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I have D5100 and D5200 both. When I am using remote shutter release cable for star trail, without bulb mode, both cameras take only 100 images at a stretch. I even tried with 1/4000 shutter speed, but it is exactly 100 every time. I had to release the shutter and lock it again. As a result, gaps are being created in the trail.

Is there any setting that can be changed? If it doesn't then guide me how to cross this limit.

mattdm
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Bobby
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  • Hello Bobby, welcome to photo.stackexchange.com! This sounds like a nice question, but could you reword it a bit? What do you mean by "shutter lock"? There is no such expression in the manual. There is "autoexposure lock" and "focus lock". You can shoot to RAW in Manual program mode to get consistent exposure, and you can focus once, then switch to Manual focus to keep the lens state the same. – TFuto Dec 09 '15 at 13:44
  • Are you perhaps filling the camera buffer? And the "shutter lock" is the buffer clear time? It looks like a D5100 should get 50+ photos in large JPEG mode into the buffer before it needs to clear; are you shooting at a lower resolution/higher compression that could cause this? – Dan Wolfgang Dec 09 '15 at 14:03
  • Shutter lock means, using cable release I'm shooting continuously. My camera stores 7 shots in buffer – Bobby Dec 09 '15 at 19:40

2 Answers2

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100 shots is the limit for Nikon's continuous shutter. You can try the shutter again after 100 shots.

Or you can use the Interval Timer, both D5100 and D5200 have it. It will allow up to 999 shots.

But if you are using the 30 second shutter setting, be aware the actual shutter time is 32 seconds for Nikon cameras. The interval timer must be set for an interval of 33 seconds because of the actual shutter time. A 30 second shutter cannot work right with interval of 31 seconds, because the shutter is actually open for 32 seconds.

This is a very common problem for star trail shots, and 33 second intervals when using Nikon cameras is the easy answer. Other cameras may use actual shutter speeds of 30 seconds, so for those cameras an interval of 31 seconds would be optimal.

Explanation:

The nominal marking of shutter speed is just an easy approximation of base 2 numbers (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.) expressed in more even base 10 numbers (2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500, 1000, etc) that are easier for most of us to understand and work with. With fractional shutter speed settings (1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, etc.) most all cameras actually aim for the base 2 numbers (1/128, 1/256, 1/512, 1/1024, etc.). But when shutter speeds longer than one second are set on some cameras, such as the Nikon D5100 and D5200, they use the base 2 values (2, 4, 8, 16, 32) while other cameras use the labeled base 10 values (2, 4, 8, 15, 30).

More detail about the theoretical differences of actual stops as powers of 2 and √2 compared to the round numbers we assign to them can be seen at http://www.scantips.com/lights/fstop.html

See also Is there a sane reason why ¹⁄₁₂₅ is not, instead, exactly half of ¹⁄₆₀?

