D200 Interval timer long exposure

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Paul Furman - 29 Dec 2007 01:44 GMT

I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the
stars spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem
compatible with this goal. If I set the interval to 1 second (just
enough time to write the previous file to the card) then the max count
of 999 frames counts down 33 frames for each shot, only allowing 33
frames before resetting the whole thing. A 30 second interval gives all
999 frames but there is a 30 second down time between frames.

1 second
966, 933, etc

30 seconds
998, 997, etc

I guess I'm stuck with this unless I'm misunderstanding something.

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Rudy Benner - 29 Dec 2007 04:03 GMT

>I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the stars
>spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem compatible
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> I guess I'm stuck with this unless I'm misunderstanding something.

Are you using a slow CF card? I can shoot 5 frames per second in raw mode at
which point the buffer is filled and things slow down.

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Paul Furman - 29 Dec 2007 05:07 GMT

>> I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the stars
>> spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem compatible
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Are you using a slow CF card? I can shoot 5 frames per second in raw mode at
> which point the buffer is filled and things slow down.

Yes, an older CF card but the timer function only allows a 1 sec delay,
0 seconds is not allowed.

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Rudy Benner - 29 Dec 2007 04:51 GMT

Sorry, did not read your message fully, perhaps an external program like
Camera Control Pro for a Nikon is what you want.

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Frank Arthur - 29 Dec 2007 16:19 GMT

>I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the
>stars spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> I guess I'm stuck with this unless I'm misunderstanding something.

You can buy a good quality Chinese made Intervalometer (on Ebay)for
about $100 including shipping
that will do all you asked.

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Paul Furman - 29 Dec 2007 18:13 GMT

>> I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the
>> stars spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> about $100 including shipping
> that will do all you asked.

Yes I should do that because I really wanted longer exposures that show
the stars streaking in a circle. And the 999 frame limit is sometimes a
problem.

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Paul Furman - 29 Dec 2007 17:59 GMT

Alright well it seems to have worked when I set it out to shoot. Sorry
for the confusion. Here's the results:
<http://edgehill.net/Southwest/12-21-07-az/12-26-07-stars/pg1pc0>
The dialup connection I'm using here only allows uploading a small part
of the videos.

When I tested it indoors in the light I can swear it waited 30 seconds
between frames. Rambling notes below.

> I want to do 30 second exposures repeatedly for a time lapse of the
> stars spinning in the sky. The built in interval timer doesn't seem
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> 30 seconds
> 998, 997, etc

Hmm, the battery died at 139 exposures, I put in another battery & came
back to see an eight-second dead time between exposures??? I'll let it
run. I turned off dark frame noise subtraction.

Alright, in the morning I got these times in adjacent frames:
(hours:minutes:seconds)

19:05:55
19:06:25

23:11:49
23:12:19

Hmm, that's 30 seconds. About 4 hours & about 400 frames, only 16
seconds of video at 24 frames per second or about a minute at 8fps.

> I guess I'm stuck with this unless I'm misunderstanding something.

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David J Taylor - 29 Dec 2007 18:55 GMT

> Alright well it seems to have worked when I set it out to shoot. Sorry
> for the confusion. Here's the results:
> <http://edgehill.net/Southwest/12-21-07-az/12-26-07-stars/pg1pc0>
> The dialup connection I'm using here only allows uploading a small
> part of the videos.

Paul, is that why the files are no 1/2MB and 1MB as stated? I'm only
seeing 128KB of each. Nice movies, though!

Thanks,
David

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Paul Furman - 29 Dec 2007 20:42 GMT

>> Alright well it seems to have worked when I set it out to shoot. Sorry
>> for the confusion. Here's the results:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Paul, is that why the files are no 1/2MB and 1MB as stated? I'm only
> seeing 128KB of each. Nice movies, though!

Yeah, visiting family & using the slowest dial-up connection on earth :-)

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David J Taylor - 29 Dec 2007 21:16 GMT

>>> Alright well it seems to have worked when I set it out to shoot.
>>> Sorry for the confusion. Here's the results:
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Yeah, visiting family & using the slowest dial-up connection on earth
> :-)

Thanks.

David

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Randy Howard - 30 Dec 2007 19:45 GMT

>>> Alright well it seems to have worked when I set it out to shoot. Sorry
>>> for the confusion. Here's the results:
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Yeah, visiting family & using the slowest dial-up connection on earth :-)

110 baud?

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Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw

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