How do I take a night shot of stars with my Nikon DS-70 without having to hold the button down for 10 mins?

Question

Nikon D70 I think though on the boc its DS-70

Answer 1

I have the D50 and D80, not the D70. Both my cameras have facility for remote control. I bought on on ebay for less than $20. If you set the camera on to bulb mode and set up for remote control, you can do precisely what you want.

You simply press the remote once and the camera shutter opens. Come back ten minutes later and press the remote again and the shutter closes. On the D50 this works for up to 1/2 an hour.

One tip, be careful about using a feature called "Long Exp. NR" or noise reduction. If this is switched on when you take a 10 minute shot, the camera will spend 10 minutes processing the images for noise. I just about had a heart attack when this happened to me, because the camera appeared to lock up with the message "Job nr" on screen. I thought the camera was faulty.

Answer 2

Isn't there a setting on the camera for taking a long exposure?

Use this setting for a long exposure time and be sure the camera is still for that amount of time by putting it on a tripod. If you don't have a tripod then put it on something stable that doesn't move and lets you point it where you want (like a rock, or fence). Try to protect it from wind it if it's windy.

You will not be able to hold the camera still for this long, so forget holding it in your hand. Even pressing the shutter button might jiggle the camera so the picture is blurry. You can use a remote-shutter release to avoid jiggling.

If you don't have a remote shutter-release you can set a self-timer if it has one. This is the thing people use to set up the camera and then run into the picture. But you could set it up so you can push the button, get the camera set down the way you want it so it won't move. Then it will go off by itself on the timer so you don't have to worry about jiggling it with your finger when you press the shutter release button.

Answer 3

Maybe it's a D70s, which is an SLR.

Orion Telescopes have a great site. Check out http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=29 for photo accessories to go with telescopes. You will find a couple of "universal adapters" of interest.

There is also a book about astrophotography that might be a good idea for you.

Also, from any page, click on the link for "Learning Center" near the top of the page. Enter "photography" in the search box and you'll find 22 articles that will help you.

Answer 4

I'm assuming this is a manual camera and not a digital... there should be a setting for the shutter speed that is fully manual. when the camera is on this setting you push the shutter button once to open, and again when you wish to close it. in order to know the correct length of time you will need a light meter and do lots of bracket shots (a few shorter and a few longer) for good measure

Answer 5

i usually just put blu -tac down on the shutter button

Answer 6

I use a tripod, and usually I use about 30sec. exp. at 2.0 f.