How I set up my built-in and external intervalometer for a night time lapse

[@PinkPulpito]

Such a sick timelapse, i didnt know those things moved around

[@Milkywaymike]

Please give it about an hour for the 4k Option to become available. Thanks!

[@TheMaddman187]

Thank you. Ver informative.

[@2yhtomit]

I know this video is from four years ago, but I just watched it a few minutes ago. First, thanks! I've done very little astro-photography, but I'm trying to learn. I was trying to figure out how to set the intervals for the kind of shooting you're talking about, and you addressed that directly and clearly. Excellent! I'm shooting with a D850, so that makes the learning easier, as you are using, basically, the same camera. I got a sudden interest in this because I wanted to try to shoot a meteor shower, and I saw a suggestion to set up the camera just to take one long-exposure photo after another, which I was having trouble figuring out how to do. My question is, in doing this kind of photography, do you disable the Long Exposure Noise Reduction? I'm kind of guessing that you do, otherwise your calculation of time time needed to write to the memory card would be much longer. In my experience, with Long Exposure Noise Reduction on, the write time to the card is the same as length of the exposure. I've pretty much always left it enabled, as I assumed my images would be cleaner. Maybe it's not really necessary? For sure it would interfere with setting the interval between exposures to such a short time longer than the exposure itself. Again, thanks!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! Yes I disable the Long Exposure NR, especially for doing a time lapse because the additional time needed for the noise reduction will create a time lapse that may look choppy. Long Exposure Noise Reduction is ok for still photography that you aren't planning on using for time lapse work, however even then I leave it off because I'd rather stack images to reduce noise instead of using the in-camera noise reduction. This is my personal preference, but I believe there are some videos on youtube that will go in more detail of stacking vs long exposure noise reduction pros and cons. Hopefully this helps you out! Cheers

[@TrungNguyen-uf8cv]

My 6D II probably stopped midway during my internal intervalometer setup

[@Andy_XR]

I always thought "interval" meant "how long to wait between shots" not "how long between each time the shot is started" Therefore, an interval of 2s is OK, even with a 30s shot; it waits 2 seconds before it takes the next shot. Maybe your description is Nikon specific?

[@Milkywaymike]

Andy Deighton I thought that too but for Nikon if you set the interval to 2 seconds and your shutter to 30 seconds and let’s say you set the number of shots to 500. It messes up the number of shots so it will take the first shot making the number of shots 499 left.... then when it fires the next shot it will drop the number count to 468 (or some other random number. So it messes that up when you don’t set the interval to what the shutter time is + extra second to write. I use to have that issue all the time with my Nikon because I was under the same impression as you are with how an interval should work.

[@richieflesfadar6893]

Just curious.... why dont you just set your camera to continuous shooting and lock the button on the remote? That's all I do and it works ok

[@Milkywaymike]

Richie Flesfadar I typically use the built-in intervalometer, but yeah that is also another way you can shoot a time lapse. Thanks for sharing

[@JoeHTX]

I'm just waiting for the right time and weather to try out all these things. Thanks for all of the tips and tutorials!

[@Milkywaymike]

Joe H awesome, good luck bud!!

[@adi.s4469]

I like your timelapse with the Milky Way

[@KenToney]

Mike, have you ever tried inverting a grad ND to cut pollution when near a town? Was wondering if it’s worth trying? I would also add Red Intensifier

[@Milkywaymike]

Ken Toney Nah I haven’t because if I’m going to reduce light from entering the camera I’d rather lower iso to lower the exposure. Stacking images improves the dynamic range has has helped me reduce light pollution. You can still try it and maybe you’ll like the results

[@PinkPulpito]

This is super informative!

[@KaHaDa_life]

@10:27 The camera is set to 15 but the external intervalometer is set to 17 to work? How long was the exposure in the end 15 or 17? This is the problem I ran into with my D610 a couple of nights ago, I have a similar external intervalometer but it does not seem to override the exposure that is selected in the Manual mode on screen, it triggered the shutter but at an interval selected in the camera. Do I have to switch the camera to Bulb in order for the external intervalometer to command it at the intervals that I have selected on it?

[@Milkywaymike]

Канада life the exposure is set to 15 seconds the camera. The 17 second interval is to allow enough time so the exposure can write to the card and then take the next shot.

