Hello Mark, in the manual I found more settings which will prevent you to find the "Bulb mode" on the A6400 like: - Smile Shutter - Auto HDR - Picture Effect is set to "HDR Painting" or "Rich-tone Mono" - Multi Frame NR - When Drive Mode is set to the following: "Cont. Shooting", "Self-timer(Cont)", "Cont. Bracket" - Silent Shooting --> This setting was set active in my situation Kind regards and thanks for your helpfull video's!

On a Sony a7iii you must also have silent shooting ‘off’. That will still override the bulb effect even if you’re in single shot drive mode.

I jokingly gave you a hard time about 2 years ago that you didnt explain how to get into bulb mode. I couldnt find the answer to that anywhere and it cost me long exposures on the west coast for a 20 day trip. I had just gone from cannon to sony and could not find how to get into that mode. Actually getting ready to go out again and had forgot. I see you updated your tutorials with this great one.

I’m pretty sure I found this a couple of years ago when I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find bulb mode. I’m forgetful and had forgotten again. Thanks so much Mark for your videos and your help.

I spent so much time looking for bulb mode. Thanks so much for your insight.

Thanks Mark! I keep coming back to this video every two years or so, when I've once again forgotten why bulb has disappeared. :)

I can't express how grateful I am for this video. Thank you for revealing this!

THanks for sharing the BULB mode settings. Ad cool to see a man still sporting an earing like the 90s.

What a lifesaver - thank you Mark - been reading manuals but that was so quick and simple.

Simple question that I had and made me furious about not finding bulb function was answered. Thank you

Lifesaver great straight to the point video Mark

Its was impossible to find. Very useful information. Thank you!

For those of you found that this still didn't allow Bulb to show up you may been in my situation. I had been shooting in 'silent shutter' mode - Bulb can be used in that mode. Cheers!

Thank you for this. I saw this video on the A series Google+ user group. I haven't needed bulb mode yet but I must say that I was more shocked that I had to buy an app from the Sony store just to get into time lapse mode.

Thanks. Very helpful. Do you have a vid which also examines use of a cable release? I'm a new convert from Nikon and trying to get to grips with a very different UI. Thanks

Bulb disappears on my a6300 if you have Silent Shooting turned on. So you need to set the camera to Single Shooting and turn off Silent Shooting.

Great video always gives you great info.

Thank your for clear explanation and voice too !

Thnx!! Was looking for this for so long! Great!

Mark, love your videos. I watched this video 2 times this morning trying to put my A1 in BULB mode. I hung on every work you spoke in the video, but could not find BULB mode. I spent over an hour trying to find it. Another video on KZfaq said in order to do this, you have to put the camera in MECHANICAL SHUTTER mode. I did this, and Boom, there was BULB mode….. I was so frustrated I couldn’t see straight. Would have been helpful if you would have mentioned that. If it is possible to get BULB in electronic shutter mode I apologize, but your video to a lot of people as produced, didn’t help…… Seriously tho, you have answered so many questions for me in other areas. Thank you Sir !

Solved my problem. Thanks, Mark!

Mark, may I say a big thank you for explaining the question ; Where can I find the 'bulb' setting on my Sony Alpha Camera. I had spent ages asking Google for the answer, and it was like waiting for a politician to answer a simple question posed to him/her. Looking at your video I found it in minutes. This Old Codger is well delighted. Kind regards to you.

Thanks for the useful information. Glad I have found your channel and I then I came to realize that I had bought your Photoshop CS3 Essential Skills Book many years ago (co-authored with Andrew).

Thank you so much I was searching the whole night for bulb mode on my Sony, now I know why 😁

Very useful, solved my issue finding the bulb mode

Very useful video. Thank you

Important info. Thank you.

You always save the day.....thanks Mark........

I’d done exactly that with my Sony A7m3..had been shooting a parade when I last used my camera and had left it in Continuous drive mode..! Back to single shot and problem solved..thank you!

Thanks Mark, I have found that with my A7iii that you can achieve bulb mode in drive modes other than single shooting, i.e. Self Timer, Single Bracket, White Balance Bracket and DRO Bracket. now all I have to figure out is when you would use them!

Thank you!

Thank you for your informative video!

You are my hero !!! Thank you.... I've been twisting my brain.... !!

Thank you so much, I couldn't select bulb on A7R as I had it on continuous shooting! It was driving me crazy trying to work it out!😂

Thanks Mark!

Thanks I went out to day with my ND filters and set up for some landscaping shots I was all set did my calculations for for exposure and then I started looking for the bulb mode because I needed a four minute exposure with the 10 stop N D filter with the three stop graduated ND filter, so I had my Sony a7seven mark four ready to go, I started looking at the shutters speeds to my surprise bulb mode was nowhere to be found thank you Mark for helping me figure this out

thank you. was very helpfull

This saved me! Thanks!

