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Intervalometer for Panasonic G7?

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pixelationX

pixelationX

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Last edited:
pixelationX said:
Is there any way to to have longer exposures than 60 seconds? The app wants me to keep it on and manually press shutter in bulb mode. I tried looking for a remote with intervelometer but couldnt find anything....do you guys know if such a thing exists?
Click to expand...
What is your problem ? Do you want to take multiple long exposure photos at regular intervals or do you want to take one long exposure with a time that exceeds what the camera offers ?

see the advanced features manual on page 98 "About Bulb".

If you want to take multiple photos automatically then you will have to look for an external device because the maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds using the internal function.

if you want take one photo then the following applies:

"If you set the shutter speed to , the shutter stays open while the shutter button is pressed fully (up to approximately 120 seconds). The shutter closes if you release the shutter button. Use this when you want to keep the shutter open for a long time to take pictures of fireworks, a night scene etc."

and

"• This function is not available when using the electronic shutter."
"• It can only be used with Manual Exposure Mode."

"• We recommend using a tripod or the shutter remote control (DMW-RSL1: optional) when you take pictures with the shutter speed set to . Refer to P363 for information about the shutter remote control."

What the manual does explain is that there are two remote control versions: DMW-RS1 and DMW-RSL1. In your case the RSL1 could be of interest because the L stands for Lock, meaning you can lock the shutter button on the remote.

There are several remotes with intervalometer, just search for miops , jjc and hama .
 
ernstbk said:
pixelationX said:
Is there any way to to have longer exposures than 60 seconds? The app wants me to keep it on and manually press shutter in bulb mode. I tried looking for a remote with intervelometer but couldnt find anything....do you guys know if such a thing exists?
Click to expand...
What is your problem ? Do you want to take multiple long exposure photos at regular intervals or do you want to take one long exposure with a time that exceeds what the camera offers ?

see the advanced features manual on page 98 "About Bulb".

If you want to take multiple photos automatically then you will have to look for an external device because the maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds using the internal function.

if you want take one photo then the following applies:

"If you set the shutter speed to , the shutter stays open while the shutter button is pressed fully (up to approximately 120 seconds). The shutter closes if you release the shutter button. Use this when you want to keep the shutter open for a long time to take pictures of fireworks, a night scene etc."

and

"• This function is not available when using the electronic shutter."
"• It can only be used with Manual Exposure Mode."

"• We recommend using a tripod or the shutter remote control (DMW-RSL1: optional) when you take pictures with the shutter speed set to . Refer to P363 for information about the shutter remote control."

What the manual does explain is that there are two remote control versions: DMW-RS1 and DMW-RSL1. In your case the RSL1 could be of interest because the L stands for Lock, meaning you can lock the shutter button on the remote.

There are several remotes with intervalometer, just search for miops , jjc and hama .
Click to expand...

I want to use it with my telescope and astrophotography requires multiple long exposure shots from 1 min to 10 mins or more per shot. I was trying to find an external device but couldnt find any except this one http://www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/...ltiFunction_Timer_remote_control__JJC-TMDPS-D

and thats not even from Panasonic.

Since the bulb mode closes the shutter at 120 seconds automatically does that mean even the external device would be useless for my purpose?
 
pixelationX said:
ernstbk said:
...

If you want to take multiple photos automatically then you will have to look for an external device because the maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds using the internal function.

if you want take one photo then the following applies:

"If you set the shutter speed to , the shutter stays open while the shutter button is pressed fully (up to approximately 120 seconds). The shutter closes if you release the shutter button. Use this when you want to keep the shutter open for a long time to take pictures of fireworks, a night scene etc."

...

There are several remotes with intervalometer, just search for miops , jjc and hama .
Click to expand...

I want to use it with my telescope and astrophotography requires multiple long exposure shots from 1 min to 10 mins or more per shot. I was trying to find an external device but couldnt find any except this one http://www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/...ltiFunction_Timer_remote_control__JJC-TMDPS-D

and thats not even from Panasonic.
Click to expand...

That should work, too.
pixelationX said:
Since the bulb mode closes the shutter at 120 seconds automatically does that mean even the external device would be useless for my purpose?
Click to expand...
One of the limits I don't like with my GX7 (like your G7) is the 120 sec max exposure time. :-( To get "longer" exposures, we would need to take multiple photos and stack them PP. To do this, get an intervalometer compatible with panasonic, set the camera to B mode, the intervalometer to press the shutter button for 115-120 seconds, and the interval to 120-125 seconds. (There is a 1-4 seconds delay between photos, thus the differences). Not exactly what you want, but closest we can get with these specific cameras.

