NikonRocks Loc: Sydney

The forced lockdown due to COVID-19 has given me more time to investigate the more obscure features of my recently acquired D500. I have found that when I put the camera into Manual Mode and twiddle the Command dial to the left - the one on the rear of the camera - which changes the shutter speed, I eventually get to "bulb". OK so far. Dialing past "bulb" brings up "--" (just the two dashes) in the viewfinder and the top display panel. However, pressing the "info" button on the rear of the camera shows the word "Time" where the shutter speed or "bulb" is normally displayed. One more click to the left of the command dial brings up the last shutter speed in the series and shows "x250".

What I found interesting is that if the mode is set to Shutter Priority, then there is no "--" (Time) between "x250" and "bulb" as was the case in Manual Mode.

So my question is "What does the shutter speed of "--" (Time) mean and what's it function? I failed to find an answer in the D500 handbook or Thom Hogan's User Guide. Any Hoggers here able to provide a cogent answer?

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

See page 137 of the English (for customers in Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa) PDF manual.
Press the shutter button (or remote) to start the exposure) and press it again to stop the exposure.

twosummers Loc: Melbourne Australia or Lincolnshire England

BULB is press and hold shutter button to start exposure, then release button to end exposure. TIMED is similar but press and release to start and press and release to stop.

NikonRocks Loc: Sydney

Thank you twosummers for your quick reply. That makes a lot of sense. Much appreciated.

NikonRocks Loc: Sydney

And thank you Richard for a similar response. Again, much appreciated.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Highly recommended by many on the forum. Also check the Backcountry Gallery for Nikon setting tips.

https://bcgwebstore.com/product/secrets-to-the-nikon-autofocus-system/

BebuLamar

Now I am surprised! I understand why they don't want you to set to TIME when in shutter priority but why do they let you set to BULB? In both case the camera can't know how long the shutter speed will be and thus it can not set the aperture correctly.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Good information

Geegee Loc: Peterborough, Ont.

So what is "x250"?

BebuLamar

X250 is 1/250 which is the highest flash sync speed (without using the high speed sync feature which uses multiple flashes and reduce the power significantly). X is for electronic flash sync.