Time Lapse with Manual Lens

little bobby

little bobby

Well-known member
So I've been doing some time lapse tests of the sunset and sunrise using the Panny 14-140 lens. Had the camera set in manual focus but left it in auto iris. Watched the test footage and there are some nasty jumps in the brightness during the rising and setting of the sun, as if the iris clicks into a new position in the middle of the shot. ANYWHOOO.... I have to shoot a sunrise this weekend for a client and was hoping someone had a good trick for getting a good time lapse since I am running out of time and patient to test every morning before sunrise and every evening after work.

Thanks in advance guys. I hope someone has something.

ALSO!!! Met Barry Green today at EAR in Phoenix. Great presentation on the AF and why it kicks Sony's FS butt. Awesome guy to talk to and I like knowing I now has a voice to put with his posts....a very fast talking, excited voice. Thanks again for the great presentation Barry!
 
Hey Littlle Bobby,

You need to shoot in manual everything, and babysit the exposure. I shot a sunrise in different intervals, 10sec interval is the best, but for even more, shoot in 1 second intervals and you can always speed it up. You would be in manual white balance VAR as well, as you are going to set your white balance from 5200 at sunrise to 6300 at full daylight. You will also use the exposure tools in your camera, the waveform monitor, and the exposure meter in the bottom right of the screen. I also had ND3 on in full sun, so that increases, as exposure changes, you are trying to keep the sky and water exposed, and let the sun go over a bit. Set your zebras to 100. watch my 1st tL experiment with the AF here:

if you go to the link i have more notes there.
 
little bobby said:
... ALSO!!! Met Barry Green today at EAR in Phoenix. Great presentation on the AF and why it kicks Sony's FS butt. Awesome guy to talk to and I like knowing I now has a voice to put with his posts....a very fast talking, excited voice. Thanks again for the great presentation Barry!
Click to expand...

(i hope i don't get banned for this) but when i read his books—the voice i've attributed is that of Garrison Keillor (rogue scholar / Josey Wales voice)
 
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little bobby said:
ALSO!!! Met Barry Green today at EAR in Phoenix. Great presentation on the AF and why it kicks Sony's FS butt. Awesome guy to talk to and I like knowing I now has a voice to put with his posts....a very fast talking, excited voice. Thanks again for the great presentation Barry!
Click to expand...

I was there as well and agree, great presentation by Barry. Pretty much gave me the last nudge I needed to convince me in buying my own AF100.
 
Sorry for the hijack but I thought your post was a pretty appropriate place to ask this.

In every manual I've ever read involving cameras, it always tells you to not point your camera directly at the sun. But I've seen countless movies, TV and amateur videos where this is done. Is this something they just tell you to cover their backs?


Again sorry for the slight shift in question.


Pete B
 
As you have discovered, you need to be in manual exposer. Sunrises are harder then sunsets, You are starting in the dark. I had to shoot a sunrise a couple weeks ago for a client and the 2 mornings leading up to it I set the cam up in the front yard to test. First morning I was way over exposed. Did 2 tests. Second morning got real close, made adjustments and then wrote down the ND filter and the fstop. My client was shooting stills and I was rolling and it was still so black on my screen but I held true. When the sun finally arrived, my exposer was dead on. You need to be set for sun and let thing be dark in the beginning. 1/10 is good advise for the time-lapse interval. Manual everything. Wait for it.......
 
Thanks for the help guys. I am going out this weekend (wakeup at 4am, shoot at 5am) and if the results are good (please please please) then I'll post them.

-Robert
 
Just fyi, when i'm doing timelapse with electronic lenses, i always disconnect the lens by turning it slightly out of the mount, the cam can't change what it cant see, this prevents minor fluctuations that can sometimes accidently occur, I got this tip from timescapes
 
iunknown said:
Use bulb ramping.
http://www.thewhippersnapper.com/LittleBramper/Site/Home.html
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Which Canon cameras are supported?

Canon bodies with PC sockets; 5DII, 40D etc. Bodies with good high-ISO performance are particularly useful for advanced bramping.

Does it work with Canon Rebels?

Since the Rebel series bodies lack a PC socket, they require an additional `hotshoe to PC adapter’. I do not supply these. Little Bramper will work with earlier Rebels, e.g. 350D, but it seems the 550D has an unsuitable bulb mode.
Click to expand...

Just shoot a sunset and run it backwards... (JK)
 
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