bulb: I set up my Nikon as suggested to shoot fireworks, unable to get any pics. Bulb mode, remote trigger, ISO 100, tripod, and when I looked through eye piece all I could see was...

kitrn23

I set up my Nikon as suggested to shoot fireworks, unable to get any pics.
Bulb mode, remote trigger, ISO 100, tripod, and when I looked through eye piece all I could see was bulb typed in bottom of lens. Live view was all black, I tried to reposition camera but nothing, just blacked out.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

kitrn23 wrote:

I set up my Nikon as suggested to shoot fireworks, unable to get any pics.
Bulb mode, remote trigger, ISO 100, tripod, and when I looked through eye piece all I could see was bulb typed in bottom of lens. Live view was all black, I tried to reposition camera but nothing, just blacked out.

What were your other settings? ISO, Fstop? How far away were you? How long did you keep the shutter open? I am not trying to be patronizing, but did you take the lenscap off?

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

which Nikon Camera?

kitrn23

kitrn23 wrote:

I set up my Nikon as suggested to shoot fireworks, unable to get any pics.
Bulb mode, remote trigger, ISO 100, tripod, and when I looked through eye piece all I could see was bulb typed in bottom of lens. Live view was all black, I tried to reposition camera but nothing, just blacked out.

Yes I did have lens cap off, but that is what it looked like. F11 and I had it set for 5sec open.

kitrn23

I had my zoom lens and set for 135

Bike guy Loc: Atlanta

I took both videos and pictures with my IPhone. They came out great. Never did that before.
I also took photos with my Sony a7000 ii and 28-70 mm lens.
Set the iso at 400, aperture at 11 or so. Then set bulb, and snapped away, hand held, varying the shutter speed. Got some good takes, maybe not great, but better than in previous years. BTW, not really into fireworks.

Leitz Loc: Solms

kitrn23 wrote:

Yes I did have lens cap off, but that is what it looked like. F11 and I had it set for 5sec open.

How could you have had the camera set for a 5-second exposure in bulb mode?

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Bike guy wrote:

I took both videos and pictures with my IPhone. They came out great. Never did that before.
I also took photos with my Sony a7000 ii and 28-70 mm lens ...

A Sony a7000 ii? What model is that? A hybrid between an a7 ii and an a6000?

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Bulb is generally used for long exposure over the 30 seconds most camera bodies can be set to do... You usually have to open and close the shutter using the shutter button or a remote shutter release.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Leitz wrote:

How could you have had the camera set for a 5-second exposure in bulb mode?

The OP's answer to this question will likely lead to the cause.

Nikon1201

Bulb is a manual operation controlled by the photographer

traderjohn Loc: New York City

So...No one has the answer.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

kitrn23 wrote:

Yes I did have lens cap off, but that is what it looked like. F11 and I had it set for 5sec open.

Bulb for 5 sec??? You can do 5 sec with aperture priority. Bulb is for more than 30 seconds. Bulb is good so you don't have to guess the time. Yo leave it open from start to finish visually.

Technique I use , remote cable, bulb, fire when you hear the woosh, or even before, watch the fireworks till they fade and stop the shot.

A nice alternative to get more than on one burst is to put a hat over the lens after the first shot with still on bulb, and pull the hat when next burst happens. You can often get 2-4 shots with various bursts in one shot. much more dynamic.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Leitz wrote:

How could you have had the camera set for a 5-second exposure in bulb mode?

Yeah, that’s not possible.

The “Bulb” setting opens the shutter just as long as you hold down the shutter release. The “Time” setting opens the shutter with one press, then closes it with a second press.

“Bulb” was used over a century ago for flash powder tray exposures. Later it was (and still is) used for “painting” night scenes with multiple flash exposures, and for capturing fireworks.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

1. If you are using bulb mode you must hold down the shutter button for the desired length of time. Once you let go the shutter closes. You can use use bulb mode with an intervolometer to more easily use long shutter speeds (e.g. 1 minute)

2. Most modern cameras allow one to set the shutter speed up to 30 or 60 sec. The mechanical cameras of past often had a limit of 1 sec.

3. When shooting in the dark live view may be black or nearly so. (when there are no fire works) Night photographers often use flashlight to assist focus. If you have a mirrorless camera you will also see black if you change the setting of the EVF so that it behaves as a optical viewfinder then it will behave much like live view.

4. Some old cameras had BULB and TIME settings. BULB requires pressing down the shutter button for the desired time. TIME requires two shutter presses. The first opens the shutter the second closes the shutter.

4. My best guess is that you forgot to hold the shutter button for 5 sec (or other long time)