[stormtech]

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I have an opportunity to do some time lapse shots and going to use my Q for this. I'm trying to calculate how long the battery will last to determine how many shots I should take and at what intervals. I have 2 batteries.

Event should be a total of 3-4 hours.

I would like to have it shoot at a maximum of a shot every 5 minutes - 2 or 3 minutes would be even better. 1 shot every 5 minutes for 4 hours would give me a total of 1200 shots. I don't think the Q battery is up for 600 shots.

I plan to have the LCD screen turn off as quickly as possible, plus turn off the SR since it will be tripod mounted. Any other tips for extending the battery life while I do this?

[crewl1]

Stan if you will have access to Ac power you might want to consider a power adapter instead of battery.
Cheapest option will be a unit designed for Fuji x10 cameras with a CP50 battery coupler.
Since the Fuji routes the cable in a different direction it means the battery door must be left open on the Q but it works fine.

An example Kapaxen Complete AC Power Adapter Kit (AC-5VX plus CP-50 DC Coupler) for Fujifilm X10, XF1, Real 3D W3, Finepix F80EXR, F85EXR, F800EXR, F770EXR, F775EXR, F750EXR, F660EXR, F665EXR, F600EXR, F605EXR, F550EXR, F505EXR, F500EXR, F300EXR, F305EXR, F200E

http://bit.ly/ZVcGet

Not sure if a Q specific adapter is available or how much they go for from Pentax.

[pearsaab]

Stan if you will have access to Ac power you might want to consider a power adapter instead of battery.
Cheapest option will be a unit designed for Fuji x10 cameras with a CP50 battery coupler.
Since the Fuji routes the cable in a different direction it means the battery door must be left open on the Q but it works fine.

An example Kapaxen Complete AC Power Adapter Kit (AC-5VX plus CP-50 DC Coupler) for Fujifilm X10, XF1, Real 3D W3, Finepix F80EXR, F85EXR, F800EXR, F770EXR, F775EXR, F750EXR, F660EXR, F665EXR, F600EXR, F605EXR, F550EXR, F505EXR, F500EXR, F300EXR, F305EXR, F200E

http://bit.ly/ZVcGet

Not sure if a Q specific adapter is available or how much they go for from Pentax.

larry would the fuji battery work on the q? maybe i missed something

[stormtech]

Amy - yes the Fuji battery from the x10 does work - that is what I use as my second battery.

Larry - I thought of that but there is no electricity anywhere near this event.

As I think more on this, I think I might be fine with a 10 or 15 minute interval - this way I can be sure to have enough power for the whole deal which should be 3-4 hours.

[pearsaab]

Amy - yes the Fuji battery from the x10 does work - that is what I use as my second battery.

Larry - I thought of that but there is no electricity anywhere near this event.

As I think more on this, I think I might be fine with a 10 or 15 minute interval - this way I can be sure to have enough power for the whole deal which should be 3-4 hours.

thanks guys!!

[crewl1]

Hi Amy the x10 battery is the same. I have a similar AC adapter and it works great.

Stan if you will have people moving through the scene a closer timeframe such as the 2 or even 1 minute would be preferable.
Figure out what you want your final output to be to decide how many photos you will need.
1 shot per minute (60 minutes) for 4 hours is 240 shots. Am I doing the math wrong?
Maybe you meant seconds intervals?

There are some guides on the web for figuring out best ratios for smooth conversions to an interval movie.
http://www.learntimelapse.com/time-lapse-photography-how-to-guide/how-to-sel...apse-interval/

[stormtech]

Hi Amy the x10 battery is the same. I have a similar AC adapter and it works great.

Stan if you will have people moving through the scene a closer timeframe such as the 2 or even 1 minute would be preferable.
Figure out what you want your final output to be to decide how many photos you will need.
1 shot per minute (60 minutes) for 4 hours is 240 shots. Am I doing the math wrong?
Maybe you meant seconds intervals?

