Double/multiple exposures on a 350D or a 40D - is it possible?

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Sue Fisher

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Hello All, I'm posting this on behalf of me (I have a 350D) and George (another TP member, my uncle, who has a 40D, but has not got the manual with him and has no internet access at present).

Is it possible to make double or multiple exposures with these cameras? - like you can do with a 35mm SLR without winding the film on?

I've looked in my 350D manual and can't find anything regarding this.

George wants to take some night exposures of star trails round the pole star, but rather than leave the shutter open for 2 hours (the battery only lasts this long) wants to take intermitent shots on the same exposure. Is it at all possible, or have we got to layer separate shots on top of another in Photoshop?

Thanks in advance for any help :)
 
You have to do the layer thing in PS. :(

I think the Nikon D200 can do multiple exposures but not any of the canons that I've heard of.
 
Hawker said:
Try this, I've been meaning to but haven't had a chance to get out on a 'good sky' night, I don't know if it works but it looks ok.

http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html

looks like it should do all the layering of multiple shots for you :)
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Yep I second that, it's a really nifty program, very simple but also pretty powerful. You can add dark exposures to the shots and it will subtract the noise from the final image too.

I used startrails to process this shot-

main.php


Which consisted of 45 one minute exposures and it was literally as simple as selecting all the exposures you want to use and pressing the startrails button. You can even do videos, although I haven't managed to get that to work.:)
 
You probably wouldn't want to leave the shutter open for two hours anyway, because of the amount of stray light in the sky. If you take a series of shorter exposures and superimpose them, the software gives you options for managing the sky glow.

You can use Photoshop to stack the images if you want, rather than specialised software like Startrails. Here's one I took last August during the Perseid meteor shower. 28 images, total exposure time 61m 17s. Note the one rather insignificant meteor!

184772213_Bbgqt-L.jpg


I also wrote up my experience, with some do's and dont's, here.
 
Thanks everyone. Is the startrails plugin just available for Windows users? We've got Macs, though George does use Windows via Parallels on his Mac, but I don't.

If I stack the images in Photoshop, do I just reduce the opacity of each layer, or is there a better way?
 
Sorry Stewart, I should have read your other thread before asking the Photoshop question. :cuckoo:

I have read it now and have the answer, thanks :)
 
back on line now, and thanks Sue for your help, that'll be another pint of Guinness at Focus no doubt.... I've done the long exposure but only about 3/4 hr at Christmas (as did Sue) and the results were ok, when I get my new 1Ds then I can use the mains adaptor and leave the shutter open, and will have a look at the noise etc and report.

Will also have a look at the alternatives above, the sky is stunning tonight and has been for the last few. Pity there's a bit of a moon before 11 ish, though.
George
 
By the way, stewart, I'm in the north of Scotland and there's virtually no light polution, it's quite amazing in the winter.
 
George said:
By the way, stewart, I'm in the north of Scotland and there's virtually no light polution, it's quite amazing in the winter.
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Ooh, I'm envious. I'm going to the Lake District in a couple of weeks time and the skies there can be pretty dark, so I might try some long-exposure stuff there...
 
StewartR said:
Ooh, I'm envious. I'm going to the Lake District in a couple of weeks time and the skies there can be pretty dark, so I might try some long-exposure stuff there...
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Yea, Stewart, that should be good, unfortunately the moon's a bit big now, so that's an end to this month, I think.
 
George said:
Yea, Stewart, that should be good, unfortunately the moon's a bit big now, so that's an end to this month, I think.
Click to expand...

I am actually starting to err on the side of going out when there is a moon, it may sound a bit strange but depending on what you are shooting it can really enhance the image. If you just want to shoot straight up, with maybe just a branch in the way no moon may be best, but if you want to include any form of foreground (like the rock in my picture above) then the moon at the right angle can bring out the detail in the foreground, instead of just having a silhouette.

With multiple exposures you don't have to worry about the light as much and so the moon doesn't affect the trails, just the foreground. :)
 
Yes, but I'm trying to get some nice long star trails with 6 hrs or so, thinl I might resurrect one of my old film bodies.

It's an interesting subject to play with!!
 
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