it is loosely related to your topic.
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toyotadesigner · Jun 16, 2014

Thanks for the video link! Breathtaking...

RalphLambrecht · Jun 16, 2014

everything above 30 s is pushing it. Nikons have a long exp noise reduction feature in addition to a high ISO noise reduction; both are well worth it,You need to try to see what you are willing to accept.PS will do some long exp noise reduction but I find it to belimited.

haring · Jul 15, 2014

jens g.r. benthien said:
Film? Slide? Negative? Digital?

Film/Slide: you can expose up to 30 minutes (my personal experience) if you use a Fuji Provia 100F without increasing the grain.
Film/Negative: not enough experience, just starting with Fuji Pro 400 H.
Digital: depends on the sensor. The sensor of i.e. the Nikon D600 appears to handle 5 minutes exposure @ 100 ISO without producing grain (again my personal experience). Longer exposure times not yet tested. But you have to turn off all in-camera options for sharpening, D-Lighting, noise reduction, color effects, etc.

This is waht I have been looking for! I will use digital DSLR so Nikon is great reference! Thanks again!

L Gebhardt · Jul 15, 2014

I find on the D800 without long exposure noise reduction you get hot pixels in 30 second exposures. Other than this the image quality is excellent. I think the long exposure noise reduction will remove these effectively at the expense of another 30 second exposure, but I haven't tried it extensively. I find it's not too bad removing then in post production, and that lets me take more pictures when the light is changing fast.

Long exposure question - When starts it getting really grainy.

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