There are some guides on the web for figuring out best ratios for smooth conversions to an interval movie.
How to Select a Time-lapse Interval - Learn Time-lapse Photography | Learn Time-lapse Photography

Yeah - it hit me when I was in town this afternoon that my math was way off!

The link was most helpful - especially the video tutorial. I now have a basic idea of how I should set the camera up.

Since I've never dealt with any time lapse compilation software, I'm going to have to kind of wing it as far as my number of shots per hour - will have to calculate out to make a proper length outcome for a 3-4 hour time period.

I will be shooting a stage of a construction project that will last 3-4 hours and will have many people in the scene moving about a lot.

Kind of makes my brain hurt a bit.......but I'll get it figured out. At least I know now even at 1 shot per minute I should have plenty of battery power to get it done.

[snostorm]

Hi Stan,

I haven't done any interval shooting, but you can turn off the LCD by pressing the Info button twice after setting the camera up, and you can turn off the instant review function so you should be able to essentially turn the LCD off for the duration. That should save you some significant battery power.

Scott

[stormtech]

Hi Stan,

I haven't done any interval shooting, but you can turn off the LCD by pressing the Info button twice after setting the camera up, and you can turn off the instant review function so you should be able to essentially turn the LCD off for the duration. That should save you some significant battery power.

Scott

Thanks for that Scott. I have turned off the instant review, but didn't even think of using the info button to turn the screen off right away.

I think I am set as far as camera settings for this trial run:

Jpeg
SR off
White balance off auto to daylight
instant review off
sleep function off
ISO set to 125

The tutorial I looked at (thanks Larry!) says for best results to shoot manual except where you would find changing light conditions. For that they suggest AV which I am going to use with a fixed ISO of 125. It also said that a slightly slower shutter speed than you think is better, so I am going to use the ND filter. I will be starting this soon after day break and go until late morning. I will be using the 01 prime and will try a lens setting of a couple stops down from wide open.

This will be an interesting first time project. Using the Q like this for a time lapse is an added extra as I will be doing the main shooting with my K-5IIs and DA* 60-250. The hardest part of this whole project is to get these creaky old bones out of bed at 3am!

[barondla]

Stormtech, sounds like fun. Thought the Q had a feature that made the interval shots into an interval video- in camera. Check to see.

There is a great video/intervalometer forum on our website. The Pentaxians are as helpful as those here. Don't forget videos are shot in horizontal( I missed that my first try).
good luck
barondla

[Soul_Est]

The Q has the feature to turn interval shots into a movie in camera. One downside is that you have to put the camera in movie mode and shoot at 1080P maximum. The second downside is you are at the whim of the camera so if you wanted to have effects such as panning and zooming around, you can't.

[stormtech]

Well my time lapse project didn't work out. I went to an Amish barn raising this morning and was hoping to get myself close enough to use the Q to do this. As with most Amish communities they don't want their picture taken, so I have to be very careful where I set up to shoot. Because of some obstacles and the obvious reason, I ended up having to shoot from a pretty good distance from across a field. I did however get a lot of shots hand held with my K-5IIs and DA* 60-250 so it was not a total loss. The Q time lapse idea was just an extra part I was going to try. I'll probably be attending a couple more events like this in the future and will hopefully get a chance to do it. I've learned a lot from this thread and appreciate everyone's input!

Once I sort and process the pile of images I got today, I'll post some in the photos section.

[skyclad666]

Hello !

Just for information, taking inspiration from this thread, I bought this Fujifilm AC adapter on Ebay for $21, the less expensive that I could find
Fujifilm AC 5V CP50 Camera AC Adapter FOR Fujifilm Finepix F300EXR F305EXR X10 | eBay
It arrived today and runs perfectly fine. Even the battery compartment door can be closed, by fitting the wire along the battery.
Hope it helps.

Thank you Stormtech for the reference and idea.

[AerialQ]

The Fuji AC Adapter works great for me too! Thanks.

[skyclad666]

The Fuji AC Adapter works great for me too! Thanks.

Great! Very good news...