[@KaHaDa_life]

@@Milkywaymike Ok that I understand but what would happen if your camera is set to 15 but the external intervalometer is set to 30 second exposure? Would the camera obey what the intervalometer commands or would it still just trigger a 15 second exposure? That's the problem I had, the camera did not seem to care about the exposure selection on the intervalometer. Is there a mode to enable on the camera when using an external intervalometer?

[@melobcm]

Hello. I am getting into night photoghraphy and just bought an intervalometer but I am havig this issue. I need an interval between shoots pretty short (I am looking for stacking) but when I shoot like, a 15 sec long photo, it takes more than 15 sec to take the next photo even if I set the interv to 1 or 2 sec. And than everything gets messed. How can I fix it? Is it a camera problem? It is also a nikon. Thank you and congrats for your video.

[@Milkywaymike]

If you are using a Nikon and only doing a 15 second exposure I would suggest using nikons built in intervalometer. If you don’t want to use the built-in intervalometer then double check to make sure you are setting up your intervalometer correctly. The interval should work at 16 if your shutter is set to 15. If you want a really good intervalometer that will fire quicker after each exposure, check out LRTIMELAPSE Pro Timer!

[@melobcm]

@@Milkywaymike I have just found that it was a setting called LENR that was taking a dark frame after my shots. Everything worked fine after turned LENR off. Thanks for your help!

[@nightshooterdigitalforensi1113]

Never thought to use one of these for star trails, cheers for the great vid and tip.

[@larry8056]

Hi Mike, looking for some advice - I use my built in Intervalometer and the next shoot fires fine with my 1sec interval. I’ve used this no issues for Astro Timelapse’s however I have been researching more sunset/sunrise Timelapse techniques and I noticed in some advice online they recommend to do longer intervals for star photography which has totally confused me for my Astro photos. Stars move fast so I always figured a smaller interval is better, also means you can create a star trail image easier as the gaps will be less.

[@Milkywaymike]

@@larry8056 typically you would use a longer interval if you are trying to ramp your exposures for a sunrise or sunset. The extra few seconds for each interval allows you to make camera settings adjustments. I’m not sure why anyone is recommending to do longer intervals with astro photography because you shouldn’t need to adjust anything and you’re right, you don’t want large gaps in start trails or Timelapse. Keep the intervals short for Astro

[@larry8056]

Thanks Mike!

[@janettebritton5800]

Fantastic video thank you.

[@greengrowtimelapse]

if i set interval to 1 hour, camera shots down and start again after 1 hour, or?

[@Milkywaymike]

Every camera is different, but in theory if you set your interval to 1 hour it would take one photo every hour.

[@Mackymcd]

Thanks Mike! Am I right in saying you cannot selectively edit the milky way for timelapse unless you edited every single image? I presume most folks globally edit the shots with the sync in LR

[@Milkywaymike]

Mackymcd depends on what programs you use to edit time lapses. if you use a program like LRTIMELAPSE you can edit the first and last image then it will adjust the meta data of the rest of the photos for you. Then you just export the video you desire.

[@Mackymcd]

@@Milkywaymike cheers man, great advice. Keep up the good work 👍🏻

[@dennisstanworth1718]

Hands Down the best time laps I've come across. The clouds, the night sky, you killed it.

[@rukasingh1219]

Absolutely beautiful.

[@coryjeffreys5146]

I have a question and just so you know I'm new to manual setting and I just love some of these shots at night so intervalometers So if I want my shutter to stay open for 15 seconds. Is that what I need to get to do this?

[@Milkywaymike]

Depends on you camera... Some cameras have intervalometers built into the camera's menu settings. For example, Most nikon cameras has this option and it allows me to go up to 30 second exposures or less and select the number of photos I want to take to create a time lapse. I'm actually in the works of writing / recording an in depth time lapse tutorial. If you camera does not have a built in option, then yes you would need some type of intervalometer. This could be wired, wireless and now they have units that connect wireless to your phone which allows you to make changes using apps. If you want your shutter to stay open for 15 seconds for a single photo then no you shouldn't need an intervalometer unless you are worried about camera shake. You can set your camera on timer mode to help avoid camera shake as well.

[@coryjeffreys5146]

@@Milkywaymike Well I have a video camera which is a Sony FS 5 MK II and my old but still works Nikon D 70

[@adi.s4469]

Hi Mike! Do you think it is worth to invest money in an light polution filters?

