7DII intervalometer

[Stormchase]

I have a question. I use the in camera function now and then. I set it to infinity with a 10 second gap at either 20 25 or 30 second exposures. Night timelapse.
Well it seems that around 250 exposures its shutting the camera down. At first I thought it was that battery but this last time I checked the battery just before it happened. Then I turned the camera off and back on and still had a couple bars. Plenty of storage room as well.
Anyone know what could cause this?
I read somewhere that you have to have an interval equal or greater then your exposure. That's a no go...
Any help would be great.
Thanks in advance.

 

[TCampbell]

If the card has lots of space and the camera has lots of battery then I'm stumped... did you maybe check the sleep timer?

When I do astrophotography my camera is connected to an AC power supply (not battery power). But if it sat idle for a few minutes while I'm working on other things in the observatory, the camera would go to sleep. I'd return to the computer that controls the camera and find the camera wouldn't respond only to realize the camera had gone to sleep. I finally switched it to a mode where it can't sleep (problem solved). But I think it was only ever an issue if the camera was actually idle. If it was taking shots continuously I do not every recall it having a problem.

Have you done a "low level" format of the card (always format the card in the camera... never format the card using the computer)? I might imagine that if the camera hits a problem writing a file to the card then that might cancel the interval timer.

As for the interval gap being equal to or greater than the exposure... that's not needed. If I use an EXTERNAL control (external wired shutter release or computer) then at the end of the exposure, I have to give enough time for the file to save to the card before starting the next exposure (but even a slow card can typically save the file in a second or two... so if I set the interval delay to "0" it will miss the exposure... but if I took a 30 seconds shot and set the interval delay to say... just 2 or 3 seconds... it's fine and it starts the next shot.

However you can also put the camera in "continuous" shooting mode (as if taking rapid burst photography for action shots) and use a remote shutter release to lock the shutter button down (remote releases usually have a lock mechanism) and the second the camera ends one shot it will start the next ... and the previous shot will save to the memory card while the camera is capturing the next shot. This is a better technique if you're trying to capture star trails because when you merge the images (e.g. using StarStaX software) you wont have gaps in the star trails caused by the pauses between photos.

 

[Stormchase]

Huh now that's a good idea with continuous shooting for timelapse and i think ill try that. starstax has a gap fill option that works OK but good idea especially for trails. I'm sure the quality will better.
yeah i format in camera.
ac power is the way to go but i always find myself walking a bit to find a composition. I have an inverter built in the bed of the truck but it always seems that Im too far even for extension cords. Most times i shoot over 300 frames I need to run over and change the battery fast enough to not be noticeable in the video. its a 50/50 chance haha.
Went through the settings and saw the "auto off" was set to 1 minute. With a 10 second interval it shouldn't effect it without another glitch happening. I changed it to "Disable" anyways. Might fix it. Although I do ;like the continuous method. I haven't changed much since I first learned about it years back. It was the recommended setting from then.

 

[table1349]

Huh now that's a good idea with continuous shooting for timelapse and i think ill try that. starstax has a gap fill option that works OK but good idea especially for trails. I'm sure the quality will better.
yeah i format in camera.
ac power is the way to go but i always find myself walking a bit to find a composition. I have an inverter built in the bed of the truck but it always seems that Im too far even for extension cords. Most times i shoot over 300 frames I need to run over and change the battery fast enough to not be noticeable in the video. its a 50/50 chance haha.
Went through the settings and saw the "auto off" was set to 1 minute. With a 10 second interval it shouldn't effect it without another glitch happening. I changed it to "Disable" anyways. Might fix it. Although I do ;like the continuous method. I haven't changed much since I first learned about it years back. It was the recommended setting from then.

FYI. The do make extra batteries for your camera so you could just swap them real quick.
Canon LP-E6N Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 1865mAh) 9486B002

 

[Destin]

Is it finally just reaching a point where the buffer is overloaded?

 

[TCampbell]

Is it finally just reaching a point where the buffer is overloaded?

Some "older" DSLRs wont start writing to the card until you release the shutter button. So it's possible to fill the buffer.

The 7D II, being a newer and more modern camera (and frankly cameras have been doing this for years... you'd really have to go back quite a few years to find a model that had the issue) can write the last image to the card *while* taking the next image. You'd never need to worry about the buffer filling up when the exposures are at 30 second intervals (that's really only an issue when bursting photos continuously at several frames per second and even then it simply causes the frame rate to slow down -- not stop completely).

 

[Destin]

Is it finally just reaching a point where the buffer is overloaded?

Some "older" DSLRs wont start writing to the card until you release the shutter button. So it's possible to fill the buffer.

The 7D II, being a newer and more modern camera (and frankly cameras have been doing this for years... you'd really have to go back quite a few years to find a model that had the issue) can write the last image to the card *while* taking the next image. You'd never need to worry about the buffer filling up when the exposures are at 30 second intervals (that's really only an issue when bursting photos continuously at several frames per second and even then it simply causes the frame rate to slow down -- not stop completely).

I'm not familiar with Canon in general. But I can tell you from experience that my Nikon D7100 (not that old of a camera), if used in a similar time lapse, would eventually reach a point where the buffer would slow the camera to a halt. *Especially* if long exposure noise reduction were turned on, and you were shooting uncompressed raw files.

Even with a modern camera's abilities, if you don't have a fast enough memory card you could easily still run into this problem. Once my D7100's buffer is full, it can take 15-20 seconds to clear and that's with a UHS II SD card.

I'm not saying this is what's happening, but you can't write it off just because it's a modern camera. There are settings that could compound together to cause this to happen.

 

[ClickAddict]

With the issue of having to run and change the batteries, you might want to consider getting the grip for it. It allows you to put 2 batteries in it, so would extend your shooting time a fair amount.