DSLR Long Exposure Processing Question

[Gerrit Gulden]

Hearing about the buffer has really put an end to my concern. My thought was that if I was to buy a DSLR and still have that point and shoot lengthy wait in between taking a new picture, I was just going to stay with the camera I had.

I did find out that the Wait in between taking a new photo was indeed Noise reduction as well as Compression and what ever image algorithims Kodak uses. I have also found that there are alot of options Kodak has left out such as Raw photo, turning off noise reduction, limiting or turning off compression. But I imagine with a point and shoot camera the goal was to limit the photographer. I dont know. Just thought you guys might like to hear about my research.

I appreciate all the replies, I now look forward to buying a DSLR. =)

 

[Cris Schroeder]

Yes, the noise reduction is normally the biggest issue for the delay before writing to the card. The term "processing" though is a bit general. If you are talking about the amount of time before you can take another picture, you are discussing cycle times.

True statement, but the cycle time, at least on my DSLR, is basically nonexistent. I can shoot up to ten RAW images at around three frames per second before things slow down. IIRC, the on-board noise reduction (if on) doesn't kick in until exposure times are longer than one second. With lightning shots, where exposures are more than a few seconds, the buffer never fills and the only cycle time is closing and reopening the shutter. The increase in internal bandwith from a P&S to a DSLR will blow your mind.

 

[Jeremy Ludin]

I have used the Rebel's in-camera noise reduction function twice and will never think about doing it again. For one, as mentioned before, an hour long exposure will take the camera an hour long to process. You almost need a battery pack to use it. I shot star trails last winter and the function completely removed quite a few trails. The ones that were left had been chopped up and was quite obvious that the picture had been altered, without it ever seeing Photoshop. I use Neat Image. It does an EXCELLENT job of removing noise and only takes a few seconds to do. It's a fairly inexpensive program also.