Interval shooting woes...

fstdslrkx · 12-26-2010, 01:50 PM

Yesterday i could not A) Get warm B) Get K-5 to take 60 shots at 1sec or 2 sec interval.
It failed for RAW ,it failed for jpg. Camera took only 2 to 4 shots and then gladly declared that interval shooting is complete.
I turned off picture review. I unchecked Auto-off. Memory card was full (well - in the beginning). Battery was full. I read manual (page 152-154) several times. I slowly froze. But i failed to get more then 4 shots in the row (or jpg)

.
My memory card is extreme 3 class 6. Is it not fast enough? Because my credit card is from much lower class.....
Or am i simply expecting too much - about 1sec (2sec top) interval for large pictures in general?

Gimbal · 12-26-2010, 02:22 PM

Strange, I just tried 10 raw with 1 seconds interval without problem.

fstdslrkx · 12-26-2010, 02:36 PM

Yeah, i just tested it now too for "normal" conditions (should have thought of it) and it is OK. The difference is that yesterday i was going for 30 sec exposure. Star trails and ctr. Maybe long exposure was the reason? Though i fail to see why,file size should be the same?
Just tried 10sec 80 iso f22 10 shots 1 sec interval and again it stops after 2 shots.

walter · 12-27-2010, 10:43 AM

Have you tried setting the interval to 31 seconds (or your exposure time + 1 second)? You might also want to make sure Dark Frame Subtraction is disabled if it isn't already, otherwise you'd probably have to set the interval to 2 * exposure time + 1 or something like that. I think the interval is time is measured between the start of each shot, not time from the end of the previous shot to the beginning of the next, at least that's the behavior I get on my K20D.

peterh337 · 12-27-2010, 11:10 AM

One does wonder what the programmer was thinking about what to do if the shutter is still open from the previous shot when the trigger time for the next shot comes up...

One could argue it both ways.

I am a hardware/software developer and unquestionably I would continue interval shooting. So if e.g. you program 10 shots at 1 sec intervals, and each one results in the shutter being open (e.g. in the AV mode) for 15 seconds, the 10 shots will still happen but the total time will be 150 secs. I would not cancel the interval shooting sequence.

Cancelling interval shooting if the camera is busy for whatever reason is dangerous, because you might be trying to save RAW files to a slow-ish SD card, and will for ever be wondering why it is not cancelling early.

walter · 12-27-2010, 12:26 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by peterh337

One does wonder what the programmer was thinking about what to do if the shutter is still open from the previous shot when the trigger time for the next shot comes up...

I don't think it cancels the interval shooting in this case, it just doesn't take the picture and decrements "number of pictures to take" counter. It can still continue to take pictures, but probably not many if it is set for a one second interval and 30 second exposures.

Yeah, this behavior seems wrong, and could probably be easily fixed by not decrementing the "number of pictures to take counter" when a picture isn't taken. If the user specifies 10 pictures, the camera should take 10 pictures. If the interface had you set the interval and total duration of the timelapse, than I think the current behavior would make sense.

btw, I tend to exit interval shooting mode by turning the camera off. Seems like a bad thing to do, but I can't hit the series of 4 buttons to exit in the 1 second between exposures.

fstdslrkx · 12-27-2010, 12:31 PM

Yes, it counts shot time as interval time. Just tested for 10sec exposure - 11sec interval.
Thank you very very very much!
However i have to state that it is weird way of doing things. Well, as long as it works.... Next Saturday evening it is me vs star trails, round two. And i will even bring warmer clothes.

Last edited by fstdslrkx; 12-27-2010 at 12:36 PM. Reason: fpelling...

Didgeridoohan · 12-29-2010, 07:09 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by fstdslrkx

Yes, it counts shot time as interval time. Just tested for 10sec exposure - 11sec interval.
Thank you very very very much!
However i have to state that it is weird way of doing things. Well, as long as it works.... Next Saturday evening it is me vs star trails, round two. And i will even bring warmer clothes.

