Howdy!

I really like my Coolpix 950, esp the "time lapse" up to 8 second exposure. However, I cannot figure out how to adjust the aperature for a time lapse picture. Is it possible to adjust BOTH the aperature AND exposure rate at the same time rather than just having aperature priority OR exposure priority?

Thanks! Paul

P.S. I'm travelling and have been uploading my pictures to my ftp site. Check out my Coolpix 950 pictures at: ftp.sonic.net/pub/users/zeugma (Sorry, they're only numbered -- no titles yet.) Let me know what you think of them. About half way through, I started using the XVGA size b/c these pix will mostly only be viewed on a computer screen.

-- Paul S. (paulontheroad@usa.net), June 02, 1999

Answers

Paul, You bought the best! The 950 is a truly incredible camera.

Keep in mind that it has to be very dark to enable the 8 sec exposure time. You won't be able to take the typical waterfall scene (with moving water) in daylight. For this you can set the apreture to its highest setting depending on what zoom level is set and hope the camera selects a slow enough shutter speed, but it probably won't.

In answer to your question, in order for the 950 to use the 8 sec exposure, the aperture has to be at its most "open" setting (lowest f-stop...usually 3.7 or 3.9. and the camera automatically adjusts the aperture. You can't adjust both aperture and shutter at the same time. For capturing the most information on long exposures you should be using ISO 320, and this disables shutter priority.

The usual procedure is to first set to manual mode, select program mode, then change to ISO 320 by pressing and holding the button down on top of the camera closest to the shutter button, then using the control wheel at the front of the hand grip, switch to aperture priority. In totally dark conditions, such as at night, the shutter speed will automatically change to 8 sec. I use this method for astrophotography.

You can also stay at ISO 80 and set the shutter speed to 8 sec, but you probably won't get as much information in your pictures due to the reduced CCD sensitivity. The best thing to do is set up on a tripod at night and use both methods, then compare the results and see which one best suits the type of time lapse photography you want to do.

Don't know if this has helped or confused things. You may get a better idea of what I'm talking about by checking out my CP 950 site at:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~drcannon/cp950

Denny Cannon

-- Denny Cannon (drcannon@hiwaay.net), June 09, 1999.