Best Camera for long exposers

[fotoflynn]

I like to do allot of night photography using long exposers. 30sec to a couple minutes.
I am currently using the old school Canon 300D, which of course gains allot of noise.
Keeping it under 4 gs, does any body have a favorite camera.  I have been looking at the nikon
D300 and/or pleasantly waiting for the new 5d.  Any thoughts?

[dwdallam]

I like to do allot of night photography using long exposers. 30sec to a couple minutes.
I am currently using the old school Canon 300D, which of course gains allot of noise.
Keeping it under 4 gs, does any body have a favorite camera.  I have been looking at the nikon
D300 and/or pleasantly waiting for the new 5d.  Any thoughts?
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I haven't noticed any problems with noise using my 5D at 30 seconds to a minute. It has long exposure noise removal, which I think the 30D has also. Are you using that?

[feppe]

I like to do allot of night photography using long exposers. 30sec to a couple minutes.
I am currently using the old school Canon 300D, which of course gains allot of noise.
Keeping it under 4 gs, does any body have a favorite camera.  I have been looking at the nikon
D300 and/or pleasantly waiting for the new 5d.  Any thoughts?
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I'm using 30D for exactly this and am quite happy with the results. I never use in-camera noise reduction as that makes exposure times prohibitively long without much improvement in noise levels. To get around noise I use multiple exposures, one for shadows, one for highlights, and combine the shots later.

[fotoflynn]

Sorry I meant the 300 D,,,, aka canon rebel,  I am looking to upgrade from first generation
canon rebel,

[smthopr]

I like to do allot of night photography using long exposers. 30sec to a couple minutes.
I am currently using the old school Canon 300D, which of course gains allot of noise.
Keeping it under 4 gs, does any body have a favorite camera.  I have been looking at the nikon
D300 and/or pleasantly waiting for the new 5d.  Any thoughts?
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I don't know what "4 gs" means... but I have a 5D and still do all my nightime long exposures with a 6x9 fuji rangefinder film camera. Noise is never a problem and exposures are very forgiving with color negative film.  And you thought you were old school with a 300D?

Really the more I think about it, (oh 4 gs is $4000!) at that price it might really make sense to buy a medium format camera and nice film scanner as one doesn't usually shoot a lot of long exposure frames at one time such that one would really need a digital camera.

Seriously, consider a film camera, especially medium format, for these long exposures.  I do sometimes use the 5D handheld at night in the city, something I wouldn't have tried often with a film 35mm film camera unless I wanted pushed, grainy film. But on a tripod, the fuji GW690III it is!

[SeanFS]

I like to do allot of night photography using long exposers. 30sec to a couple minutes.
I am currently using the old school Canon 300D, which of course gains allot of noise.
Keeping it under 4 gs, does any body have a favorite camera.  I have been looking at the nikon
D300 and/or pleasantly waiting for the new 5d.  Any thoughts?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=201483\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

See if you can get a second hand 1ds2 as I have managed 5 minute exposures on mine that have been very good - was blown away a digital could achieve that quality. I don't know how the 5d does in comparison but a friend has done a number of night shots that seem to be pretty good.

[Er1kksen]

I've heard quite good things about the K10D's long-exposure characteristics, even if it's not ahead of the crowd for normal photography. I don't know if the K20D carries on that legacy, or if it's reputable performance is better than the 5D's (I would tend to doubt it).

If I want long exposures, I use film.

[Mike W]

I've done a lot of night shooting with both the 5D and the Nikon D300, both perform well.
The canon 40D is a bargain, and holds up well  in low-light/night situations.

For me it all comes down to the lens, with long exposures it is crucial to have a very sharp lens. Modern cameras tend to do very well imaging wise (low noise, iq, etc.)

hope it helps.

Mike

[jasonrandolph]

I've got a Nikon D300, and it takes great long exposures, even with long Exp. NR turned off.  I read somewhere that you don't start getting a significant number of hot pixels until going over 10 minutes.  I've never exposed that long, but I'm very happy with the D300's results.

To echo what was said above, film is another great option, especially if you shoot B&W.  Developing your own sheet film is a cinch.  Pick up an old Speed Graphic or a full-fledged view camera off of Ebay.  You'll have a blast.