I noticed the same thing about interval shooting while trying star trails... And then I realised something! If you have a wireless remote (Pentax F i think) you can set it to "Remote Continuous Shooting" and it will start taking shots with the first press and will stop when you press the second time. Set the camera to 30 second exposure and you're ready to go. Much simpler, and smallest possible gap between the pictures...

tcarnell · 08-30-2011, 04:13 AM - **1 Like**

Although this behaviour seems strange it does guarantee that each photo in the sequence is taken at exactly the same interval. For example over a 24 hour period that might change from bright sunshine to complete darkness, the shutter speed will vary greatly (eg: maybe from 1/2000 - 20 seconds) to get the correct exposure. So if you want to take a photo exactly every 10 minutes, the implemented behaviour would guarentee this

But the alternative behaviour that where the interval time is just the time between exposures would result in a variance and unpredictability of exactly when a photo will be taken...

But maybe there could be an option for this:

- "Set total interval time" (current behaviour)
- "set exposure interval time" (just time between exposures)

Smeggypants · 08-31-2011, 07:14 PM

Originally posted by tcarnell

Although this behaviour seems strange it does guarantee that each photo in the sequence is taken at exactly the same interval. For example over a 24 hour period that might change from bright sunshine to complete darkness, the shutter speed will vary greatly (eg: maybe from 1/2000 - 20 seconds) to get the correct exposure. So if you want to take a photo exactly every 10 minutes, the implemented behaviour would guarentee this

But the alternative behaviour that where the interval time is just the time between exposures would result in a variance and unpredictability of exactly when a photo will be taken...

But maybe there could be an option for this:

- "Set total interval time" (current behaviour)
- "set exposure interval time" (just time between exposures)

Yes exactly. I don't find the behaviour strange at all.

Biggest caveat with the intervalometer is that it's limited to 999 shots. Absurd!!!

12-26-2010, 01:50 PM	#1
fstdslrkx Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Israel Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 55	Interval shooting woes... Yesterday i could not A) Get warm B) Get K-5 to take 60 shots at 1sec or 2 sec interval. It failed for RAW ,it failed for jpg. Camera took only 2 to 4 shots and then gladly declared that interval shooting is complete. I turned off picture review. I unchecked Auto-off. Memory card was full (well - in the beginning). Battery was full. I read manual (page 152-154) several times. I slowly froze. But i failed to get more then 4 shots in the row (or jpg) . My memory card is extreme 3 class 6. Is it not fast enough? Because my credit card is from much lower class..... Or am i simply expecting too much - about 1sec (2sec top) interval for large pictures in general?

12-26-2010, 02:36 PM	#3
fstdslrkx Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Israel Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 55 Original Poster	forgot to mention Yeah, i just tested it now too for "normal" conditions (should have thought of it) and it is OK. The difference is that yesterday i was going for 30 sec exposure. Star trails and ctr. Maybe long exposure was the reason? Though i fail to see why,file size should be the same? Just tried 10sec 80 iso f22 10 shots 1 sec interval and again it stops after 2 shots.

12-27-2010, 12:26 PM - 2 Likes	#6
walter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 239	Originally posted by peterh337 One does wonder what the programmer was thinking about what to do if the shutter is still open from the previous shot when the trigger time for the next shot comes up... I don't think it cancels the interval shooting in this case, it just doesn't take the picture and decrements "number of pictures to take" counter. It can still continue to take pictures, but probably not many if it is set for a one second interval and 30 second exposures. Yeah, this behavior seems wrong, and could probably be easily fixed by not decrementing the "number of pictures to take counter" when a picture isn't taken. If the user specifies 10 pictures, the camera should take 10 pictures. If the interface had you set the interval and total duration of the timelapse, than I think the current behavior would make sense. btw, I tend to exit interval shooting mode by turning the camera off. Seems like a bad thing to do, but I can't hit the series of 4 buttons to exit in the 1 second between exposures. Last edited by walter; 12-27-2010 at 01:14 PM.

