D5100 interval timer

butterfliesbutterflies Posts: 1Member
edited March 2013 in Nikon DSLR cameras
Hello,
I am shooting star trails with the d5100, but the interval timer does not work properly.
It takes an interval that is shorter than programmed and number of shots is never correct.
Yesterday I programmed 29 and it deliverd 2
Sometimes it only takes one shot when i want ten.
Anybody else problems with this facility on this or other related camera"s?
Thanks,
Rob

Comments

  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    Are the intervals long enough apart to capture the length of exposures required?
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    Perhaps the discussion in this article and the comments below it may relate to your problem -

    http://www.d5100dslr.com/tutorials/interval-timer-shooting/
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
  • Julie_RJulie_R Posts: 3Member
    Rob, did you ever figure out your problem. I am having the same issue. Last fall my interval timer worked correctly for star trails. Then last month I tried again and had problems. I recently did a test and here are my results.
    1. 

    120x1=120 

    00:00:05

    25 sec. exposure

    The camera completed 19 images. 


    2. 

    120x1=120 

    00:00:31

    30 sec. exposure

    The camera completed 59 images. 



    3.
    120x1=120
    00:00:05

    125 exposure
    The camera completed 119 images.

    4.
    60x1=60
    00:00:06

    20 sec. exposure
    I stopped this test AFTER I noticed, on top of the camera,
    when the interval timer is running,
    you can view the shutter count go down.
    The count was going down by 4 during this test.
    So the camera thinks it is completing the 60 images????
    When it is only completing ¼ of the number of images programmed? WHY?

    5.
    60x1=60
    00:00:06

    10 sec. exposure
    The camera completed 29 images.
    The shutter count was going down by 2.
  • Julie_RJulie_R Posts: 3Member
  • NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
    Have you tried a full reset of the camera? I haven't used the interval timer but perhaps that may help.
    Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S
  • Julie_RJulie_R Posts: 3Member
    Well, I think I just figured it out. Still doens't quite makes sense. The manual says that the interval time between shots must be longer then the exposure. I justy did another test.
    6. 10x1=10
    00:00:35

    30 sec. exposure
    The camera completed 10 images.
    ~~~~~~BUT the camera really didn't take 35 sec. in between shots!!!!
    It seems to take only a coulple seconds in betweem shots.
    Which is what I was trying to accomplish.
    The time stamp on each image is 40.75 seconds apart.
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    30 seconds exposure
    timer starts
    after 30" shutter closes
    after 35 (from first shutter opening) the next shot is released
    5 seconds between end of last shot and beginning of second shot.

    Does make sense to me.
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    edited July 2013
    From the D5100 manual Interval Timer section:
    "Shooting will continue at the selected interval until all shots have been taken. Note that because shutter speed and the time needed to record the image to the memory card may vary from shot to shot, the interval between a shot being recorded and the start of the next shot may vary."

    Also, if you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR) turned on (default) any exposure longer than 1sec will take 2x the amount of time to expose and process a dark frame. So a 30sec exposure takes 60sec, which can really mess with the interval timer. Most high quality star trails are produced with shorter exposures and software stacking of multiple images.
    Post edited by Ironheart on
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