Bulb mode on Nikon D90 and it's accessories ?

[Babak_Deghat]

Hi
I'm a newbie to both photography and this Forum !
I wanted some help with the bulb mode on my nikon d90
last night i tried to take a long exposure shot from sky , but i wouldn't exceed more than 30 seconds . for over 30 second shots , i had to keep my finger on shutter button and THAT WAS EXHAUSTING !!!
is there any way that i can keep the shutter held for more than 30 seconds without any remote or my finger being involved ?

p.s. : can i use Nikon ML-L3 remote or Amazon wireless remote in these situations?? or only MC-DC2 remote can hold the shutter ?

p.s. 2 : sorry for my bad english !

 

[spacefuzz]

I dont know of any way to do it without a remote (they sell corded ones for $8).

 

[Josh66]

is there any way that i can keep the shutter held for more than 30 seconds without any remote or my finger being involved ?

No - remote is the way to go.

Wired remotes usually have a lock to hold the button down, and wireless ones let you click it once to open the shutter, then you click it again to close it.

 

[Babak_Deghat]

somewhere i red that keeping the shutter open , for a very long time might hurt the sensor .
you think thats true ?

 

[Josh66]

Yes, the sensor will heat up. How long were you thinking of?

I don't know how long it can stay on before you have to start worrying... The longest I have personally done with a digital camera was 20-30 minutes. I have heard of people doing exposures in the neighborhood of 1-2 hours without damage though...

There are a lot of factors, like ambient temperature, number of consecutive shots, time between shots, etc... I have never heard of someone ruining their camera from a long exposure, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. 30 minutes or less shouldn't be a problem though.

 

[Babak_Deghat]

What about CMOS sensors ? are they more resistance against heat ? (comparing to CCDs?)

 

[Garbz]

They still cook something fierce. Ideally you want to take several darker photos and give the camera a bit of a rest between. Like take 3 10min exposures over a period of 45min, then stack them together with one of the many stacking programs out there.

As for long exposure, when my remote died on me I used a rubber band and piece of paper to hold the shutter for the long exposures.

 

[Rocan]

as garbz said... multiple exposures then stack them, you can even do it using the built in time lapse mode (not sure if the d90 has one? I know the d200 does.) and that way you wont even have to keep clicking it.