I've recently moved from Fujifilm X-T2 , and doing long exposure has been a breeze. However, now with the Sony A7iii, it's a bit more inconvenient because there's no 2/4/8 minute option beyond the 30 seconds, as it just goes straight into Bulb mode. Is there a way to use Bulb mode with a built in timer indicator? With a remote or anything for the A7iii? Cheers :)

Excellent - Thank you very much!

Thanks very much for taking the trouble to do this. I find the Sony Alpha great and love it, but there are a few menu options that disable other things and can baffle you if you don't appreciate this. There seem to be several features that I am often unaware affect something down another branch of the menu tree altogether. I've even had to reset to default on occasion to bypass this. (and, of course, I like to have my camera set up for certain things I am habituated to, then can't figure out how to get those back how I want them) I know, I know, R.T.F.M. (Read the Manual) am I right in assuming I need a remote shutter control to do this? Currently I have lazily been using the 10 second auto-shutter delay to avoid shake and a 20 second exposure usually captures stars reasonably well, though I find a high ISO causes noise on my camera, if I go beyond about 800. For a remote shutter control, I managed to get the excellent "TriggerTrap" cable & android app (before they discontinued it) which is designed to do time lapse photography, so I figured for one more go at this pesky and elusive comet, I might have a bit of a practice before I burn more rubber trying to evade the cloud cover (and losing sleep) I suppose I should really put in a bit of effort to take a few shots, as for taking a time lapse sequence and use some stacking software to really do it justice. All my friends are posting cracking shots and I am very jealous, so I can't speak to them until I have mastered this!

Again a great tutorial from Mark and also contribution from Kirk Keyes! Finally, maybe Mark could influence Sony developers to display a timer on the screen when using Bulb mode on the next firmware update (ILCE-6400). It is a pitty such a lack feature (Sony support confirmed it is not currently available :-((

Is the a timer setting on the Sony which shows you how long the image is being taken for, as i cant seem to find it?

This one really helped me, thank you very much. (Why do people klick "Thumbs down" on such a good tutorial? Are they stupid or bored or ... I don't get it.)

Thank you

Thank you very much

Thank you so much!!

Thanks!!!

Mark is there a built in timer on the A7111 for long exposure say 2Mins ? in bulb mode

As someone who exclusively shoots landscapes/seascapes (usually always in Aperture Priority mode), I have the Bulb setting selected in Manual mode and that way when I want to shoot longer exposures I simply switch the mode dial from Aperture Priority ('A') to Manual ('M'). Simple!

Hi Mark, could you let us know how to achieve this using the A1? I tried what you explained in this video but there is nothing beyond the 30 seconds. Is the bulb mode in A1 somewhere else? Thank you!

Is it possible to have the rear screen show the image as it develops over time to help judge when to release the shutter? Sony A7riv

Thanks for the short simple video. I have one question regarding processing time, i have noticed when shooting bulb mode that the processing time is always equal to the exposure time. For example, i shoot 1 minute and processing also takes 1 minute before i can take another shot. Now question is, is there a way to reduce the process time or not? Thanks

Will this work with A5100? Where I can find Bulb setting in the menu?

This is great thanks but I'm not having any luck with getting play memories to DO bulb mode. Can it?

thanks mate

I love you man..

Thank you sooooooooooo much!

Hi. I have a A7III. So I have the settings as presented, M mode, drive mode on single shooting, ... turn the dial until I hit the 30 seconds mark, but then it just doesn't switch to bulb mode while I keep turning on the dial... So is there anymore setting to look after that I'm missing? Is it the lens, is it f aperture,...?

Hi Mark thanks for the info , just 1 more question: does the bulb mode overwrite the manual focus?

thanks my g

Mark do you need to use the remote with the New Sony A7C R or can it be set in caMERA??? THANKS Jack

Hi Mark, when I access BULB mode the screen lights up and gives a bright representation of the scene. However when I take the shot ir exposes correctly. Is that usual?

Thanks 🙏🏼

I was looking for a way to make five minute minute exposures without holding the shutter button down for five minutes. Should be able to push shutter button once to start the exposure and once again to end it. I had high hopes that this camera with all the controls it has would have this feature. Any thoughts?

Thank you!!!!!

