[mee]

RAW, JPEG, or RAW+? Size of SD card? Tv mode?

Would you consider it possible that any of these things could be an issue if it has been cranking out photos without issue for 4 hours straight and then suddenly stops? And if so why? That is to say, I super strongly doubt these are any of the issues I'm facing!

But to answer your question RAW, 16GB, Tv.

I'm still leaning on perhaps battery issue, possible overheating, the focus issue mentioned by jantjooh, or a bug in the interval mode code. (but no one as of yet who has used it for at least 3+ hours has yet to step forward and say 'it works for me.. these are my settings' -- which would be super helpful!!!)

However, I had it MF mode for most of the shoot so it wouldn't have to keep refocusing (and spending energy)... But I will try with the AA adapter and see what that does... if anything.

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Last edited by mee; 07-09-2013 at 04:05 PM.

[IchabodCrane]

How much does the ambient light change during the entire run? I'm wondering if the light level falls off to the point where the camera logic detects that there's insufficient light for proper exposure and therefore it starts going "nuts". Have you considered trying this test without fixing the ISO?

[mee]

Good question. I usually set it to ISO 200. But it does seem to fail closer to dusk so it is worth a try (but even when it does it is usually only around 5-6pm -- 3-4 hours of sunlight left).

[mee]

It is clearly a firmware issue!

I ran the interval mode again today.. set it to run for 604 photos, manual focus, auto ISO 100-400, 1/10s shutter, Auto Aperture.. let it run for around 4 hours on my covered balcony from 1pm to around 4pm. Then I turned off the K-30, swapped batteries, turned it back on and started a new interval with the same settings. Waited to hear the shutter sound.. good deal.. walked back inside. Came back around an hour later and checked the status.. claimed it was still going (taking photos the number count was going down of remaining photos) yet I could not hear the shutter firing.

But I let it go.. ok now its 9pm.. I'm expecting to see a super awesome series of photos from mid day all the way to night fall.

However, what I got was the first 3 hours and 45 minutes.. it crapped out and never came back -- even though the camera claimed it was taking photos!!! That is to say, I got 0 photos out of the second setup of interval mode. None.

I had it set to manual focus the whole time and it ran like a champ for over the first 3 and a half hours... so that isn't the issue either. It looks like the code handing interval mode is buggy. Seems to get to around 4 hours and then gives up. Even on a fresh battery with plenty of sunlight.

Update: I've reviewed the timestamps on what photos it took, it went like a champ for only a single hour, then it decided to take a solid 2 hour (unscheduled) break!!, then came back and ran for another 20 minutes and then stopped (2nd stop was likely when I swapped the battery) and that is all. UGHHHH.

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Last edited by mee; 07-13-2013 at 07:37 PM.

[Kobayashi.K]

Do you know there is a time lapse club?
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-video-hdslrs/168246-time-lapse-club.html
The first posts are quite old, but the thread is still active.

[IchabodCrane]

You might have this set up for using way more battery power than available. The length of time you need the camera on exceeds 10 hours and I can't imagine you can do this on one charge. Probably need to buy the AC adapter kit.

[mee]

You might have this set up for using way more battery power than available. The length of time you need the camera on exceeds 10 hours and I can't imagine you can do this on one charge. Probably need to buy the AC adapter kit.

I see you're trying to help and I do seriously appreciate that.. but from your responses, I get the feeling either I'm not making the situation as clear or you're not fully reading what I'm saying.

I said I had 2 batteries.. it only functioned this last attempt for an hour before stopping for 2 hours and then resuming on it's own..

Then I swapped the battery for a fresh one and it got 0 photos.. even though the interval mode GUI acted like it was functioning and I heard the shutter tripping and the image counter on the interval screen decremented - yet there were no photos recorded.

It is a defect of the camera in some form. Everything else on the camera functions perfectly to my knowledge (no dropped photos or anything - not a card issue). Just the interval mode has issues.

The idea of an AC adapter kit is really helpful though.. after I get the K-30 defect resolved (I've already contacted Pentax support and directed them to this thread)

[IchabodCrane]

I tried an interval shooting earlier today just to see what happens --

JPEG, 5 MB files
15 second intervals
P mode
ISO -- Auto (100 - 6400)
Manual focus
Live View -- off
Photo review -- off
Rear LCD -- off
Batteries -- Eneloops (higher capacity than stock Li-ion)

I finally turned it off after around two hours and nearly 500 shots.
BTW, it won't restart on it's own after being suspended by me. I had to start a new interval session if I wanted to continue. Either that or I didn't do some special procedure when stopping the camera.

[mee]

I tried an interval shooting earlier today just to see what happens --

JPEG, 5 MB files
15 second intervals
P mode
ISO -- Auto (100 - 6400)
Manual focus
Live View -- off
Photo review -- off
Rear LCD -- off
Batteries -- Eneloops (higher capacity than stock Li-ion)

I finally turned it off after around two hours and nearly 500 shots.
BTW, it won't restart on it's own after being suspended by me. I had to start a new interval session if I wanted to continue. Either that or I didn't do some special procedure when stopping the camera.

Thank you for testing it out!

Wish you would have recreated my run though to ensure it isn't just specific settings throwing the K-30 off.

However, now I still wonder if my Pentax camera is faulty..

After the battery is removed, I'm pretty sure that will clear the current interval away. At least on mine it did (remember I battery swapped). But even so it doesn't keep going even though I set a new interval and the camera pretends like it is (complete with the interval mode screen and a decrementing counter of photos remaining in the interval).

Buying a K-30 is becoming a really bad decision on my part.

[IchabodCrane]

Thank you for testing it out!

Wish you would have recreated my run though to ensure it isn't just specific settings throwing the K-30 off.

