GH13 Is 1.2 ND safe enough for timelapse sunrise?

Steve_Karl

Steve_Karl

Well-known member
I'm wanting to shoot a timelapse sunrise and want to make sure I'm not going to damage lens or sensor.
I have a Tiffen ND filter that is 1.2.
Is using that enough or am I being naieve and missing something?

I'll be shooting 1 second intervals with a remote timeer for about 1 hour I suspect.

I'll be using either a Lumix 20mm f/1.7 or a Lumix 14-42mm f/3.5 and would also appreciate comments on which lens might be the best choice.

Thank you,
 
Steve_Karl said:
I'm wanting to shoot a timelapse sunrise and want to make sure I'm not going to damage lens or sensor.
Click to expand...

Please don't take this as gospel, but last year while in Hawaii I video'ed a sunrise from the top of Haleakala using a standard GH2. I shot it in three sections if memory serves with each section lasting about 15 minutes. It was shot with the 14-42mm at 14mm with no filters. Sunrise at that altitude is pretty intense and while the GH2 was rolling I tried to take some pictures with my iPhone 4 of the peak moment. The sensor wasn't damaged but the images were completely insane blobs of orange and yellow, just widely blown out. The GH2 on the other hand trucked away and did a decent job. And no sensor damage.

The sunrise is at about 9m 15s on this video.



Again, I'm not making any claims as to safety and I don't know whether taking single frames exposes the sensor more (a one second single exposure vs. rapid 1/40 of a second capture). Just posting to help the discussion.
 
Thanks.
I need to clarify a bit more.
The interval is the time *between* the still shots and will be one second.
The shutter speed will probably be at least 1/60 for each shot and I suspect quite a bit higher.

I'll have to test first and get a general setting when the sun is fully visible
and then use that as a starting point when I do the real shoot.

I saw in the manual:
"Do not leave the camera with the lens facing the sun as rays of light from the sun may cause it
to malfunction. Also, be careful when placing the camera outside or near a window."

... and that was my reason for asking.
 
@Steve_Karl I would not worry excessively. I shot literally over a million timelapse exposures over the course of about two years on a combination of Canon and Panasonic cameras and most of those were sunrises and sunsets, with the lens aimed straight at the sun. It's years later and none of the cameras show any visible sensor damage and most of the exposures were done without a filter of any kind.

I'm not saying don't pay any attention to it - if you aim the lens at your chosen aperture at the sun (not connected to the camera) and put your hand where the light comes out the back, you should be able to see if it gets significantly hot or not. If it heats up a lot, you aren't using enough filtering.

You'll find a lot of timelapse photographers that are not overly concerned, but feel free to listen to ones that are more careful - there's nothing wrong with playing safe and you can use longer exposure times that way, which can be very helpful for timelapse.
 
DON'T LOOK THRU YOUR LENS AT THE SUN!

Your eye has an always open shutter and you would cook your retina on VERY short order
 
@AlmaVideo Unless you are using a VERY strong ND (like 8 2/3-stop 400x or higher).

But yes, of course you want to use the LCD or EVF instead. So it's a non-issue wit the camera in-question. The GH series does not presently have an optical viewfinder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top