Bulb setting

[Lesco]

Ive been reading from time to time on the forums about "bulb mode/bulb setting" for exposures longer than 30 seconds!!

what does it all actually mean, and what is the purpose of Bulb Mode/setting?? I watched a DVD by Karl Taylor and he used Bulb Mode to paint with light, and was using 30 min exposure's and moving all over the place with a big giant torch, painting rocks and buildings etc, etc??, the effects were stunning in the final photo's

 

[canon_togger]

It allows you to take exposures of longer than 30 seconds, thats its purpose!
The shutter will remain open for as long as the shutter release button is pressed. You can use a cable for this to save holding the button down yourself.

 

[Suvv]

For my old film SLR I have an actual Bulb.
It is a rubber ball with a tube coming out, at the other end of the tube is a bit which you screw into the shutter release. If you squeeze the bulb then the air pressure along the tube pushes out a steel pin at the other end which holds the shutter release in.
All the time that the bulb is squeezed the shutter remains open. I can attach a longer tube, about 6m, to the bulb if I want to release the shutter from a distance, it is easier to have the bulb on the ground and tread on it as your hand can get a bit tired after a while.
Probably more information than you need

 

[Zsev]

Using bulb mode, you can either

1) hold down the shutter button for however long you want the exposure to be. Great for shooting fireworks when its hard to predict the timing of the exposure.
2) use a remote control to start and stop the exposure without needing you to pyshically be in contact with the camera. Great for very long exposures.
3) cable release , same as 2.

 

[Bradders09]

Also great for blurring water and creating lovely sweeping cloudscapes. I use it lot and combine it with an ND 110 filter.

 

[arclight]

The term "Bulb" is a blast from the past and relates back to the time when camera shutters could be fired pneumatically by squeezing a rubber ball (bulb) linked to the camera by a tube. The term was also used when pre digital camera shutters were fired by means of a cable release.
It confuses many people who have only ever known digital.

 

[artyman]

Older cameras also used to have another useful setting called T for Timer, where first press of the button opened the shutter and the second press closed it. Now I guess that would be really easy to implement in modern camera software yet suprisingly it hasn't been done. I guess they figure with ISO's of 6400, 12800 and more it isn't required.

 

[Scarecrow]

The term "Bulb" is a blast from the past and relates back to the time when camera shutters could be fired pneumatically by squeezing a rubber ball (bulb) linked to the camera by a tube. The term was also used when pre digital camera shutters were fired by means of a cable release.
It confuses many people who have only ever known digital.

Incorrect.

Bulb name comes from the days when cameras were used with flash bulbs rather than flash guns that we use today. A modern flash gun provides full light as soon as it is triggered. Flash bulbs actually take a few microseconds to build up to full light, as the light is provided by burning magnesium strands within the bulb.

A flash bulb needs the shutter to be fully open if the entire frame of film is to be exposed correctly, but this required a slower shutter speed than was available on old mechanical cameras. The bulb setting allowed a slow enough shutter speed by the simple expediency of the photographer pressing the shutter and then releasing it once the flash bulb had fired.

 

[CT]

Incorrect.

Bulb name comes from the days when cameras were used with flash bulbs rather than flash guns that we use today. A modern flash gun provides full light as soon as it is triggered. Flash bulbs actually take a few microseconds to build up to full light, as the light is provided by burning magnesium strands within the bulb.

A flash bulb needs the shutter to be fully open if the entire frame of film is to be exposed correctly, but this required a slower shutter speed than was available on old mechanical cameras. The bulb setting allowed a slow enough shutter speed by the simple expediency of the photographer pressing the shutter and then releasing it once the flash bulb had fired.

An often quoted misconception Derek, but it's wrong. Arclight was quite correct - the term comes from the pneumatic bulb type releases commonly used for remote shutter release.

My photography pre- dates the first electronic flashes and I can assure you we didn't have to use 'B' to take bulb flash pictures.

 

[Lesco]

Thank you very much guys, they say if learn one thing per day your doing well )

 

[Scarecrow]

An often quoted misconception Derek, but it's wrong. Arclight was quite correct - the term comes from the pneumatic bulb type releases commonly used for remote shutter release.

My photography pre- dates the first electronic flashes and I can assure you we didn't have to use 'B' to take bulb flash pictures.

That's interesting because I am sure that is how the setting was explained in the manual of the first camera I ever bought. I never did flash photography back then, so I never tried it out.

However, if the pneumatic bulb is indeed how the setting got it's name, then I apologise to Arclight for doubting him and stand corrected.

 

[arclight]

That's interesting because I am sure that is how the setting was explained in the manual of the first camera I ever bought. I never did flash photography back then, so I never tried it out.

However, if the pneumatic bulb is indeed how the setting got it's name, then I apologise to Arclight for doubting him and stand corrected.

No problem, Derek