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I've read your posts, thanks for the input. 

My kit to use DSLRController should arrive today and I'll be running some tests to see how many shots I can get while performing a manual ramp and at what point a collision/missed frame occurs.

JB

It's a simple formula, actually.  It is:

Shutter speed (variable) + Write time (fixed)  =  Interval

Either ML, in it's current state, is capable of this or it's not.  Either it could be coded to work with this formula or it could not.  I was just asking a question (and offering compensation, money meets mouth kinda thing), no need to get all panty wadded.

I've been shooting TL for a few years and I have a decent understanding of how it works.  I came here to inquire about a tool that might do something different.  A simple, concise explanation of how the new, improved ML intervalometer works would suffice if it addressed my specific question.  ML is "good enough" for what it is and I will continue to use it, as I have for the last 3 years. 



"I would change that to "ML will try fire the shots at the intervalometer period". ML will wait until it knows it can take another picture (with some timeout, I think maybe ~3 seconds)"

That's called a collision.  Frames are missed while the buffer clears. 


Adjust the "take pics" setting.  Make it longer then the shutter period, with sufficient time added for you to adjust settings.

As I said, that's what I'm trying to avoid.  I know, it's "out of the box".  Oh, well.

Maybe the simple solution is to fire frame #2 when frame #1 is finished writing to the card.  Maybe a 1/2 second pause could be put in-between?



Well, I suggested that too, but apparently that's not good enough for OP.

Correct. It's not.  It's an inflexible solution.  I'm looking to do something different.  I'm willing to pay for it.  As a developer, what more could you ask for?  It's a funded challenge.  Whatcha got?

Here is what I've decided to try, for anyone interested.

Under the assumption that ML (with the advanced intervalometer active) will not fire shot #2 before shot #1 has fully written to the card, I'm going to use that to my advantage even though I won't be able to see the histogram.

I'm going to use DSLR Controller to monitor my shots on my android tablet.  Shooting raw and tiny jpegs, I'll have the jpegs sent to the tablet and that should keep me within a shot or two of current exposure and I'll be able to adjust exposure/ISO from the tablet as needed.  Plus, with a portable modem, I'll be able to sit in the car instead of being out in the lightning.  That's good because lightning is scary. 

When I was testing the new, improved intervalometer the other night, there was only a split second after the shutter closed and the next shot began that I was able to adjust the camera settings.  I'm hoping that DSLR Controller will have a "wait" function and will hold a command until the camera can accept it, but I'm not sure on this. 

If you are interested in DSLR Controller, go here:

http://dslrcontroller.com

Ok, I started out at 1/30th, 2 second interval, decreased shutter by 1/3rd, shoot 10 frames, decrease again.  As soon as the shutter speed dropped to .8sec, there was no longer enough time between exposures for the camera to display any info on the screen (global draw is OFF) and without a histogram, I'd be shooting blind, so even if the camera never had a buffer clearing pause, this wouldn't work for me. 

Thanks for your efforts, DMilligan.  ML is an incredible tool, and people like you have polished it to the point of excellence.

OK, I will try it today and get back to you.

OK, I will try it today and get back to you.

You don't know what happens. Try it!

Hey, Andy! 

I remember your "Moon Tides" TL, it really impressed!  I haven't been to your Vimeo page in a while, I'm going to drop by later today and see what you've been up to.

You're right of course, AETTR is too slow.  I suspect I'm going to have to use the computing power of a cell phone to get that manual control I want.  Somebody, somewhere is going to be able to do it.  The Timelapse+ has maybe a shot at it, I haven't heard back from the developer yet.  That's a $200 device, so that kinda tells you what the value is for me.

As to the lazy susan, I chunked that and am now running Chinese made slewing bearings.  I have the machinist lined up to make an aluminum body (it's called the Wedge) that mounts on a video cage and really make the package nice and very easy to use.  I'm waiting on Tokina to actually release their hydrophilic filter and get some pricing on various sizes.  I really think hydrophilic is THE way to go on my little device, but I won't know until I can get my hands on one.  Hopefully I'm done by spring.   

