It seems that there are a few bugs so lets hope that David will figure them out. At the moment it seems that a script stops as soon as the camera reaches it's native longest shutter speed.
In the mean time, here is some explanation of the different parameters and how they work in different situations or in different combinations.
number of repeatsThis determines how many times a sequence of events is repeated.
A sequence of events can be:
A single picture, repeated every X seconds where
number of repeats determines how many pictures are taken and
shoot interval seconds and / or
shoot interval minutes determine how much time there will be between each exposure.
If however,
Endless mode N/Y is set to Y,
number of repeats will be ignored and pictures will be taken until the script is stopped.
A focus stack.
In this case,
number of repeats is probably only useful if you want to make stereo pictures. Lets say that you only want a stack of pictures with focus from the nearest object till infinity, than there would be no use to repeat that sequence as that would only give you the same result twice.
shoot interval in this case is ignored because there is just 1 sequence.
If however, you would like to make a stereo picture than you would need the same stack but you will want to shift the camera between each stack. So, in this case you will set
number of repeats to 2. in this example,
shoot interval determines after which time the recording of the second stack will start. In order to determine how long the interval should be, it is advised to first record one stack and note how long it takes to complete.
Lets suppose the time needed to complete the stack is 1 minute and you want to have 30 seconds to shift the camera before the next stack will be recorded, you will set the shoot interval to 1 minute and 30 seconds.
A series of bracketed pictures.
In this case,
number of repeats will also be 1 as you will only need one picture but with different exposures.
A focus stack combined with bracketing. In this case,
number of repeats will also be 1 as you will only need one focus stack but than combined with bracketing so in this case,
Tv exposures determines how many different exposed stacks you will get.
Num of 1/3 EV steps determines the f-stop difference between the different exposed stacks.
shoot interval is ignored since it is still 1 repeat of a sequence.
Endless mode N/YIf set to Y, parameter
number of repeats is ignored and the script will run until stopped.
Single/Cont/Time/BurstThis determines if a single image will be taken, if the camera will be used in continuous mode, with the cameras Custom Timer or in burst mode were images will be taken as fast as your camera continuous-shooting mode will allow.
Note that for a bracketed sequence, the camera needs to be in continuous-shooting mode.
Tv exposuresThis determines how many exposure bracketing images or sequences will be taken and works in conjunction with
Num of 1/3 EV steps.
So if you want a bracketed sequence of 0EV, -1EV, +1EV (3 stops) you will set
Tv exposures to 3 and
Num of 1/3 EV steps to 3. If you set
Tv exposures to 5, you will a sequence of 0EV, -1EV, +1EV, _2EV, +2EV
Focus exposuresThis setting determines how many pictures you want to take for a focus stack and works in conjunction with
Equal/auto/digi 0/2 and
Focus-step.
For example, if you want 5 pictures, with an equal focus step of 50mm, you would use the following settings:
Focus exposures = 5,
Equal/auto/digi 0/2 = 0 and
Focus-step = 50
However, if you set
Equal/auto/digi 0/2 to 1 (auto) both of the other settings will be ignored and the camera will automatically take a stack of pictures focused from the nearest subject to infinity.
A few things are important to remember:
The camera needs to know at what distance and which exposure it should start the sequence. So you should first make the required settings in the script and than exit ALT mode. Than point your camera at your subject and half-press the shutter so your camera will focus and calculate the exposure. Now go into ALT mode again where your script is still loaded and execute it.
Save stack N/YIf set to Y, a text file with the results of each bracketing sequence will be saved in the STACKS folder on the card.
A few examples and the combination of settings required for themTo take an automated focus stack from the nearest subject to infinity:
- Number of repeats = 1
- Single/Cont/Time/Burst = 1
- Bracket Tv/foc/Both = 1
- Equal/auto/digi 0/2 = 1
The camera needs to be in continuous-shooting mode !
To take an automated focus stack from the nearest subject to infinity and also bracket the stack with 5 stops:
- Number of repeats = 1
- Single/Cont/Time/Burst = 1
- Tv exposures = 5
- Bracket Tv/foc/Both = 2
- Equal/auto/digi 0/2 = 1
- Num of 1/3 EV steps = 3
This will result in an automated focus stack, repeated 5 times with 0EV, -1EV, +1EV, -2EV, +2EV
As an alternative, set
Tv exposures = 5 to 3 and
Num of 1/3 EV steps to 6
This will result in an automated focus stack, repeated 3 times with 0EV, -2EV, +2EV
The camera needs to be in continuous-shooting mode !
To make a simple time-lapse sequence with 100 images with an interval of 3 seconds- Shoot interval seconds = 3
- Number of repeats = 100
- Single/Cont/Time/Burst = 0
Alternatively, set
Endless mode N/Y to Y and the camera will take pictures until the script is stopped.
Optionally, set
Blank screen N/Y to Y
The LCD backlight will be turned-off and only very briefly turns-on after each exposure.
The camera must be in single shooting mode.
For extended explanation of the different parameters, see
http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/tlapse.htmHave fun !