However, now I still wonder if my Pentax camera is faulty..

After the battery is removed, I'm pretty sure that will clear the current interval away. At least on mine it did (remember I battery swapped). But even so it doesn't keep going even though I set a new interval and the camera pretends like it is (complete with the interval mode screen and a decrementing counter of photos remaining in the interval).

Buying a K-30 is becoming a really bad decision on my part.

Sorry, I wasn't going to tie up my camera for a 10 hour test especially when I knew the camera can't run that long without an external AC adapter (which I don't own).

Separately, I'm a bit confused by what you did. Did you pull the battery without stopping the interval and turning off the camera? And after than, the camera kept counting down the remaining shots but the mirror/shutter mechanism never activated?

[PoppaTom]

I would be willing to give this a test with my K-30. I have just bought it a couple weeks ago and it is still running FW ver 1.0.

If I set it up with the following settings do you think this would be a good way of determining an existing issue (if both mine and yours fail) or a firmware specific issue if mine works?

I only have the one battery so hopefully it lasts long enough.

Do you mind my asking what you are taking pictures of to get that low of a shutter speed?

My settings would be as follows;
FW ver - 1.00

Manual focus
Auto ISO 100-400

1/10s shutter | In Hyper Tv mode from P mode <==== not sure if shutter speed is going to be a perfect match as time of day will have an impact
Auto Aperature |


Camera pg1
Custom Image - Bright
Digital filter - Off
HDR Capture - Off
Image Capture Settings - Raw
AE Metering -Multi Segment

Camera pg2
AF Settings - Assume ignored as in Manual Focus
Lens Correction - Off/Off
Multi Exposure
D-Range Settings - Auto / Auto

Camera pg3
High ISO NR - Custom (Off from 100-10000)
Slow Shutter NR - Off
Electronic Level - Off
Horizon Correction - Off
Shake Reduction - Off

Camera pg4
Live View - Assume setting do not matter
Instant Review - Display Time - Off (All else on)

Setting pg2
Flicker Reduction 60Hz
Auto Power Off - Off

Custom Settings - for completeness
C1 = 1
C2 = 2
C3 = 1
C4 = 1 Meter operating Time - 10sec
C5 = 1
C6 = 2
C7 = 2
C8 = 2
C9 = 2
C10->C19 = 1
C20 = 2
C21 = 2
C22 = 1
C23 = 2

LCD Display - Off

32gb card

[IchabodCrane]

mee, I think it would be beneficial to first try to establish whether your camera is able to take 600+ interval shots under ideal settings. Maybe try to do small file JPEGs at a very short interval of 6 seconds or thereabouts and a faster shutter speed. That would be exactly one hour to collect 600 shots. If successful, you can progressively try changing things to help isolate where the setup is falling apart. It could be several things such as total time opposite total battery power available, file sizes, or other.

One other question I thought of.... did you shoot outdoors or indoors? The 1/10" shutter speed used outdoors could very well overexpose the image and that's another issue that could be causing some logic fault in the camera.

[PoppaTom]

mee, check the exif data for the last 10 shots or so and see what the f-stop / iso settings were at time of exposure. Those are really the only two variables that have potential to change during the run. I suspect that in the end you will most likely have more success if you switch to manual mode and a fixed ISO. Then do any exposure adjustments in post. This will have the advantage of reducing flickering when you convert to a movie.

At this point you need to decide if you want to spend the effort to pinpoint the problem or do you just want to get it to work.

[SteveB]

I'll repeat some K-30 current consumption measurements I posted here last Xmas holidays:-

"I've just taken some K-30 current consumption readings for anyone interested in technicalities. These aren't dead accurate or anything, it's tricky to do for one thing, and just measuring can introduce errors. Anyway here they are FWIW....

Idling (i.e. ready to take a shot), no display, 0.21A constant
Idling, with display 0.28A constant
During AF, saw >0.8A bursts
Taking shot after AF finished, with no display, saw 0.64A, tailing off to idling in a second.
Standby e.g. auto shutdown as expected was essentially zero current.
Live View....0.42A, constant until shutter press then 0.64A, tailing off to 0.42A after a second.

The idling current is much higher than my K100D which was 0.08A.

The time the K-30 is just switched on will be a big factor in number of shots achieved, going by these figures. "

That idling current of 0.21A with no display showing means that poor old little 1050mAh Li-ion battery will never ever last longer than 5hrs absolute maximum and that's without taking any shots, so 3.5 to 4hrs seems plausible. Eneloop AAs would last a lot longer.

[PoppaTom]

I'll repeat some K-30 current consumption measurements I posted here last Xmas holidays:-

"I've just taken some K-30 current consumption readings for anyone interested in technicalities. These aren't dead accurate or anything, it's tricky to do for one thing, and just measuring can introduce errors. Anyway here they are FWIW....

Idling (i.e. ready to take a shot), no display, 0.21A constant
Idling, with display 0.28A constant
During AF, saw >0.8A bursts
Taking shot after AF finished, with no display, saw 0.64A, tailing off to idling in a second.
Standby e.g. auto shutdown as expected was essentially zero current.
Live View....0.42A, constant until shutter press then 0.64A, tailing off to 0.42A after a second.

The idling current is much higher than my K100D which was 0.08A.

The time the K-30 is just switched on will be a big factor in number of shots achieved, going by these figures. "

That idling current of 0.21A with no display showing means that poor old little 1050mAh Li-ion battery will never ever last longer than 5hrs absolute maximum and that's without taking any shots, so 3.5 to 4hrs seems plausible. Eneloop AAs would last a lot longer.

Add to the above the added consumption of metering (Auto ISO/Aperature).