[Johnmor]

Hi, im having trouble getting the inteval shooting to work as i hoped,

Im trying to take a night sky timelapse and need around 300 frames at a 30 sec exp, so i assumed the interval timer is between shutter activations so set it at 40 secs to allow memory storage, as im just praticing just now im shooting jpegs.

It doesent seem to work to well, the gap between shots is nothing like 10 secs tried all sorts to get things smooth but not sure if im setting it right.

So, used an external intervalometer , still seem to have problems, its as if the camera cant procees the image fast enough delaying the whole process and upsetting the timer loosing shots

Any ideas

John

[Aaron28]

turn off noise reduction!!!....as it will take a 'dark frame' equal to the exposure time....which in your case would take 60 sec to process..........take your own dark frame (lens cap on) at the beginning and end of your session if you wish to have 'dark frames' for processing.......it will help with noise if you are using an ISO over 400 or 800 and also with hot pixels.....if they delay in processing is from 'noise reduction' being on and then you turn it off.....try closing the gap on the interval to 32/33 seconds so you won't have gaps on your star trail lines!! seems you have the on board intervalometer set up correctly
good luck and happy shooting!

[Adam]

Yup, you'd need to disable noise reduction. Noise shouldn't be much of an issue with a 30s exposure anyway.

[Pete_XL]

Photos of night sky timelapses are raw material for a startrail photography at the same time.


But even a 2-3 seconds "buffer" time between the shots in interval mode produces gaps in the trails (the gaps then represent up to 10% of the total exposure time). And if you set the buffer time too short you are in the risk of getting a >30 second gap because the interval timer misses a complete shoot every now and then.


So I found that in cases where exposure time is not longer than 30 secs it works much better to use continuous shooting mode on the camera together with a remote control with shutter lock instead of using interval mode. In continous shooting mode with e.g. 30 seconds exposure there is absolutely no gap between the exposures.


Instead of using a "normal" remote perhaps TRIGGERTRAP is also an option, especially because it also features timelapses with accelerating "time warp" effect by variating the exposure time during the timelapse session.


Clear skies!

Peter


P.S. If there is no remote control and no Triggertrag you can help yourself even unsing piece of tape and e.g. a small pebble hold down the trigger knob. Works great. The first and the last shoot must then be discarded due to camera shake.

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Last edited by Pete_XL; 04-13-2015 at 02:53 AM.

[Johnmor]

Thanks for the advice, im sure the tip about the noise reduction will be the answer

It seemed to be an issue over processing time so I'll switch of noise reduction and try again

I have had some nice images so far as i live in a remote rural area with no light pollution, im amazed at the ability of the camera to see so many stars and galaxy clusters that are invisible to the human eye.

Thanks for the fast repsonse from all and ill let you know how it goes

John

[semaca]

So I found that in cases where exposure time is not longer than 30 secs it works much better to use continuous shooting mode on the camera together with a remote control with shutter lock instead of using interval mode. In continous shooting mode with e.g. 30 seconds exposure there is absolutely no gap between the exposures.

I think you need to shoot continous if you want a perfect circle in the startrails image, no? Never did one, but apps like Starstax can fill the gaps if you shoot a frame every 30seconds?

[Aaron28]

envy yer location Johnmor!
I haven't had any problems with up to a 3 second delay between shots creating startrail composites......and starstax is awesome!! works soooo much better for me than DSS(deep sky stacker)

[Pete_XL]

I think you need to shoot continous if you want a perfect circle in the startrails image, no? Never did one, but apps like Starstax can fill the gaps if you shoot a frame every 30seconds?

First of all using continuous mode for startrails and timelapses for me is more comfortable and more safe. Just set the exposure time, then shooting mode to continous and you are done. Push the trigger on the remote and the camera will dependably shoot without gaps until you say stop.

I also use Starstax and really like it. Starstax is great and easy but sometimes I miss having control on the final content of the trail-composition. In most cases I discover unwanted elements having tiptoed into the scene when closely inspect the composite result. Eliminating these (e. g. an airplane crossing the sky) in the final composition is often a heavy job. That is why I use Starstax only to have a quick preview on the composition.


The actual processing of startrails I mostly do in Lightroom -> Photoshop. PS allows a lot more control within the pictures of a stacked series. This is in my eyes very important for the quality of the composition. For example it is very easy to eliminate unwanted elements (e.g. light tracks of planes, cars, promenaders with torches, cigarrettes or whatever) by simply using a layer mask and black paint on the affected layer. But, coming back to the opening question, in startrail photos developed with photoshop the gaps can not be eliminated and so become an obnoxious part of the picture. And that is why I use continuous mode.