How can I see the time of the bulb exposure..? My Canon has a timer on the LCD, so I know when to stop it. I bought the remote from Sony to avoid being dependent of my phone. That phone wifi app thing is a bit frustrating for more serious work, especially when some one calls in the middle of your shot, you get all kinda notifications from apps popping up, you forgot to charge the phone, or the wifi connection suddenly drops and you have no control of the camera until the connection has been restored. I prefer to work with a simple bulletproof infrared remote instead and leave the phone in my car. But when I use my new remote I can't see how many seconds the exposure has "been running".. it seems very confusing that I have to go buy a stopwatch also. Is it an option that can be enabled somewhere in the menu..? Most other brands show the time on the LCD when you do really long exposures.

Hi Mark thanks for explaining this nice video. Can I be able to this shot using Sony RX100 Vii ? Thanks

Can the Sony Play Memory app be used as a shutter release for longer exposure (30sec+ ) on Sony A7III

How can it take ? I mean the longest exposure, i want to take like 15 mins, is that possible with the sony a7 II?

thanks, looking for that. and with updated remote control app you can soot without keep pressing your camera button , from your smartphone

Thanks god, I was already thinking that my 700€ Camera isn't able to handle it. Thanks a lot. :)

I just can't get into bulb shutter mode on my Sony A7S III. I've set my Drive Mode to 'single' function to I've even initialised my camera to reset everything but I still can't see BULB after the 30 second shutter option. What am I missing or doing wrong?

Bulb Mode is now accessible with the Smart Remote camera app that allows you to activate the shutter via your smartphone!

Mark, how I get the bulb mode in the RX100V ?

Hi, the a68 has the bulb mode?

hi mark i have a7iv trying bulb mode but its not making long exposure its not working its just like taking normal pictures it clicks right away.

Hi it seems that it is not possible to access bulb mode with the sony a6000 neither with playmemories camera app nor with touchless shutter.. i have tried everything without success.. Does anyone know a way to do bulb mode with a remote control for the sony a6000... Thx by advance

I did exactly that and changed to single shooting. It stays at 30 and will not change to bulb a7r4. Help.

thx

I have an A7RIII and I have found that you can only set the BULB setting by using the rear rotary wheel. The front wheel only allows for a maximum shutter speed of 30sec. So in addition to Silent off and single shot and the miriad of other settings ensure you use the wheel on the back of the top of the camera. Bulb is then an option. For the couple of folks who are confused about BULB and why you have to hold the button in bulb mode. This is a "archaic" name that is derived from the old plate cameras that used a pneumatic bulb much like the blower brush you use to clean your camera. the operator squeezed the bulb to open the shutter and then many seconds later they let the bulb out and the shutter stopped. The setting you want is the T setting that was on many early manual film cameras where you hit the shutter once to open it and again to close it. Here endeth the history lesson.

Next qu what app can be used for Sony for bulb mode and remote photos

omg thank you so much!!! i was driving myself crazy lol.

When I set my A7III to bulb and hit the shutter button, it snaps a photo right then and there. I want to do exposures longer than :30 and its not allowing me to do so. Camera is in single shot mode too.

It was useful, but I'm a product photographer using strobe and I would like to use bulb mode so I can pop the strobes several times at full power and maintain a small aperture opening like used to do with film. I haven't tried it because I'm still new to the camera and I hope it works.

👏👏👏

Still do not see Bulb? Single shooting, silent shooting OFF. Manual mode. Can't go beyond 30 sec.??? (Sony A7R3)

Anyone knows where to find the bulb mode in the Sony A1? I tried deactivating the silent shooting mode but is not going beyond the 30 seconds. Thank you.

There is one more setting that will disable Bulb Mode-Silent Shooting. Thus must be turned off to use Bulb.

Bulb disappears when I put the camera into the remote app. Seems pointless. Does it work with physical remote?

In bulb mode how can we calculate time of shutter for a perfect exposure???

I have a Sony A77ii and when i switch to single shooting I still can not get into bulb mode by adjusting shutter speed.

Bulb mode will not work also if you are in electronic shutter

Bulb mode even on ISO 100 is to bright.. anything I do wrong?

Does anyone know of a way to have the shutter button act like a switch in Bulb mode? Example... Click it to start self timer and open shutter. Then let it expose without holding down. Then click it again to stop exposing. ??? I guess I can buy an intervalometer, but it's just one more thing to carry.

Just another things that prevents bulb appearing - electronic shutter. Switch to mechanical shutter along with the other advice offered here!

You should add that the mechanical shutter function must be. in the silent shutter position, BULB is not available

Problem with the bulb mode on my a 6300 is that you have to hold the shutter release to keep the shutter open. Almost useless, Need a remote to make it work in a reasonable manner. Should have been mentioned.

Thanks or this useful information. I couldn't find the bulb setting on my Sony A58 to take night sky photography. I honestly think Sony messed up big time for disregarding the bulb setting this way. Moreover the manual doesn't try to help users find it. It's a shame!

You also have to use the mechanical shutter.