Community
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WayneF
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    I just tried this with my Fujifilm camera, and when I set the shutter duration to 30s, the time is actually 30s; there is no 32s option. It even counts down the seconds on the display (and they're real seconds, not stretched, as I confirmed with a separate stopwatch). This is also true at 15s. So, while it might be true with Nikon, it's definitely not universal. – mattdm Dec 09 '15 at 15:29
  • Pity then, your concept of stops cannot work right. 30 seconds just does not fit into the modern plan. – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 15:33
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    The difference between 30s and 32s is about ¹⁄₁₀th of a stop. It's not that big a deal unless you're trying to match exposure perfectly, and there are probably other areas of "slop" which match or over-match. In any case, check out this table of actual measurements from a Nikon D3 with nominal-vs-actual shutter speeds. While you're right about 32s, it turns out that other values don't fit the power-of-2 pattern at all. For example, 15s is measured at 16.5s, and on the other side, ¹⁄₆₀th is measured at ¹⁄₆₂th, not ¹⁄₆₄th. – mattdm Dec 09 '15 at 15:38
  • It is 0.09 stop, and I am quoting precise theory, not some unsucessful tries at measuring it, or even about precision of the mechanism (not saying that focal plane shutters are inaccurate). The camera markings are just easy nominal numbers, like f/11 is actually f/11.31. Only important to the math, like say guide numbers. – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 15:45
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    The point is that cameras are way less concerned about the theory than you might expect. That's one of the reasons I'm quick to mark photometry and other such questions about using cameras as instruments as off topic. They're not meant for that. – mattdm Dec 09 '15 at 15:48
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    It is ~0.09310940 of a stop — "about ¹⁄₁₀th". That extra precision is even more meaningless. – mattdm Dec 09 '15 at 15:51
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    I would upvote this answer if all the irrelevant information about stops was removed barring a note that the timings listed in-camera aren't 100% accurate... The limit of 100 shots is as designed by Nikon, and can be avoided using an intervalometer. – James Snell Dec 09 '15 at 15:56
  • Sorry if you are offended by the truth, but tt's just how it works. For example, any EV chart says f/11 at 1/250 is EV 15. The formula is EV = Log2 (N²/T), Plugging in f/11 and 1/25 gets EV 14.88. Plugging in f/11.31 and 1/256 gets EV 14.9999 – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 16:11
  • Ruling out effect of f/11.31, try f/16 at 1/125 second. Formula gives EV 14.966. But use the actual 1/128 second, and it computes EV 15.00, Or try f/1 at 30 seconds, which computes EV -4.907. But 32 seconds gives the correct EV -5. – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 16:18
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    You're right on that math, of course, but the point is that real-world cameras don't actually adhere strictly to that theory. I'm not offended, but I'm a little bemused by how adamant you seem to be about it. The same fuzziness is true for aperture and focal length, by the way. The difference between f/11 and f/((√2)⁸) for a 50mm lens is, what, 0.126mm? I doubt that level of precision is involved. That's even less than a ¹⁄₁₀th of a stop, and it's washed out by differences in T stop in the real world. – mattdm Dec 09 '15 at 17:15
  • mattdm, I sure must have pissed you off at some previous time. Dunno, but maybe you needed it. :) f/11.31 and 32 seconds are not about any one precise exposure, we can always tweak it in. Our reflective meters are not that accurate anyway. It is all about the grand concept of basics, that one stop is 2.0 times the light of the previous. – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 17:27
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    @WayneF The point made by Matt (without sounding pissed off at all) is that even the top professional grade cameras operate at nowhere near that precise level of accuracy with regard to Aperture or shutter speed. And don't even think about bringing ISO into the discussion: many high end cameras are 1/2 to 2/3 stops slower than the indicated ISO setting at many ISO settings! You are the one that sounds offended that Matt pointed out what actually happens in real world applications rather than in your fantasy world where there are no tolerances between theory and execution. – Michael C Dec 09 '15 at 19:05
  • See http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/49860/is-there-a-sane-reason-why-%C2%B9%E2%81%84%E2%82%81%E2%82%82%E2%82%85-is-not-instead-exactly-half-of-%C2%B9%E2%81%84%E2%82%86%E2%82%80/49866#49866 – Michael C Dec 09 '15 at 19:08
  • It's not me saying the difference is a routine problem. Nominal is normally good enough, we obviously continue using them. We normally don't care, or even know about the difference, but it is reality though, and it shows up if trying to do math with the nominal numbers. The interval timer is the answer to the OP question, but the interval timer will not do so-called 30 second exposures (for star trails) with a 31 second interval. The shutter is 32 seconds (for very good reason), and the required interval is 33 seconds. That is subtraction math, which does not work with the nominal numbers. – WayneF Dec 09 '15 at 19:18
  • When you say things such as "... no other choice works." you should probably qualify it by specifying that it is when using the internal intervalometer of a Nikon camera. Most other cameras do actually shoot for exactly 30 seconds (± a few µs) when the Tv is set to 30 seconds, so using a 33 second interval would leave a 2+ second gap between each exposure with those cameras. The other cameras aren't "wrong" or "right" for using 30 instead of 32, they're just different. – Michael C Dec 09 '15 at 21:02
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    And the problem with such a detailed explanation about the difference between base 2 shutter speeds and base 10 labeling is that your answer is more about that than it is about the original question. – Michael C Dec 09 '15 at 21:05
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The D5200 ( and probably the D5100 ) both have a bulb mode. This may help.

StephenG - Help Ukraine
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  • OP specifically mentioned not using bulb mode. People frequently do astrophotography by taking many short exposures and stacking the images rather than using a single long exposure in order to minimize noise, and this is probably what OP is attempting. – Caleb Dec 09 '15 at 19:13
  • Reducing noise can be achieved by using dark frame subtraction ( which the D5200 may automatically do for a long exposure ).. However, I take your point. – StephenG - Help Ukraine Dec 09 '15 at 20:07