Learn aboutLong shutter speeds

Long Exposures

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 shoots very long exposures, up to 60 seconds.

Long exposure times permit the camera to gather enough light to take a quality photo, even in the darkest of environments. If you want to keep the noise levels low and use lower ISO levels in dark environments long exposure times can be very useful. Most people don't normally need to take very long exposure photos, but they can provide an amazing creative opportunity for those interested. For example you can take long exposure shots of the night sky to capture the movement of stars across the sky, capture nigh-time vistas, landscapes at dusk, turn water in to flowing clouds, and add blur to photos for effect.

Get Creative with Long Exposures

The following photos demonstrate how long exposure time can create photos that would otherwise be impossible.

Nighttime Landscape

This photo by Amir K via flickr shows a great late night landscape. The longer exposure clips out and blends the lights and smooths the water and sky leaving the landscape in crisp detail. Shot on a Canon XSi entry-level dSLR

Flowing Water Effect

This photo by Neils Photography illustrate a 4s long exposure of a waterfall via a Canon EOS 400D a f/16 18mm. The long exposure turns the waterfall and water into pillowing clouds creating a wonderful calming interpretation.

Nighttime Snow

Paulo Brandao's great nighttime shot uses a super long 124 second exposure using a Nikon D90, the effect is a wonderfully dark interpretation of the trees and snow at night with rays of light bursting through from the house beyond. Shot at 18mm f10 ISO 100.

Nighttime Highway Scene

This photo by nrbelex via flickr shows a fantastic interpretation of a nighttime highway - using a long exposure to turn the taillights in to bands of light trailing up the photo to the horizon. Shot with a Canon XTi.

Great Digicams with Long Exposures

	Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 from $320	Wide aperture f/2.0 Large sensor 1/1.7" 8.3x6.2mm Wide angle lens 24 mm Learn more about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
	Fujifilm Finepix X10 from $583	Wide aperture f/2.0 Large sensor 1/1.7" 8.8x6.6mm Great image quality 50.0 Learn more about the Fujifilm Finepix X10
	Olympus XZ-1 from $499	Wide aperture f/1.8 OLED Screen Bright and vivid Large sensor 1/1.7" 8.3x6.2mm Learn more about the Olympus XZ-1
	Nikon Coolpix P7100 from $400	External mic jack Record higher quality audio with a microphone Flip-out screen Great for movies Large sensor 1/1.8" 7.5x5.5mm Learn more about the Nikon Coolpix P7100

See more of the top Digicams that can take 30s or longer exposures

Entry Level SLRs with Long Exposures

The following entry level DSLRs provide at least a 30s exposure

	Olympus E-5 from $1,699	Weather sealed Shoot in extreme weather Many cross-type focus points 11 High resolution screen 920k dots Learn more about the Olympus E-5
	Pentax K-5 from $1,030	Low noise at high ISO 1,162 ISO Great image quality 82.0 Wide dynamic range 14.1 EV Learn more about the Pentax K-5
	Nikon D7000 from $1,097	Low noise at high ISO 1,167 ISO Great image quality 80.0 Many focus points 39 Learn more about the Nikon D7000
	Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 from $849	Low noise at high ISO 1,121 ISO Great image quality 80.0 Great color depth 23.8 bits Learn more about the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580

See more of the top entry level DSLRs that take 30s or longer exposures

Discussion

Showing 4 comments

Mike Svitek (0:04 AM, January 04, 2012)

It may be late, but set your camera to the "M" setting and rotate the adjustment dial up to 30" (30 seconds). the "B" mode means a manual shutter speed up to 30 seconds. As long as you hold the shutter button, it will remain open.

Mike (8:08 AM, August 03, 2011)

how do i get long exposure on the Fuji HS20 ex???

Snapsort (3:00 PM, January 15, 2011)

Have you tried turning the top dial to "S", then push the up/down buttons on the back (the top and bottom buttons in the circle of four buttons) to change the shutter speed.

Aballplayer (2:48 AM, January 15, 2011)

how do I get to the long exposure option on the DMC-ZS7??