Firmware fix for KP long exposures

MJKoski · 02-22-2018, 07:49 AM

Dear Pentax,

Could you provide a solution which does not freeze the camera after long exposures (20 second and longer)? What happens now is that when exposure time is set to 20 second and higher camera hangs with black screen for ~3 seconds before it can be used again. No matter what ISO is in use and all noise reductions & filters are disabled. This is serious setback for timelapse photography and some astrophotography stacking purposes.

IF this is because of the acceleration unit or whatever solution, please give an option to disable it totally. Shooting at base ISO does not require any special noise reductions using the 24MP Sony sensor used by many other cameras including Fuji and Nikon.

**tmoses** · 02-22-2018, 08:15 AM

Your sure your memory is not too slow?
Does the writing to card blink immediately at end of exposure, or at end of the 3 sec delay?

MJKoski · 02-22-2018, 08:43 AM

End of 3 second delay. Cannot be writing speed as shorter exposures are same size and no issues there. At shorter exposures the camera fires again as soon as previous exposure is complete when doing continuous shooting or interval shooting. Or manual shooting.

EDIT: Update: 15 second seems to be the limit in live view mode, 20 second in normal mode (OVF).

MJKoski · 02-25-2018, 01:18 AM

Update 2:

This is somehow related to ambient temperature. Yesterday I tried star trail stacking again in pretty cold weather. First series of 180x30 second shots was taken at -20C temperature right after camera was taken out of "warm" camera bag. Delays were there as before. Then, after 1h 30min had passed I took another series and no more short delay - KP took 30sec exposures one after another like shorter ones. Now camera has warmed up overnight and in room temp delay is again there.

SSGGeezer · 02-25-2018, 02:08 PM

Strange behavior indeed. Are you set up to take a dark frame after each long exposure for noise reduction purposes? That certainly takes time but normally longer than 3 seconds.

MJKoski · 02-25-2018, 02:37 PM

Nope, dark frame is disabled. If it is enabled, total exposure time is always twice the initial exposure.

SSGGeezer · 02-25-2018, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by MJKoski

Nope, dark frame is disabled. If it is enabled, total exposure time is always twice the initial exposure.

That is what I thought but I am a newby at DSLR usage. Logically it would be too much heat causing a delay, I figure shooting in the cold should get you better long exposures due to reduced noise.
Are you using an external power supply or aftermarket battery? I am just throwing that out there since LIPO batteries are not fond of cold temperatures.

02-22-2018, 07:49 AM	#1
MJKoski Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 1,784	Firmware fix for KP long exposures Dear Pentax, Could you provide a solution which does not freeze the camera after long exposures (20 second and longer)? What happens now is that when exposure time is set to 20 second and higher camera hangs with black screen for ~3 seconds before it can be used again. No matter what ISO is in use and all noise reductions & filters are disabled. This is serious setback for timelapse photography and some astrophotography stacking purposes. IF this is because of the acceleration unit or whatever solution, please give an option to disable it totally. Shooting at base ISO does not require any special noise reductions using the 24MP Sony sensor used by many other cameras including Fuji and Nikon.

02-22-2018, 08:43 AM	#3
MJKoski Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 1,784 Original Poster	End of 3 second delay. Cannot be writing speed as shorter exposures are same size and no issues there. At shorter exposures the camera fires again as soon as previous exposure is complete when doing continuous shooting or interval shooting. Or manual shooting. EDIT: Update: 15 second seems to be the limit in live view mode, 20 second in normal mode (OVF). Last edited by MJKoski; 02-22-2018 at 08:48 AM.

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02-22-2018, 08:15 AM	#2
tmoses Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Montgomery, TX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 66	Your sure your memory is not too slow? Does the writing to card blink immediately at end of exposure, or at end of the 3 sec delay?

02-25-2018, 01:18 AM	#4
MJKoski Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 1,784 Original Poster	Update 2: This is somehow related to ambient temperature. Yesterday I tried star trail stacking again in pretty cold weather. First series of 180x30 second shots was taken at -20C temperature right after camera was taken out of "warm" camera bag. Delays were there as before. Then, after 1h 30min had passed I took another series and no more short delay - KP took 30sec exposures one after another like shorter ones. Now camera has warmed up overnight and in room temp delay is again there.

02-25-2018, 02:08 PM	#5
SSGGeezer Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Indiana, U.S. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,845	Strange behavior indeed. Are you set up to take a dark frame after each long exposure for noise reduction purposes? That certainly takes time but normally longer than 3 seconds.

02-25-2018, 02:37 PM	#6
MJKoski Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 1,784 Original Poster	Nope, dark frame is disabled. If it is enabled, total exposure time is always twice the initial exposure.

02-25-2018, 05:30 PM	#7
SSGGeezer Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Indiana, U.S. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,845	Originally posted by MJKoski Nope, dark frame is disabled. If it is enabled, total exposure time is always twice the initial exposure. That is what I thought but I am a newby at DSLR usage. Logically it would be too much heat causing a delay, I figure shooting in the cold should get you better long exposures due to reduced noise. Are you using an external power supply or aftermarket battery? I am just throwing that out there since LIPO batteries are not fond of cold temperatures.