LX100 Long Exposure Test

GaryS70

GaryS70

Messages
457
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
No
I recently sold a bit of unused kit and decided to get a LX100 for the times I couldn't or didn't want to take my D90 and lenses out with me.

Really pleased with it - feels well made, handles nicely and produces decent images, so all good so far.

I was also interested to see how it coped with long exposures (as they are my main style of photography) so I purchased a relatively cheap 10 stop from SRB and gave it a go..

My initial thoughts are :

  • It's OK, I guess. Maximum exposure time is limited to around 120 seconds (128 I think), which can be be a problem. I often need a long exposure if the water is very rough, or light is low. Maybe a future firmware release can address this and provide a full bulb mode.
  • Being able to still compose and focus when the 10 stop is attached is great though, and really helps.
  • That said, when I also attached a grad filter, the camera seemed to struggle with focus and the resulting images were really noisy.
  • I hadn't set the noise reduction for long exposures so may try that next time. Even this image was quite noisy though - mostly hidden by the B&W but still some odd artefacts and I expect a colour shot would need quite a lot of work.
  • Detail isn't great in comparison to my D90, but that could be due to me rather than the camera - other shots I have taken with the LX100 seem to be fine though and not lacking. I have read that the camera lacks detail in the corners, so could be that.

All in all, I really like this camera so far, but not sure its the best option for long exposures. Will experiment more though and see how it goes...

Apex100 by Gary Smith, on Flickr


This is a similar shot taken a while ago with my D90 as a comparison..

Apex Sq by Gary Smith, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
NeilA1975 said:
I love LE Gary.
Seems good to me.
Click to expand...

Thanks, and just been looking at one of your recent LE's - lovely..

Jon.P.73 said:
Very nice Gary :clap:

Are yo limited to 120 seconds even when using the app to control the start and stop of the exposure ?
Click to expand...

Thanks Jon, and thats a good point - will need to check that out. I have the app on my phone but didn't think about it last night for some reason :facepalm:
 
On my Lx100, I am trying to get day time long exposures with a 10 stop Nd filter.
At F16, 100 ISo, I only can get 15 seconcs shutter speed. Not enough to blurr the water on the lake.

Any ideas anyone?
 
Berty222 said:
On my Lx100, I am trying to get day time long exposures with a 10 stop Nd filter.
At F16, 100 ISo, I only can get 15 seconcs shutter speed. Not enough to blurr the water on the lake.

Any ideas anyone?
Click to expand...
On a very bright day, you'd be lucky to get more than 15-30 seconds sometimes, even at those settings. Lee have released a super stopper (15 or 16 stops, can't remember) which would be more appriopate in those conditions.
 
Stu Meech said:
On a very bright day, you'd be lucky to get more than 15-30 seconds sometimes, even at those settings. Lee have released a super stopper (15 or 16 stops, can't remember) which would be more appriopate in those conditions.
Click to expand...

Yup, spot on, for bright daylight, more than 10 stops will be required. I often combine a 10 & 6 stop together, or use a shade #13 welding glass (17 stops approx)

Hitech do a 16 stop in their firecrest range in addition to the new one from Lee.
 
As said already, the brighter conditions at present will limit your ability to get a very long exposure - here is another recent-ish 10 stop LE with the LX100 using similar settings and I got 55 seconds, but it was an overcast day.. I sometimes combine a 10 and a 2 stop in brighter conditions but using a 10 and 6 would be better (or a 16 as mentioned, but as I have a 10 already, I just stack own top of that)

Buckled by Gary Smith, on Flickr
 
Maybe it is a hint to suggest you try something other than long exposures...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top