Nikon D5100 interval shooting problem?

[andrewvid]

hi everyone on AP,

i have recently been doing a few time lapse of the stars but there seems to be a problem with my interval shooting function..
i have a Nikon D5100 as the above says and i set it to do 100 shots at 30sec exposures with 45sec interval time.
even though i set it to do 100 shots it will always stop at 55.

does any one have the same problem or know whats happening? i have done some research but couldn't find anything on this problem :confused013

any help is much appreciated.

thanks.

[arthurking83]

could it be a battery thing?

30+45 = 75 seconds
75x55 = 4125 sec(68 mins or 1hour)

That time frame could be depleting the battery and the Nikon turns the intervalometer off if the battery power is sensed to be low :confused013
(don't know that this is the issue.. just a theory)

if the battery is approx half full or less, you can't enter into mirror lockup mode for cleaning the sensor(I only just found this out on my D300 .. didn't know that my battery was so depleted).

After the 55 exposures, how full is the battery?

[andrewvid]

thanks for the reply arthurking,
i'm pretty sure it's not the battery as once it stops it still has 3/3 bars left on the battery icon.
when it stops shooting i can just go into the menu and restart the timer but that's a pain not to be able to rely on it..

thanks

Andrew

[fillum]

While I wouldn't completely discount a battery issue, I think it would be unusual to stop at the exact same number of shots each time - I would expect a bit of variation.

Have you checked the exact time each shot was taken? Are they being taken at the correct interval or roughly every 2nd interval? If you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on, the time for each shot will be roughly doubled. I think the interval time includes the shot time (but not 100% sure, I've only ever used the timer with sub-second shutter speeds). Therefore a 45 sec interval maybe less than the total shot time (including NR), so maybe roughly every 2nd interval is being missed.

I doubt this would be the cause, but maybe check/adjust your timeout settings - Meter-Off Delay etc - and see if it makes any difference.

Have you tried setting for 150 or 200 shots to see what happens? Does it still stop at 55 shots?


Cheers.

[andrewvid]

thanks Phil,
the number it has stopped at has changed.. first i had 55 then 57 then 56.
i have timed the time between each shot and it is spot on 45sec.
i have noise reduction on so i will try again tonight with it turned of and see if it makes a difference

thanks for your help!

[arthurking83]

.....
i have noise reduction on so i will try again tonight with it turned of and see if it makes a difference

thanks for your help!


Note that there is a difference between noise reduction and long exposure noise reduction!!

LNR is a separate option to the more common NR settings..

As Phil said, turn it off, but turn both the NR types off.

Note tho, unless you have a specific need, LNR is best turned on for regular long exposure noise reduction.
it's not the same as the typical noise reduction, it's a dark frame subtraction system, which is more accurate than in it's process than doing NR on the PC later on.

The normal noise reduction is best done at home on the PC with a high quality NR program.

[fillum]

Andrew if you are getting shots at 45 sec intervals it sounds as though long exposure noise reduction (LENR) is turned off. (Did you confirm the shot time in the exif)? The LENR processing takes roughly as long as the shutter speed, so in your case if LENR was turned on each shot would take roughly 60 secs (s/s = 30secs + LENR = 30secs). [Note that this is based on my D300 but I think should be the same - maybe check your manual to confirm.]


As Phil said, turn it off, Actually, I didn't say to turn it off. If it's on, you could turn it off or you could extend the interval time (to 75 secs for example). Obviously leaving it on and extending the interval will take roughly twice as long for the same number of shots.



Cheers.

[andrewvid]

i don't think i have LENR on as i can't seem to find it in the menu anywhere..
according to the EXIF data it sais that the exposure was 30sec

[fillum]

i don't think i have LENR on as i can't seem to find it in the menu anywhere..
It's under the SHOOTING MENU (little camera icon). Default is OFF I think, so odds are that it's off.


according to the EXIF data it sais that the exposure was 30secExposure will still show as 30secs, the LENR processing time won't be included. I was referring to the actual time of the shot, normally shown like this for example
Original Date/Time = 2012:04:30 22:25:08
So with a 45sec interval the next shot in this example should show
Original Date/Time = 2012:04:30 22:25:53
but if it shows this instead
Original Date/Time = 2012:04:30 22:26:38
then an interval was missed.

But it's sounding like LENR is not the cause here...


Cheers.

[andrewvid]

i'll be trying a time lapse again tonight and will see how it goes.. i'll set it up to do 200 shots

[andrewvid]

my bad everyone... i found LENR and it was ON!.. now it renders the pics alot faster.. just going to wait and see how far it gets to and if it completes the 300 shots i set it to do

EDIT: it certainly was the LENR that has caused it to miss an interval as it is now on it's 98th shot..
thanks for your help guys!!