12-27-2010, 12:31 PM	#7
fstdslrkx Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Israel Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 55 Original Poster	Walter you are a genius! Yes, it counts shot time as interval time. Just tested for 10sec exposure - 11sec interval. Thank you very very very much! However i have to state that it is weird way of doing things. Well, as long as it works.... Next Saturday evening it is me vs star trails, round two. And i will even bring warmer clothes. Last edited by fstdslrkx; 12-27-2010 at 12:36 PM. Reason: fpelling...

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12-26-2010, 02:22 PM	#2
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	Strange, I just tried 10 raw with 1 seconds interval without problem.

12-27-2010, 10:43 AM	#4
walter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 239	Have you tried setting the interval to 31 seconds (or your exposure time + 1 second)? You might also want to make sure Dark Frame Subtraction is disabled if it isn't already, otherwise you'd probably have to set the interval to 2 * exposure time + 1 or something like that. I think the interval is time is measured between the start of each shot, not time from the end of the previous shot to the beginning of the next, at least that's the behavior I get on my K20D.

12-27-2010, 11:10 AM	#5
peterh337 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: London Posts: 573	One does wonder what the programmer was thinking about what to do if the shutter is still open from the previous shot when the trigger time for the next shot comes up... One could argue it both ways. I am a hardware/software developer and unquestionably I would continue interval shooting. So if e.g. you program 10 shots at 1 sec intervals, and each one results in the shutter being open (e.g. in the AV mode) for 15 seconds, the 10 shots will still happen but the total time will be 150 secs. I would not cancel the interval shooting sequence. Cancelling interval shooting if the camera is busy for whatever reason is dangerous, because you might be trying to save RAW files to a slow-ish SD card, and will for ever be wondering why it is not cancelling early.

12-29-2010, 07:09 AM - 1 Like	#8
Didgeridoohan Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gothenburg Photos: Gallery Posts: 5	Originally posted by fstdslrkx Yes, it counts shot time as interval time. Just tested for 10sec exposure - 11sec interval. Thank you very very very much! However i have to state that it is weird way of doing things. Well, as long as it works.... Next Saturday evening it is me vs star trails, round two. And i will even bring warmer clothes. I noticed the same thing about interval shooting while trying star trails... And then I realised something! If you have a wireless remote (Pentax F i think) you can set it to "Remote Continuous Shooting" and it will start taking shots with the first press and will stop when you press the second time. Set the camera to 30 second exposure and you're ready to go. Much simpler, and smallest possible gap between the pictures...

08-30-2011, 04:13 AM - 1 Like	#9
tcarnell New Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 8	Although this behaviour seems strange it does guarantee that each photo in the sequence is taken at exactly the same interval. For example over a 24 hour period that might change from bright sunshine to complete darkness, the shutter speed will vary greatly (eg: maybe from 1/2000 - 20 seconds) to get the correct exposure. So if you want to take a photo exactly every 10 minutes, the implemented behaviour would guarentee this But the alternative behaviour that where the interval time is just the time between exposures would result in a variance and unpredictability of exactly when a photo will be taken... But maybe there could be an option for this: - "Set total interval time" (current behaviour) - "set exposure interval time" (just time between exposures)

08-31-2011, 07:14 PM	#10
Smeggypants Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 1,536	Originally posted by tcarnell Although this behaviour seems strange it does guarantee that each photo in the sequence is taken at exactly the same interval. For example over a 24 hour period that might change from bright sunshine to complete darkness, the shutter speed will vary greatly (eg: maybe from 1/2000 - 20 seconds) to get the correct exposure. So if you want to take a photo exactly every 10 minutes, the implemented behaviour would guarentee this But the alternative behaviour that where the interval time is just the time between exposures would result in a variance and unpredictability of exactly when a photo will be taken... But maybe there could be an option for this: - "Set total interval time" (current behaviour) - "set exposure interval time" (just time between exposures) Yes exactly. I don't find the behaviour strange at all. Biggest caveat with the intervalometer is that it's limited to 999 shots. Absurd!!!