Shooting StarTrails with ML intervalometer (problem)

[kmphotographer]

Dear All,

I own a Canon EOS 600D (T3i) with Magic Lantern installed. I have a remote shutter (not anything fancy but it is wireless). I usually shoot startrails when the weather is appropriate.

From the beginning that i bought the remote release it seems to have a problem and it stops taking pictures after some time. Sometimes it takes 10 shots and then it stops, some other times it takes 60. It does it randomly and i cannot figure out why it does this.

I was hoping that installing ML would solve my problem since it has an intervalometer (very usefull also for TimeLapse). So i gave it a try with the following settings:

Manual Mode
30 seconds shutter speed.
Intervalometer in ML set to take a picture every 30 seconds
Stop after 200 images.

When i started taking the shots i noticed that the time between each shot is about half of a second. It looked to me strange because with the remote, the shots are immediate. I took the RAW files to my computer and tried to merge them and it happened what i was afraid of. The delay between the pictures resulted in dots in my image. It wasn't any more a nice straight line but it dots were appearing.

To understand exactly the problem have a look in the picture below:



Can you please let me know if this can be done differently in ML (am i doing something wrong?)

Thank you very much

[a1ex]

Try "take pics like crazy" and burst mode.

I didn't try it, but you can't get any faster than that.

[Doyle4]

try doing exposures of 30seconds every 35seconds, this gives the camera more time to process if needed, i found 30sec expo to 30sec take didnt work properly, every 35sec took an image as soon as the first one was done

[kmphotographer]

try doing exposures of 30seconds every 35seconds, this gives the camera more time to process if needed, i found 30sec expo to 30sec take didnt work properly, every 35sec took an image as soon as the first one was done

Thank you for your replies. Doyle4, since it will be a 5 second gap between the pictures it wouldn't cause the same problem that i have amplified? Imagine that with nearly a half of a second gap between the shots it appears like dots. What would happen with 5 seconds gap?

Thank you again!

[tron]

I do not think ML is necessary. If your remote release can be set somehow to be always pressed  simply put camera to continuous shooting...

[kmphotographer]

I do not think ML is necessary. If your remote release can be set somehow to be always pressed  simply put camera to continuous shooting...

Hello tron,

I know that ML is not necessary. I use it only because my release has some kind of a problem and it stops shooting. I have a cheap one but it has the ability to keep the shutter pressed and my camera is in continuous shooting... I have no idea why it stops.

It started from the first time i used it. Usually you press the button and you go to watch a movie until you have the pictures. Well i pressed it, watched my movie, went back to my camera to find out that it stopped after 45 pictures.

What a hell i did this again (i have many movies). The second time it stopped to 60 pictures. Next time i used it, it stopped to 10 pictures. On my vacation in Greece it didn't stop at all (my battery died after 180 pictures i am cursed...

Since i cannot find out what the problem is with the release, i decided to use the intervalometer from Magic Lantern.

[tron]

Sorry to learn that. Have you tried to watch to see if something specific happens the moment it stops?

For example camera could display a "busy" which cries card being written, or maybe a loss of connection happens due to the connecting cable (in that case you shouldn't be able to take photos though). I am not saying something like this is happening just to try to see with your own eyes your camera's behavior the moment it stops shooting...

[kmphotographer]

Sorry to learn that. Have you tried to watch to see if something specific happens the moment it stops?

For example camera could display a "busy" which cries card being written, or maybe a loss of connection happens due to the connecting cable (in that case you shouldn't be able to take photos though). I am not saying something like this is happening just to try to see with your own eyes your camera's behavior the moment it stops shooting...

I have searched for what can cause the problem with no results... I use a class 10 card so i don't think that there is an issue of slow write times to the card.

I know that my release is an after market cheap wireless remote. Perhaps this is the issue. It works pretty well for one shot but for continue shooting is not. And it is really annoying to come back to your camera thinking that you have shot 300 pictures and you captured enough and find out that you have 60...

So the point of the thread is not really to fix the remote release but if i can use ML to shoot without the release. Somewhere i read that i can also use the intervalometer + the bulb timer. I will try that at first and let you know. Currently in Bratislava we have cloudy weather so i will not have the chance today...

Keep you posted. Thank you for all the help!

[sletts02]

Just to be sure - Noise Reduction is set to off?

[Audionut]

Did you try a1ex suggestion?

IIRC, the last time I did a star trail (years ago), I set my exposure and just enabled the intervalometer to pics as fast as possible.
There was a very small delay between shots that could be noticed if you zoomed to 100%, otherwise it was fine.

What software are you using to merge the shots?

Also, in your example above, it appears to me that you changed exposure part way through.  Certainly, there was some camera movement.

[kmphotographer]

Hello again,

I am coming back to the matter with a today's picture (very few stars tonight):



The image might look ok at first but when you zoom a little you can see the delay between the shots. This is with the "shoot like crazy" mode:



Now let's compare it with a shot i have managed to do with my remote release:



Let's zoom also this one:



As you can see there is no delay at all. The SW that i am using for stacking is the Startrails.de

Please feel free to post your results using magic lantern and if you have some time to explain me your settings... Maybe i am doing something wrong i don't know about it.

PS. Noise reduction is off.

[a1ex]

Same focal length and settings? Try not to compare apples with oranges.

Pics like crazy works by holding the shutter button in software (exactly as you would do from the remote). Of course, you need to be in burst mode for that.

[Audionut]

I set my exposure.  Enabled intervalometer taking pics like crazy.  The only delay between shots was mirror movement.  I don't see how you could shoot any quicker then this in normal mode.

Otherwise, use silent pics.  Set the intervalometer the same.  Silent picture in simple mode.  You can enable LV power saving in ML prefs.  Image review set to off in Canon settings.
This reduced the delay between shots to shutter movement only. 

Focal length will play a large part in the amount of star movement between shots.  At a wide focal length, the delay between shots won't be noticeable (the stars haven't moved much between shots), the longer the focal length, the faster the stars move through the frame, the more noticeable the gap in stars between shots.

[drecart]

I've used Magic Lantern's Intervalometer set to every 15 seconds with my exposure time of 15 seconds and it works for me. It'll continue to fire constantly. I'm using a 600D with my lens at 17mm and 15 second exposures so I can have a still image if I want or time-lapse the footage or stack them in post. I stopped this sequence rather early due to sand-flies biting. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151624114128719&set=a.10150261755648719.332147.122503888718&type=1&theater