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One of the things I got for Christmas is a remote release cable for the D80. (Thanks, Fred & Sue!)

I went out this morning and came back with ~90 shots that I took around town while the sun was coming up. There’s definitely an extra sharpness in the photos compared to other tripod based long exposure shots I’ve taken before. As careful as you are when you press the camera mounted shutter it’s no substitute for the clarity and precision of a remote release cable.

I also used the little eyepiece blackout piece. The idea is that light will actually leak into the camera body (and hence influence the image) by coming back through the eyepiece and down through the mirror assembly, so for longer exposures you replace the eyepiece with the blackout piece and stop that light leakage. I used it on some shots and not others, and I can’t pick the difference. Forums I’ve read are very undecided about whether they’re worth the trouble or not.

I’m hoping to take a few starfield pictures tonight before the moon comes up, and they’ll be ~20 minute exposures. For stuff that long it probably does matter, so I’ll make sure I use it.