Some more photo questions.

I have the digital version of this camera. The digital version is based on the original film version which you have.

The "M" stands for manual - ie you can adjust the exposure yourself.
On my camera, when I set it to manual, I have another little dial I can turn which adjusts the exposure setting. There may be something similar on your camera.

On some cameras, the threaded hole in the button is to screw in a remote switch. This is so that when you take long exposures, the vibration of your hands won't ruin the shot.
On my Canon, there's a rubber flab on the left hand side of the camera body. Underneath this flap is a little hole into which the remote switch can plug in. Does your camera have something similar??

Michael

>>I have a few questions regarding film photography.
>>I have a canon eos 300 camera. Only thing is I cant see a 'B; setting to >>keep the shutter open, and none of the settings on it seem to keep the >>shutter open. Has anyone got any experience in using one of these?

There are several different ways that you can set bulb on your EOS 300. There is no 'B' setting which only appears on mechanical cameras.

You can set the camera to manual, or Tv and then rotate the dial until the shutter speed displays "bulb". On the EOS 300 you shoudl also have time intervals of between 1/500th of a second and 30 seconds (which is displayed as 30").

>>I want to start off with just taking short(less than 10 sec) photos of the >>sky.

Set the shutter speed to read 10".

>>What film should I use? Has anyone got any useful tips for doing this.

This is a big subject of debate amongst astrophotographers. Negative film is preferred to positive (slide) film as it has a higher latitude. The ambience of the subject and the amount of detail you want to record are also factors as are the exposure time. Taking meter readings of the stars is pointless as you cannot get a proper reading and you results will be disappointing. Here are a few pointers:

1. If the subject is very bright (sun, moon etc.) use a slower film (100-200ASA)

2. If you want to record a relatively deep subject such as a nebula or if you want to include background stars then use a faster film such as 400-800 (or higher) ASA.

3. Select Av or Tv and stick with one aperture or shutter speed and bracket (take a selection of photographs of the same subject but increase and decrease the aperture and then the shutter speed) and take notes! With this experiment you shoudl be able to determine the correct exposure for similar ambient subjects.

4. If in doubt - experiment!!!! It can take several rolls of film to get the right shot but if you follow the steps above it will minimise your expense in terms of time and money.

The make and type of film you choose is also a personal preference but there are plenty of web sites out there with some great examples and advice on the subject.

>>And for the long term , where do I buy a T-ring?

There are a lot of camera shops in the Dublin area but most of them are useless except for providing tourist film and accessories such as lens caps and small bags.

The best shops (in order of my preference) for proper accessories and professional film and advice are:

Camera Exchange (Trinity Lane and George's Street)
Gunn's (Wexford Street)
Hall's (Talbot Street)
Conn's (Behind Brown Thomas - on the corner of Wicklow Street)

There may may be a few others but these are the ones I go to and they seldom let you down. I bought my t-ring from Conn's but all of them should stock them.

Hope that this is some help to you.

Thanks a million.
The camera has these on the dial...
A roll of film, ISO, A-DEP, M, AV, TV, P, L, An empty tv screen, and then... aface, a mountain,a flower, an athlete.
Rubrick,
I will try that when I get home, thanks.

StephenK.

>> A roll of film, ISO, A-DEP, M, AV, TV, P, L, An empty tv screen, and then... aface, a mountain,a flower, an athlete.

They mean the following:

roll of film ISO - Film speed
A-DEP - Auto Depth-of-field (good for scenics and panoramas)
M - manual. Select your own aperture and shutter speed
AV - Aperture priority (set the aperture and the camera chooses the best shutter speed)
TV - Time priority (the opposite of the above)
P - Program. The camera does everything for you (for the lazy photographer)
L - Lock (off button)
An empty tv screen - actually a green oval square (if you catch my drift). It's the same as P but it will also activate the flash if it thinks you need it. A real pain in th arse....
a face, a mountain,a flower, an athlete. - the preset buttons for shooting portraits, landscapes, macro (close-up) and sport or speedy photography. For the lazy or those with no knowledge of photographic technique.

Hi Stephen,
I've used standard iso400 film which you can get in any chemist/camera shop.
As for exposure, try exposures like 2, 5, 10, 15 minutes for star trails, you get great effects and colours, but be carefull not to have the exposure too long as the background "darkness" will start to become bright from light pollution.

If your using the original camera lens, focus the camers to infinityand try and set the focal ratio (F number like 1.8 and 5.6 and 16) to a low value like 1.8 as this does brighten the image, you do this by rotating the inner ring on the lens, also try the next step up like 2.8, as this illiminates the fringes of the camera lens where it is most defective (usually)..

Dont get carried away with long exposures, film is susceptible to recipriosity failure, meaning,,,
that doubleing the exposure time will not necessarily double the brightness of the image, there is a law of diminishing returns here, especially with longer exposures.

I'd go for star trails if starting out, this will almost certainly give results in every picture, if your going to try "through the telescope" film photography, then be prepared to loose alot of pictures, many an astronomer will tell you that they only got 3 to 6 decent pics from a roll of 24 when taken through the telescope. Focus, vibration. tracking and exposures all been very difficult to get correct. The moon would be a good place to start here, use daytime exposue setting, but of course this depends on the scope used.

Buy a cable release, this is absolutely critical, get one which will stay closed when let go.

AND, when you go to the shop to get the pics developed, explain to them that they must all be printed, even if the machine reject the negitive, those machines are not good at seeing stars on a negitive, many a time I had to go back and argue with the shop that there was something there..

There is a free program on the web called Astrophotography calculator at
www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/astrosoft.html
which will give you exposure times for different objects through different telescopes using different film, all variations, i found it very usefull.

Well I hope this is of some help.
We'd be interested to see how you get on.
Good luck.

Thanks guys,
I see how to keep the shutter open now. Its actually an EOS 500, but your instructions were the same, I will give it a go with iso400 film over the weekend. Again, thanks for the quick replies..