300d and long exposures

[Owen Clarke]

Hi just wondering if anyone was having same problem as me or if im doing something wrong.
I like taking pics of waterfalls and the like and i liked using a longer exposure to blur the water at least with my film camera. I now use my 300d and just cant get it right, cant really use it over 1/10 of a sec on water as the water just gets blownout. I set the camera on m mode and aperture at f22 iso 100 can anyone help me with this problem what am i doing wrong or will i have to use film to photograph waterfalls or the sea to get that blurred effect

[DReb-MO]

Use shutter priority, TV, set the shutter for what you desire and the aperture will be set by the camera.

[45R]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37360

I've also used a ND filter.

[Big_B]

Use shutter priority, TV, set the shutter for what you desire and the aperture will be set by the camera.

Hold on though. If he's set the ap to f22 and the water is still blown out surely setting the camera to shutter priority won't help?

[Owen Clarke]

thats what i thought big b

[puttick]

Your problem is you have too much light for the long exposure - so even at f22 you can't use 1/10 second without overexposure of highlights.

I would suggest 1/4 sec or longer is necessary for good "smooth" blurred water with sharp background.

:idea: SO ... you need to reduce the light reaching the sensor. Try shooting under shade of trees, on overcast day, or in the late evening or pre-dawn. In full daylight, you will need a Neutral density filter, say ND4 (that is 4 stops darker). You can use a polariser for a little ND effect (most are +1 stop).

It is nothing to do with whether you use film or digital. Though of course you are limited to 100 ISO as the slowest "film" with your 300D, and you could use slower speed film such as Kodachrome 25 (25 ISO) with a film SLR, which would be like using a ND2 on the 300D at 100 ASA.

[Vinny454]

I am not sure how much blur you are looking for but I was experimenting a few weeks ago with both blurring the water and freezing the water.

Below is the link to the pictures and the the settings I used.

The only thing I wish I had was an L lens instead of the zoom I do have.

I was using the DRebel with a 75-300 f4-5.6 IS lens and I was in an open area and it couldn't get any sunnier.

I found the same problem when trying to go with an exposure time below 1/25 as I don't have a Neutral Desity filter. Definately going to have to get one.

Vince

http://www.sherakan.com/fountain/