Shutter speed on SX10

[aquariaguy]

Just a quick question, I'm trying to take some pics with a looooooong shutter speed, to absorb all the light, kinda like those pics where people have a flashlight and spell words in the darkness and the camera picks it up. However, the longest I can set the shutter speed is 8 seconds I think? But it seems like when I take the picture, it takes the picture in less than a second. How am I able to keep the shutter open for a couple of seconds to give me a chance to "draw" something in the air? Thanks :)

[GRS1959]

15 seconds is the longest shutter speed on the SX10. If the camera in shutter priority mode, the shutter should stay open for as long as you set it.

Using CHDK will allow shutter times of up to 64 seconds.

[Jon]

Even with the long shutter speed enabled, you need to have a very dark area or you won't actually get a long shutter speed (or you'll get a horrendous overexposure). Are you sure it's dar enough where you're trying this?

[towhead]

http://i29.tinypic.com/10if39t.jpg

To take a picture like this, set your camera to "M" mode, then change the shutter speed to 15 seconds (page 104 in the manual).
Next, set the self timer to 10 seconds (page 75 ).
The camera should be mounted on a tripod, in a dark room. It doesn't have to be pitch black, but the darker the better. I used a basement room with the lights off.

Press the shutter and the self timer starts beeping, so you have 10 seconds to get about 8-10 feet in front of the camera. When the beeping stops and you hear the shutter click, you then have 15 seconds to write in the air with a small light. After 15 seconds, you will hear the shutter click again. Go to the camera and check out your work. Forum member rbakeratl helped me out on this. It takes some practice, turning on the light to make a letter, then turning it off, then turning it on again to make the next letter. You'll get the hang of it. Good luck.