Edit: the other way to this without an intervalometer is to set the camera to 60 sec exposure, high burst mode, and hold down the shutter (best with a remote release, but a rubberband will work, too). Still need to stack, and about twice as many photos as above...
 
Last edited:
uRebel Rob said:
pixelationX said:
ernstbk said:
...

If you want to take multiple photos automatically then you will have to look for an external device because the maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds using the internal function.

if you want take one photo then the following applies:

"If you set the shutter speed to , the shutter stays open while the shutter button is pressed fully (up to approximately 120 seconds). The shutter closes if you release the shutter button. Use this when you want to keep the shutter open for a long time to take pictures of fireworks, a night scene etc."

...

There are several remotes with intervalometer, just search for miops , jjc and hama .
Click to expand...

I want to use it with my telescope and astrophotography requires multiple long exposure shots from 1 min to 10 mins or more per shot. I was trying to find an external device but couldnt find any except this one http://www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/...ltiFunction_Timer_remote_control__JJC-TMDPS-D

and thats not even from Panasonic.
Click to expand...

That should work, too.
uRebel Rob said:
Since the bulb mode closes the shutter at 120 seconds automatically does that mean even the external device would be useless for my purpose?
Click to expand...
One of the limits I don't like with my GX7 (like your G7) is the 120 sec max exposure time. :-( To get "longer" exposures, we would need to take multiple photos and stack them PP. To do this, get an intervalometer compatible with panasonic, set the camera to B mode, the intervalometer to press the shutter button for 115-120 seconds, and the interval to 120-125 seconds. (There is a 1-4 seconds delay between photos, thus the differences). Not exactly what you want, but closest we can get with these specific cameras.

Edit: the other way to this without an intervalometer is to set the camera to 60 sec exposure, high burst mode, and hold down the shutter (best with a remote release, but a rubberband will work, too). Still need to stack, and about twice as many photos as above...
Click to expand...

Ok thanks...that means there is no point in investing in that external device...will try with 2 min exposures.

Do you know if GX8 does more than 120 seconds?
 
I understand why 2 minute or even 10 minute exposures means less stacking of telescope images. Unless I miss my guess this is a rare enough use of the camera that you'd have to have everyone who might benefit write to Panasonic. 10 minute exposures would probably overheat the sensor and drain a large percentage of the battery, in their current cameras.
 
uRebel Rob said:
pixelationX said:
Do you know if GX8 does more than 120 seconds?
Click to expand...
Yes, the GX8 and GH4 allow up to 30 minutes in bulb mode. (As do most oly cameras)
Click to expand...
According to the manual for advances features (GH4 and GH3)

If you set the shutter speed to , the shutter stays open while the shutter button is pressed fully (up to approximately 60 minutes).

But be aware of the note on the bottom of the page:

When you take pictures with the shutter speed set to , noise may become visible. To avoid picture noise, we recommend setting [Long Shtr NR] in the [Rec] menu to [ON] before taking pictures.

With [Long Shtr NR] two photos with equal exposure time are taken meaning a 30 minute long exposure will have another 30+ minutes processing before you can take the next photo.
 
pixelationX said:
Is there any way to to have longer exposures than 60 seconds?
Click to expand...
You may want to check out this thread of mine:

Loading…

www.dpreview.com

(just ignore the reply from Fri13 - probably erroneous info)

If you need to take long exposures (and especially not use dark frame subtraction), the GH3 might currently be the best MFT camera out there bar none for this purpose. Least long exposure noise and the best battery life by far.

However as others have mentioned, you still might be better off with taking multiple shots and stacking - you'll get noise problems even with the GH3 if you start going into REALLY long exposures.

 
Big Ga said:
If you need to take long exposures (and especially not use dark frame subtraction), the GH3 might currently be the best MFT camera out there bar none for this purpose. Least long exposure noise and the best battery life by far.

However as others have mentioned, you still might be better off with taking multiple shots and stacking - you'll get noise problems even with the GH3 if you start going into REALLY long exposures.
Click to expand...
I agree with that last statement about noise problems. I expect that this will be case with any digital camera under long exposure conditions. Just the amount of noise will vary.

I did an experiment with my GH3, used a bodycap and took two photos with 60 second exposure, one photo with dark frame subtraction (Long Shtr NR=ON) and one without. The interesting part is that the difference in noise can be seen in the OOC JPEG file size: 397KB with dark frame subtraction, 1302KB without dark frame subtraction. Jokingly, this gives the impression that there is about 900KB of noise in the photo.

