Nov 4
Slow
20 sec exposureAll I can say is that long exposures are not a problem anymore. It was a relatively dark day so I think I could’ve gotten 15-20 sec exposures without the ND8, but the point was to test it so I used it stacked with the polarizer anyway. The longest exposure I tried with was 25 sec but sharpness becomes a serious issue; I’ve no idea how people get sharp shots with slower shutter speeds. I think I will stick to those 15-20 secs, that’s enough to give me the kind of effect I am looking for without sacrificing all too much with the sharpness.
Something else that is slow is my computer. I got an extra 512 MB RAM and stuffed it in… and it didn’t show up. So I thought maybe it’s broken, and tested by removing the older modules (2×512 MB). No problems with the new module. So I put in the old RAM again and booted up - only to discover that my computer still thinks that it only has 512 MB. I tried with swapping the modules, tried with each one individually, tried different memory slots (only the first slot seems to work alone - or the other two are broken. Which there weren’t before, because it still showed 1 GB after I inserted the new module the first time). But no matter what, my computer is now operating with half a gig instead of the 1.5 GB I was hoping to have. Not much fun when editing large pictures!
Gonna have to start surfing the tech forums… Maybe there’s some magic way to tell the PC that is has extra memory. Yeah and pigs fly.
Nice work with the water! For me there’s no idea having Stormjackets or any other extreme gadged - I just skip the shooting when it’s a bad weather
I’ve heard, that very long exposures aren’t the worst problem. Shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/2 second are probably the most critical ones due the vibration caused by mirror and tripod. Of course the wind is a factor when taking long exposures :-/
Regarding to this memory issue, please check the mainboard manual and if it’s Nvidia chipset, there should be a jumper which affects to the behaviour of the memory banks.
Btw, there’s a long update for my Acer-issue :p
The problem with very long exposures - assuming that there’s no external sources of vibration - is diffraction. Theoritically, it should be possible to avoid it when using large apertures, so hopefully the ND8 will help with that because I don’t have to stop down all the way to get the long shutter speed I need.
Sadly, no jumpers for the memory. The computer correctly downgraded the memory when only 512 MB was available, but it won’t upgrade - not even to get back to the original 1 GB. I don’t feel like resetting the CMOS memory or flashing the BIOS… it will ruin the RAID I’m sure, and I remember what a struggle it was to install it in the first place.
However, not as difficult as replacing a faulty laptop, obviously!
Ok, now I see what was your point. You really cannot avoid diffraction with small apertures :-/ Just use medium F-stops and keep your eye on the focus pane! Easier said than…
That mainboard problem seems to be quite weird! Have you asked advice from Garden Elf..woops..Alf I mean. He’s quite qeek with those things.
Yes it’s useful to work in an IT company… I got a tip today that if I disconnect the HDDs, I can reset the CMOS memory without losing the RAID config. So I disconnected the drives, and reset CMOS memory, and rebooted. 512 MB. Repeat procedure. 512 MB. Remove all RAM, and repeat. After about the umpteenth time I suddenly got 1 GB RAM again, so I’m back in square 1. I hate to call that improvement… But I didn’t lose the RAID.
I will consult with more experts tomorrow.
Whee, back to basics :p How about rebooting that machine a dozen or thousand times more? Perhaps the mainboard is broken, dunno. Have you checked for the bios upgrade?