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Hi all, i need a bit of help. I want to buy a digital camera that will have the functions to allow me to try light painting out.

Can anyone recommend any? Im after one cheap as possible, thats easy to use as a beginner.

Also is it the adjustable shutter speed i need, or something else?

I am a total beginner with this so bear with me being dumb lol

Thanks in advance

I have a good beginners Digital SLR in the for sale section. Just needs a lens and youre ready to go.

Generally shutter speed is the most important factor for low light shots, though there are also other adjustments you need to make.

You can read about the basics, but a lot will come from experience you gain on your way

A good start is a canon powershot can be bought for about £10 and put CHDK on the camera. Gives you all the options of a dslr but a fraction of the cost.

The most important feature for light painting is shutter speed. The longer the better. Most cameras only allow 30 sec max, some do 60 secs. You can do at those speeds but Ideally you want one with a remote shutter release and bulb mode, meaning you can hold the shutter open as long as you want while you paint the scene. I use this for all my ue low light and night photography. I would be lost without it.
Also you must have the ability to switch it into manual focus as the camera will not auto focus in very low or zero light.

Thanks everyone

You can do half decent light painting from 15 seconds. The quality of the lens helps too. Some people used to say the Canon 350D with its stock lens was terrible for light painting but I never found it a problem.

It all depends on what you're painting - a room, a barn, a tunnel, or just standing in front of the camera writing your name or shapes with a torch, and the quality and brightness of the torch, too.

Well ive just bought a Sony A200, with a couple of lenses and filters and a few other bits. Really made up with it

At the moment im waiting for it to get dark, then i will start with writing my name and doing shapes Are there pictures in the gallery here of light painting and things? Might take a look now.

Here is a rather ghastly one of mine from the bidston hill thread.

I lit each wall and the ceiling with a different colour and then walked the length of the tunnel with the torch white, spinning it round and round all the way. Lastly I stumbled around in the dark trying to get back close enough to the camera to close the shutter without spoiling the shot with unwanted light.

Wow that is amazing! My shutter only goes up to 30 seconds, but im sure ive read somewere that i can lock it some how. I dont need it any longer at the moment anyway, just while im learning.

Good choice, I think urbexers Earthworm Jim and Reddood used a Sony. You can see their (old) work on NWEX.

You can set a timed exposure upto 30 seconds, or with a remote put it in BULB mode and shutter stays open until you click it closed.

These are some of my underground light painted shots, just a camera on a tripod, 15-20 second exposure and a big Maglite torch:

http://nwex.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3931

http://nwex.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5700

http://nwex.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1997

Wow they are great Gibbo, i love the way the water looks like mist!

I got a remote with it, so was playing around last night in bulb mode writing my name haha.

That NWEX looks a good site, i think i will go and join it now.

i'll be getting an EOS 550D soon which i've heard is a good light painting piece of kit.

more looking forward to getting rid of my Fuji S1000fd really...