AETTR is probably too slow for most of what Jim does. I've posted a test aettr/weather shot before, and it manages the exposure extremely well. But the results are a bit quick and do stutter due to shifting intervals. With manual exposure adjustment though you could avoid this, and with no aettr or deflicker processing time wouldn't be an issue.

Be interested to know if it works for you Jim? And how's that lazy susan working out?

PS. Jim, this is Andy from Light and Time.

[Shutter speed (variable) + Write time (fixed) = Interval]

 Just try it => set the shutter speed to 10s and the interval time to 9s and see what happens.

I know what happens.  It's called a collision and, eventually, you will have missed frames in your time-lapse sequence as the camera can't shoot another image until the buffer clears.



Just make your interval time a little longer than the slowest shutter speed you're going to need.

EXACTLY what I am trying to AVOID.  Shutter speed (variable) + Write time (fixed)  =  Interval would avoid it 100% of the time.

I guess I'm not understanding how this works, dmilligan.

If I set my camera to manual, 1/125th shutter, intervalometer set to take an image every 2 seconds, what setting would I use in advanced intervalometer to ramp the interval based on shutter speed?  I may well finish my TL with a 1.5 second shutter, at which point I will have a collision between shutter and interval, thereby losing frames as the buffer clears.

I shoot time lapses of stormy weather.  Conditions can go from sunny skies to very dark in very short order.  Currently, I manually adjust my shutter speeds by 1/3rd stop increments in order to compensate for the changing light, then I fix the bumps in post using Lightroom and LRTimelapse.  I shoot at the shortest write times possible (2 seconds) and I will on occasion run into a collision state as my exposure time gets longer.  So, i'm wondering if it would be possible to configure the  intervalometer to work based on this formula:

Shutter speed (variable) + Write time (fixed)  =  Interval

An intervalometer that worked on this dynamic formula would be a huge asset to me and would make Holy Grail photography a breeze if a person is willing to do the manual ramp necessary.

I'm willing to fairly compensate anyone willing to make this happen, there are NO products on the market at this time that can do this and I think it would be very popular.

Jimbr549

This is brilliant!  I can see so many uses for it.

Dmilligan, since you seem very up to speed on ML's intervalometer, I have a quick question.

Do you think it would be possible to create a setting in the intervalometer based on this formula:

shutter speed (dynamic) + write time (fixed) = interval.

That is to say, if I set my write time as 2 seconds, the interval dynamically changes to the shutter speed plus 2 seconds even as i ramp the shutter speed up or down.

That would be very useful!

Thanks for your input.

Jim

Unfortunately, to get the very best quality in time lapse, you are going to add to your shutter count.  RAW is best, large JPEG is also very good.

JB

Quick question: 

Would it be possible to program intervals with half second times?  1.5", 2.5", etc.  I have a need for this if it's possible to do.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks, A1ex, I'll post to this thread as I work my way through this process.

JB

I did my first bulb ramping test with the new features of 2.3 last evening.  Canon 60D, fw 1.1.1, MF Nikon 28mm f/2, interval of 10 secs.

Settings were:

Auto ExpoRamp: Sunset
MAX Rampspeed: 0.001 EV/shot

Started off with a ND filter witch I removed at :13, you can see the color shift.  I had to toss 3 images, but ML recovered very well.

Here is the video:

Here is a cropped video of the sky:

Lastly, here is the log file:

http://ftp.jimbaileyphoto.com/filechute/BRAMP04.zip


Still quite a bit of flicker, something strange happens at image 4628.  The exposure gets longer/shorter/longer. etc.  That should not happen with sunset setting, correct?

I made some mistakes here:  removed the ND filter much to soon, causing the camera to use fast shutter speeds, resulting in flicker.  Not sure if I set ML up to fail as I don't fully understand the MAX Ramp speed setting, and I'm not sure if I used the correct percentile for metering.  Looking at the log file, I think I used 67th...?

I intend to try again this evening, weather permitting.  Any tips appreciated, any questions gladly answered.

JB