Long exposures - risk if damage to sensor?

[steveatesh]

Me and a photography friend were out taking shots of a local landmark the other evening, hours of darkness.

After we’d been there around 15 minutes another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene as he was taking shots professionally as a paid job. It was obvious our presence wasn’t welcome, fancy having the temerity to take photos of landmarks!

Anyway, We were relying on a very low ambient light, so we’re experimenting with exposure times.

I took several shots of around 60 seconds and we were discussing the next shots when the professional interupted us to give us advice, which was that we shouldn’t take shots in excess of around 25 seconds as it would risk overheating the sensor and damaging it.

Anyway, we finished our session off and got some good results as mere amateurs.

My question though is does taking long exposure shots in excess of say 30 seconds damage the sensor, and if it does why does the camera have a bulb setting?

I’m sure I’ve seen very very long exposures taken by professionals, say Star trails. I took a 15 minute shot during blue hour with no apparent damage.

Was he right, or was it just bks?

[TheRainMaker]

Total balls and he really doesn't sound like someone who knows what he's doing....

Have a quick think about all these 35mm DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras which now produce video

[Moonhawk]

Complete bks - astronomers use DSLRs to take long exposure photos all the time.

They can be many minutes (even hours) in length. Yes the sensor does heat up - but this simply results in more thermal noise on the images.

[Chester draws]

steveatesh said:

.......another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene ..........

What. A. Dick.

(Him, not you!)

[RobDickinson]

99.999% bullst *

Cameras are made to shoot 30min of video..

So 60 second exposures are not a problem.

• technically shooting for a long time does induce heat and this can be detrimental to your image and sensor....

Over a certain time ( usually 30-90 seconds depending on camera) its advisable to use long exposure noise reduction to subtract thermal based random noise and hotpixels.
Hotpixels/stuck pixels will become more common the more the sensor is used and video/long exposures put more general wear on the sensor. Its a minor issue I wouldnt worry about though.

[steveatesh]

Thanks everybody, I thought it sounded bks, I can carry on with my long exposure shots without a care in the world then

[C&C]

RobDickinson said:

99.999% bullst *

Cameras are made to shoot 30min of video..

So 60 second exposures are not a problem.

Totally agree, although as I understand it, the 30 minutes of video limit that most DSLR cameras have is there not for any technical reason re. overheating sensors, but due to tax reasons, as apparently in several countries (including the EU), some bureaucrat decided that if a DSLR/Still camera can shoot more than 29 mins 59 seconds of video, it gets classed as a video camera and has a higher rate of tax imposed on it. Link to old article

I've just started looking at having a go at video on the DSLR and if you want to shoot over 30 mins, this can be partially circumvented by using Magic Lantern firmware - works on a bunch of Canon DSLRs, and has a host of features, one of which is to auto restart recording at the 30 minute point, so you potentially lose a max of 1 second...
ML has lots of enhancements for Canon DSLRs, for both still and video, including stuff like real time sensor temp display, countdown of time left on the card, automatic intervalometer, motion detection/shoot stills when something comes into focus, raw format video recording etc....
Wikipedia Article
Magic Lantern website

[RobDickinson]

Yeah that limit is purely over tax things

[Monty Python]

If it was an issue, the camera manufacturer would have made it abundantly clear in the manual (and promptly failed to sell any).

[ukaskew]

steveatesh said:

Me and a photography friend were out taking shots of a local landmark the other evening, hours of darkness.

After we’d been there around 15 minutes another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene as he was taking shots professionally as a paid job. It was obvious our presence wasn’t welcome, fancy having the temerity to take photos of landmarks!

I’m sorry, but wtf? Unless you’re on private land and he has a permit specifically for commercial photography there I can’t believe he had the cheek to say he ‘needed the scene’!

Unbelievable. As for the actual question, I think I’ve gone well over 30 minutes with long exposures before with no problems.

[Simpo Two]

steveatesh said:

Thanks everybody, I thought it sounded bks

It's funny when that happens isn't it. The assistant in Halfords told me my 4.2 V8 engine was based on a Mondeo... the 'bks Warning!' light comes on but you just go 'Oh really, crumbs' to humour them.

[RobDickinson]

ukaskew said:

steveatesh said:

Me and a photography friend were out taking shots of a local landmark the other evening, hours of darkness.

After we’d been there around 15 minutes another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene as he was taking shots professionally as a paid job. It was obvious our presence wasn’t welcome, fancy having the temerity to take photos of landmarks!

I’m sorry, but wtf? Unless you’re on private land and he has a permit specifically for commercial photography there I can’t believe he had the cheek to say he ‘needed the scene’!

Unbelievable. As for the actual question, I think I’ve gone well over 30 minutes with long exposures before with no problems.

Rule of landscape photography, he who gets there first gets the spot. As said unless its private land and they have some special permission etc.

[Ledaig]

steveatesh said:

After we’d been there around 15 minutes another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene as he was taking shots professionally as a paid job. It was obvious our presence wasn’t welcome, fancy having the temerity to take photos of landmarks!

Next time ask how much his ticket cost compared to yours!

Note - works better at ticked events but you can still get the point across

[TheRainMaker]

RobDickinson said:

Rule of landscape photography, he who gets there first gets the spot.

Same as press conferences then, run in, throw your tripod on the stage, sod off and get coffee

[andy-xr]

I think he was trying to tell you to fk off out of his very important way using a 'you'll damage your cameras doing that' important professional I know all about this stuff talk.

[Smollet]

andy-xr said:

I think he was trying to tell you to fk off out of his very important way using a 'you'll damage your cameras doing that' important professional I know all about this stuff talk.

If it’d been me I’d have settled down to a nice long session and watched his annoyance rise. What a nob.

[andy-xr]

Smollet said:

If it’d been me I’d have settled down to a nice long session and watched his annoyance rise. What a nob.

Perhaps a gentle stroll around with a torch pointing in a few different directions also

[GravelBen]

Chester draws said:

steveatesh said:

.......another photographer turned up and started to tell us he needed the scene ..........

What. A. Dick.

(Him, not you!)

I've had similar from professional photographers and tv crews at rallies a few times - arriving at the last minute, setting themselves up in front of my position and blocking half my shot with high vis... or spouting BS trying to tell me that its a dangerous place and the stage will be cancelled if I stay there, but its fine for them because registered media people sign a disclaimer.

You get a few tools in any profession I guess.