[philbaum]

I was recently using an old Canon PS, and it had self timers of 2sec, 10 sec, and Custom (any interval you wanted)

Suddently i realized that i can do that with the K5 as well. The interval shooting requires at least 2 shots be scheduled (one starts the process) and then i could specify whatever self timer interval i wanted.

But beyond that, I want to be able to take 3 or 4 successive pictures and then combine them into one image. Is there any tips or things i could look out for when i do that?

I have only rudimentary skills with photoshop elements, but even i was able to combine 2 images last night. Is there other software out there that makes it easier? but i am thinking things to consider might be:

A. Its probably better to lock down the exposure level, am i right? If combining 2 images with different exposure levels, might be more of a problem when combining.

B. I want to have the camera on a tripod and a fixed view. Seems to me locking down the focus would also be less problematic.

Anyway, cheers to Pentax for including a feature like this!

[JeffJS]

I Have used it.. To take shots of myself doing some activity such as...

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5323900516_68e1228cc8_z.jpg

I've also used to to take random shots as I'm walking through a store or something like that. Just keep the camera steady as I move about and let the shutter click away. That doesn't work too well for me though.

[Skymist]

Phil, I use the interval setting a lot. It's convenient. It is a trigger type of feature, and long exposures may not behave as you expect. See the first post in this thread.

[philbaum]

I Have used it.. To take shots of myself doing some activity such as...

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5323900516_68e1228cc8_z.jpg

I've also used to to take random shots as I'm walking through a store or something like that. Just keep the camera steady as I move about and let the shutter click away. That doesn't work too well for me though.

Jeff, liked the picture - the previous thumbnail just didn't do justice.

One nice thing about the K5's interval shooting, no red flashing light or beeps, just that quiet shutter. Be good for wildlife.

Phil, I use the interval setting a lot. It's convenient. It is a trigger type of feature, and long exposures may not behave as you expect. See the first post in this thread.

Wow, liked that moon shot - i guess. What does the term stacking mean? Is that just using layers, or is it a special sub-routine??

My own recent experience was a bit of a flop. There were 3 tables outside an art gallery and i set the interval for 15 seconds for 4 shots. The idea was for me to get my picture taken at each of 3 tables with the flash. It was uncanny about how the flash went off every 15 seconds because i couldn't hear the shutter - too far away. Flash was too bright and i ended up dropping the flash/Cactus radio trigger. Trigger is dead but its cheap. Flash is fine, its cheap as well. But i'll try again. Its too neat of a feature to ignore, i think.

[leadfoot]

Oh yeah, I've used the interval timer on the K-5 quite a bit (called an intervalometer), and it's a huge amount of fun. Here's a 5 hour sequence, one picture every minute, 20 sec exposure, which is 300 pictures. Combined into a 24 frame per second video clip:

http://www.bsquires.name/ph/test4.mov

This was taken in the Deschutes River canyon, just south of the Columbia River in Oregon, USA The light pollution is the I-84 freeway I think, but it's at least 5-6 miles away and not visible to the naked eye. K-5, 15mm Ltd, f/4.5, 20 sec, every minute for 5 hours. Turned everything off, auto white balance, auto ISO, image review, beep, shake reduction, etc, etc. Cannot turn off the red "writing to SD card" light though...

The flash at the end is a train going through the canyon at about 2:30 am.

My one real complaint with the K-5 is that you cannot save a User setting on the mode dial, and then use the intervalometer. Seems really dumb. It's a pain to switch everything, and I mean everything, to manual or off, when doing shots like this, and then back to normal operation when done with the time lapse.

[theprisoner6]

Awesome movie leadfoot! Just the sort of thing I thought the intervalometer would be useful for, but I never thought of focusing on stars. I would like to point my K-5 at a market or public suqare and shoot a picture every second or so (and create a movie from the results).

Anybody want to send me to Istanbul or London to give it a try?

[leadfoot]

Glad you liked it. Here's another one of clouds from my backyard. It's 240 frames (10 seconds long) and a shot every 5 seconds. DA 15 Ltd, f/9.0, 1/15 sec, ISO 100.

http://www.bsquires.name/ph/test2.mov

There are a number of things I've found out about these time lapse videos. You really want to play back at 24 frames per second, minimum, otherwise you get "jerky" motion. 30 frames per second is even better. For clouds (at 24 fps playback) if they are moving quickly, go to one frame every 2-3 seconds so the motion is smoother. For slower moving clouds, one frame every 5 or 10 seconds.