[@Milkywaymike]

adi. S from the tests I’ve seen it is not worth the money in my opinion. Stacking and star trackers are your best bang for your buck!

[@adi.s4469]

@@Milkywaymike thank you

[@richieflesfadar6893]

Hope you dont mind my 2 cents worth... I wouldnt bother tbh, I bought 1 and all it does is remove the colour not the actual light pollution... waste of money.

[@perfectlylonely]

That was a stunning time lapse. I'm certain there was more to it than an intervolometer. 😁

[@Milkywaymike]

Scott TheOzoneGuy I did some editing in Lightroom to all the images but it really wasn’t much. That red from the radio dish was very harsh so I toned it down. I bumped up the clarity a little and added some noise reduction and contrast. That’s pretty much it!

[@perfectlylonely]

@@Milkywaymike ...Actually I meant to infer that it was your talent and expertise that captured and recorded these images. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@KnuteJPhotos]

for astro timelapses would you use exposure blending?

[@Milkywaymike]

I don't find that necessary and it can be very tricky to pull off since you are dealing with movement (rotation of the earth) and are limited on time (amount of time the milky way will be visible)

[@sanket_billade]

I did timelapse with enough difference in shutter speed and interval it turned out fine, but when I shot star trails and kept interval same as shutter speed I ended up dashed star trails, shouldn't have done that😑

[@Milkywaymike]

If you kept the interval the same as the shutter speed it probably took a photo every other interval. Typically the interval needs to be a second or two longer than the shutter speed so the picture can write to your memory card. So for example, if I set my camera shutter to 15 sec. and the interval to 15 seconds it will take 1 picture, then the camera will not trigger the next shot until 15 seconds later because it was not finished with the first picture due to write time. So basically you are getting photos 15 seconds apart which would leave you with dashed star trails. With my camera I usually use a shutter of 15 or 20 seconds so my interval would be 16 or 21 seconds... If I do 30 second or longer exposures it needs more time to write so I have to do 32 second intervals. Do some test with your camera to see what works best.

[@sanket_billade]

@@Milkywaymike yep🙌

[@joepedit]

@@Milkywaymike Setting my Nikon D600 and D5500 to take a 30 second exposure actually results in a 32 second exposure (i.e., 2^5 seconds, confirmed with a stop watch) which is why the interval needs to be 32 seconds or more. Similarly, setting my Nikon to take a 15 second exposure results in a 16 second exposure, which is why the interval needs to be 16 seconds or more.

[@edycafe]

@@Milkywaymike Very good explanation! I was searching and searching on KZbin and several other places and didn’t find anything as you explained. I'm a beginner photographer and have a Canon 90D. I have never shot a star trail and want to try it. What I didn’t catch is what’s the difference between using the Interval timer and time-lapse? Is the proposal of doing a time-lapse to just create a video? I know after taking shots with the interval timer, I will need to stack the photos. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us beginners.

[@davewrench965]

= 64 minutes at 16 seconds x 240

[@folarinalakija7459]

I've noticed you never shoot wide open. Why is that ?

[@Milkywaymike]

Folarin Alakija to bring back some sharpness throughout the whole image (not just the center). And to reduce some coma on the stars.

[@folarinalakija7459]

@@Milkywaymike thanks man. Baffles the mind why you read so many astro reviews pushing for F1.4

[@Milkywaymike]

Folarin Alakija I would always invest in a 300 dollar star tracker over a 1000 dollar 1.4 lens.

[@folarinalakija7459]

@@Milkywaymike just ordered the move shoot move tracker. Can't wait to try it out

[@abhitanshusoni]

What is the point of using internal shutter control while u have external external intervalometer. Just put ur camera in bulb mode and take any shutter speed via external intervalometeer

[@Milkywaymike]

The question is, why would you not use the internal intervalometer if it works perfectly fine for your needs?!? I use mine all the time to save space and weight. I have 2 cameras so that would mean 2 external intervalometers and additional batteries. Also if the internal intervalometer does everything you need it to do then you save yourself some cash by not buying an external. Now in my case I do bring an external for one camera that I usually go longer than 30 seconds with so I need it... but for night time lapses and other basic time lapses you don't need an external if your camera has one built in.