Argh, long exposure help

D-Frag · May 13, 2004

I just bought a new Sony DSC-F717, I love it by the way. My only problem is this, I have done some long exposure shots at nite, and they look great, but for the life of me I can't do long exposure with any kind of light at all (daytime shots). I have tried the extremes of both settings and no matter what I do the shot is just completly white. Can anyone help me out with possible fixes?

graigdavis · May 13, 2004

To do long exposures in the day light you pretty much gota have the rite filters for it. Even then, you wont be able to do long exposures like night shots.

When its dark out there isnt that much light flooding in through the lense. When its light out there is 1000x more light so it takes a lot less exposure time to have enough light to take the picture.

Chase · May 13, 2004

Sounds like it is just a matter of overexposure. Without knowing the specs on your camera, it could be that you just aren't able to choose a high enough aperture to allow you to do these longer shots in any kind light situations. If you are shooting in daylight, f-stop alone won't be enough to let you take long exposures.

I would suggest looking at adding neutral density filters to limit the amount of light the camera is seeing, which will allow you to increase the exposure times without overexposing the photo.

A combination of a high f-stop (which may be extrememly limited on this camera) and ND filters, you may be able to get the lengths you are hoping for.

Hope this helps.

D-Frag · May 13, 2004

Hey thanks alot for the quick responses. The f717 has alot of features that I still don't know about, as I am an extreme novice (only had my camera barely a month).

Im learning about aperature and stuff like that, its tough. As for filters I have a UV, Polarize, and a ND <---this one has a brown tint, dont really know what its for.

Ugh, I guess I will just need to learn more I guess. I might stop by a camera shop on my way home today and see if they can help me set it up for long exposure in the day.

Im leaving for Hawaii in less then 48 hours and want to get my camera in the proper working order for the trip. Thanks alot for your fast responses, I will bookmark this site and probably be a regular now...hope ya guys dont mind!!

If anyone cares to look at any of my photos so far, here is a link to my DA page. http://pillargraphicdesign.deviantart.com/gallery/

Big Mike · May 13, 2004

The basic factors of exposure are aperture and shutter speed. That's the size of the hole the light comes through and the length of time the light is recorded.

They are directly related...if you double the size of the hole, the shutter must be twice as fast to get the same exposure. If you keep the shutter open longer...the aperture must close down correspondingly.

Your lens/camera is limited in how small it will close down, as are all lenses. So essentially you are keeping the shutter open far too long for the size of the aperture you have. At night this is OK, but there is just too much light during the day and your photo/image will be overexposed (white).

As mentioned, you can try to combat this by covering the lens with filters that block some of the light.

Chase · May 13, 2004

The ND filters basically act like sunglasses for your camera. The darker they are, the less light gets through the lens, so you'll need a longer exposure time to compensate for less light getting through the lens. There are different levels of ND filters, some only darken things a little, while others are extremely dark.