For a public square like you mentioned, one frame per second is probably a good place to start.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone using the K-5 movie mode, and then editing the move to end up with the time lapse mode effect. That would really save burning up the rated lifetime shutter cycles, which is 100K cycles for the K-5, and might give you much better control over the time lapse effect.

[philbaum]

Glad you liked it. Here's another one of clouds from my backyard. It's 240 frames (10 seconds long) and a shot every 5 seconds. DA 15 Ltd, f/9.0, 1/15 sec, ISO 100.

http://www.bsquires.name/ph/test2.mov

There are a number of things I've found out about these time lapse videos. You really want to play back at 24 frames per second, minimum, otherwise you get "jerky" motion. 30 frames per second is even better. For clouds (at 24 fps playback) if they are moving quickly, go to one frame every 2-3 seconds so the motion is smoother. For slower moving clouds, one frame every 5 or 10 seconds.

For a public square like you mentioned, one frame per second is probably a good place to start.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone using the K-5 movie mode, and then editing the move to end up with the time lapse mode effect. That would really save burning up the rated lifetime shutter cycles, which is 100K cycles for the K-5, and might give you much better control over the time lapse effect.

Thanks for sharing the videos and your thoughts on the technical details. All comes back to why we take stills and why we take videos and the spectrum inbetween. Now that cameras have introduced the flexibility to do both, we get to decide.

[leadfoot]

Sometimes you can find remarkable individual images in the sequences. Here are two. The first is a plane headed north - it's not quite dark yet. The second is a meteor.

These are 30 second exposures at 18mm with the 18-55mm WR kit lens, ISO 3200, f/5. This is when I learned you need a grip with a second battery - it was near freezing, and the camera battery died after 325 shots (one shot per minute). Basically, the K-5 was on all the time for 5+ hours, 30 second exposure and 30 sec dark frame subtraction (I think, but not sure), every minute. Says something about the battery life on a K-5. I should have shot these at 6M jpeg instead of 2M, but this was my very first try.

This was my inspiration to try the intervalometer, just blew me away. It was posted here or on the other site. This is a Canon 5DMkII I think. It does not have a built in intervalometer, so this guy had to use an external one. Plus a ton of other equipment to shift the camera during the shots. He is a remarkable photographer.

Vimeo

[Thomas]

Great stuff ! I just got a K-5 and would like to try some time-lapse. How do you take the the single images from an interval series and incorporate them into a video?

[Rupert]

I used this a lot on my K20D to catch Squirrels raiding the Bird Feeders. My plan was to prosecute the guilty Squirrels and stop this thievery. The interval shooting worked fine, but the Squirrels had Louie Lawyer Squirrel for their defense....and he beat me.

Louie claimed that the Squirrels were doing "Safety Inspections" for the benefit of the little birdies....and two of the dumb birds on the jury bought his story......I ended up paying court costs of 10# of roasted peanuts.


Interval shooting works, just don't try it with Squirrels....

Best Regards!

[jbinpg]

@leadfoot - Easy solution for your problem of getting back to normal settings - just make up a Normal USER mode. A quick turn off and back on and you can choose Normal. Couldn't be easier.

[philbaum]

I used this a lot on my K20D to catch Squirrels raiding the Bird Feeders. My plan was to prosecute the guilty Squirrels and stop this thievery. The interval shooting worked fine, but the Squirrels had Louie Lawyer Squirrel for their defense....and he beat me.

Louie claimed that the Squirrels were doing "Safety Inspections" for the benefit of the little birdies....and two of the dumb birds on the jury bought his story......I ended up paying court costs of 10# of roasted peanuts.


Interval shooting works, just don't try it with Squirrels....

Best Regards!

Rupert,
Thats a great image, would go well on anything from a greeting card to a wall hanger - why give just the lawyers the benefit of looking at it

[Rupert]

Rupert,
Thats a great image, would go well on anything from a greeting card to a wall hanger - why give just the lawyers the benefit of looking at it

Phil, I used that at the trial, but Louie Lawyer Squirrel claimed that this brave and courageous Squirrel was making sure the rim on that feeder was not sharp and would not cut the feet of "dear little birdies". When I saw a Sparrow sobbing in the Jury Box, I knew I was a defeated man. You just never know what a jury will do, no matter how much evidence you give them. If only I could have gotten a Hawk on the jury.......

Best Regards!

[RonHendriks1966]

What ever story you come up with, there is always room for Otis