Time Lapse Discussion

NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
edited September 2013 in General Discussions
Just a quick question for those of you who do time lapses, how do you get a consistent exposure? Say if you start a time lapse from before sunset and end hours after, your exposure won't be consistent. So would you lock exposure for the first couple of hours and then "reset" your exposure afterwards?

Thanks.
Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S

Comments

  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    edited September 2013
    Have not done time laps photography myself, but one of the bonuses in having The Promote Control System is to address this question. Here are some videos that will hopefully shed some light or even answer your question, thus the solution.





    Post edited by Golf007sd on
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • KillerbobKillerbob Posts: 732Member
    The equally nice CamRanger system also offers Time Lapse functionality, along with advanced HDR, and of course the capability of full control of the camera via Wi-Fi. I just received mine, but I am in the midst of moving, so have no time to play with it...
  • PhotobugPhotobug Posts: 5,751Member
    What is the price of the CamRanger and the Promote?
    D750 & D7100 | 24-70 F2.8 G AF-S ED, 70-200 F2.8 AF VR, TC-14E III, TC-1.7EII, 35 F2 AF D, 50mm F1.8G, 105mm G AF-S VR | Backup & Wife's Gear: D5500 & Sony HX50V | 18-140 AF-S ED VR DX, 55-300 AF-S G VR DX |
    |SB-800, Amaran Halo LED Ring light | MB-D16 grip| Gitzo GT3541 + RRS BH-55LR, Gitzo GM2942 + Sirui L-10 | RRS gear | Lowepro, ThinkTank, & Hoodman gear | BosStrap | Vello Freewave Plus wireless Remote, Leica Lens Cleaning Cloth |
  • People buy those units for bulb ramping exposure. day to night or night to day. the sad thing is that Nikon cameras WILL NOT bulb ramp. They will not accept arbitrary shutter speeds from external devices like canon will. The promote says it ramps and it does, kinda, sort of, but not really, i guess. though your money would be better spent on a Canon with Magic Lantern.

    Your best bet using a Nikon for time lapse is to learn to deflicker in post. Save your money. Here is a free tutorial: http://philipbloom.net/2013/06/15/nighttoday/
  • NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
    Thanks for all the answers!
    Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S
  • KillerbobKillerbob Posts: 732Member
    edited September 2013
    Not completely true. The CamRanger system is connected straight into the Nikon using the USB connection, and has FULL control of the camera. Hence, it supports bulb mode with typical control and by using custom defined shutter lengths. This however depends on the Nikon model (http://www.camranger.com/supported-cameras/).

    Take a look at the CamRanger manual page 10 to see if it suffices (http://www.camranger.com/downloadFiles/Mac_UserManual.pdf).
    Post edited by Killerbob on
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    Interesting - it looks like the Camranger can focus stack and the promote control can't.
    Always learning.
  • KillerbobKillerbob Posts: 732Member
    Yep, CamRanger does Focus Stacking too:) I'm really surprised about this nifty little gadget.

    Come winter I'll really enjoy sitting in my warm and cozy living-room, with the CamRanger transmitting LV on my D800 connected to my telescope standing on our balcony in -30 degrees weather. I can remote control the go-to telescope, and with the CamRanger/D800 setup I can finally get going on Astrophotography (without freezing my a.. off).
  • Looks like the cam ranger might do it. 300 bucks... Might be money well spent if timelapse is your thing.

    I just wish nikon hacker could do this for us.
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    These folks seem to have it figured out:
    http://www.elysiavisuals.com/tags/bulb-ramping
    They produce an XMP file that can be loaded into LR that will automatically compensate for the discrete steps in the Nikon bulb mode.
  • NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
    edited February 2019
    For those of you interested, I ran across this really cool hyper lapse video of NYC on Youtube.



    He also has a making of video.

    Post edited by NSXTypeR on
    Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S
  • daveznspacedaveznspace Posts: 180Member
    One of Lightrooms features that's actually useful is in dev mode under settings called match total exposure. So you select an image with the exposer you want then select all the whacky ones and hit that and theoretically it'll do the trick but it is Adobe so it doesn't always work.
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