Here are the photos, use 100% view for best result ;-)

GH3 Bodycap 60sec @ ISO 200, Long Shtr NR=Off, file size 1302KB
GH3 Bodycap 60sec @ ISO 200, Long Shtr NR=Off, file size 1302KB

GH3 Bodycap 60sec @ ISO 200, Long Shtr NR=On, file size 397KB
GH3 Bodycap 60sec @ ISO 200, Long Shtr NR=On, file size 397KB

The first photo does not look that noisy with OOC JPEG but I can remember that the difference was significantly when I looked at RAW images some time ago. The camera settings for JPEG are all at default. Also these are 60 second exposures, not 60 minutes, these must be worse.

EDIT: There must be something wrong with the way DPR extracts the Exif data. DPR shows exposure time 30 seconds instead of 60 seconds. The following is extracted from the second photo:

exiftool -exposure* -lens* -iso s:\P3700367.JPG
Exposure Time : 60
Exposure Program : Manual
Exposure Compensation : 0
Exposure Mode : Manual
Lens Type : NO-LENS
Lens Serial Number : 0000000
Lens Firmware Version : 0.0.0.0
ISO : 200
 
Last edited:
ernstbk said:
Big Ga said:
If you need to take long exposures (and especially not use dark frame subtraction), the GH3 might currently be the best MFT camera out there bar none for this purpose. Least long exposure noise and the best battery life by far.

However as others have mentioned, you still might be better off with taking multiple shots and stacking - you'll get noise problems even with the GH3 if you start going into REALLY long exposures.
Click to expand...
I agree with that last statement about noise problems. I expect that this will be case with any digital camera under long exposure conditions. Just the amount of noise will vary.

I did an experiment with my GH3,....
Click to expand...
I've also recently been experimenting with real life scene 60 second exposures with a GH3 and DFS turned off. I've been a bit shocked as to how usable the files are. Not what I was expecting. I will be doing some more tests shortly with other cameras to see what the difference is, but I know from experience than not using DFS in the past (with older cameras) was a big no-no!
 
I had to try this, a 12 minute bodycap exposure with and without dark frame subtraction using the GH3. I can now confirm that DFS also works with longer exposures after waiting another 12 minutes watching a black LCD.

exiftool -T -filename -filesize -exposure* -lens* -iso s:\P3700368.JPG s:\P3700369.JPG
P3700368.JPG 751 kB 719 Manual 0 Manual NO-LENS 0000000 0.0.0.0 200
P3700369.JPG 5.8 MB 719 Manual 0 Manual NO-LENS 0000000 0.0.0.0 200

It looks that a 12 minute exposure generates about 5MB noise ;-)

GH3 719sec exposure @ 200 ISO with Long Shtr NR=On 751Kb
GH3 719sec exposure @ 200 ISO with Long Shtr NR=On 751Kb

GH3 719sec exposure @ 200 ISO with Long Shtr NR=Off 5945Kb
GH3 719sec exposure @ 200 ISO with Long Shtr NR=Off 5945Kb
 
pixelationX said:
Is there any way to to have longer exposures than 60 seconds? The app wants me to keep it on and manually press shutter in bulb mode. I tried looking for a remote with intervalometer but couldnt find anything....do you guys know if such a thing exists?
Click to expand...
 
alcelc said:
pixelationX said:
Is there any way to to have longer exposures than 60 seconds? The app wants me to keep it on and manually press shutter in bulb mode. I tried looking for a remote with intervalometer but couldnt find anything....do you guys know if such a thing exists?

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Click to expand...
Time Lapse is an in-camera feature of G7 (P.204 of Manual) allowing you to config shooting from 1~9999 shots for an interval between 1sec ~ 99 Min 59 sec.... Unfortunately there is a slowest shutter speed limit at 60"...

Just for the feature, you don't need any extra device.
Click to expand...
Maybe. Maybe not.

Here is an experiment I'd like some other people to try (especially with a GH3 !!)

Try and set up the camera using the in built intervalometer, so it will take consecutive shots, one after the other, with no significant gap in-between (ideally zero, but I'd accept <3 sec to take into account the SD card write), with the shutter speed set to >20 sec - ideally 60sec.

I.E. the camera is in manual, 60 sec exposure. You start the intervalometer. It takes a 60 sec shot, writes the shot to the card, then almost immediately it starts another 60 sec exposure (DFS obviously needs to be 'off'), and on and on.

Can you get it to work? And if so what camera are you trying it on?
 
Thanks for your replies guys, ok what I understand is if I take a 10 mins shot at ISO800 will yeild the same results as taking 10X60seconds shots at ISO800? just talking about the details I could capture with multiple shots? Obviously multiple shots will have lower noise but I am talking about the data that could be captured.

One example could be the horsehead nebula, its very faint, I tried to capture it with a 120 seconds exposure at ISO6400 and got nothing. So if I had taken lets say 30 shots of 60 seconds each then I would have captured more detail?
 
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