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Old 04-10-2008, 09:47 AM
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cookie8 (Vincent)
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Battery issue for Star Trails

I would like to take some "star trails "at the IISAC under dark sky. I know long exposures of say 20mins each are to be stacked. A total exposure time of several hours will be needed. My question is: how can I know the battery in my Canon 400d can last that long? I don't have any AC adapter.
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Old 04-10-2008, 10:31 AM
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sheeny (Al)
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Hmmm, there's a lot of variables in a question like that...

The life of your battery will depend on things like how new your battery is, the temperature (they don't perform well in the cold), etc.

How many spare batteries do you have, Vincent?

If you have spare batteries, and are concerned about the life of them, then I would suggest taking shorter subs and stacking them. That way, when the battery low warning light comes on, you'll stand a chance of finishing that exposure, and then quickly changing the battery to take the next sub... You might ind a slightly longer gap in the star trail when you change the battery though.

Al.
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Old 04-10-2008, 11:04 AM
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cookie8 (Vincent)
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Al
I have 3 batteries.But changing battery will risk moving the camera and the tripod. If I turn off the LCD would one battery last long enough for say.... 4 hours?
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Old 04-10-2008, 11:08 AM
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RB (Andrew)
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The best thing I can suggest Vincent is to give it a trial run at home with a fully charged battery.

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Old 04-10-2008, 11:21 AM
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A 12VDC adapter would be handy .... does anyone know if anyone is doing one that can be used with a 40D which wont fry the camera's electronics ?
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Old 04-10-2008, 04:42 PM
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sheeny (Al)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cookie8 View Post
Al
I have 3 batteries.But changing battery will risk moving the camera and the tripod. If I turn off the LCD would one battery last long enough for say.... 4 hours?
Fair call. I can change batteries in my E-510 without moving the camera or tripod. Otherwise, I agree with Andrew... do a trial run at home.

Al.
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Old 04-10-2008, 09:43 PM
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I reckon 4 hours will be too much anyway. I have plenty of experience with star trails and around 45min to 1 hour is plenty. Anything over this will just burn the brighter parts of the sky and leave you with a shot lacking in detail in some parts. Anything from 20 to 30 minutes will give you a decent result, but I guess it depends on the effect you are after, and it also depends on the sky quality. Try 4 hours if you like but I think you will experience burnout in some areas and other areas will be fine, 45mins or so, batteries shouldn't be a prob if charged fully, or buy a manual film camera (just for trails) which doesn't need batteries. If you are after the south celestial pole circular effect, then at least 1 hour will work well, for this result, alittle more than an hour will also work good, but 4 hours??, not sure the dynamic range of the camera will handle it.
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Old 05-10-2008, 12:23 AM
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Been doing some surfing to find out .... found this .... there appears to be a 12VDC adapter for the 40D , CB-570 .

https://www.camerasdirect.com.au/ind...ery-cable.html

Looks the go .... anyone using one of these ?
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Old 07-10-2008, 10:27 PM
Ian Robinson
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Finally got the 40D out of the box and been reading the manual , getting used to the menus and getting a handle on what the basic programs do.

Yet to suss out how to manually set the ASA , know I do this up to 3200 in 1/3 step increments , in the advanced settings somewhere.

Happened across an assessories diagram near the back of the manual that indicates the camera can be operated using a DC adapter (DR400)
http://www.canon.com.au/products/slr...rces/1512.html
that is used in place of the battery or battery pack, but it has pecular input cable that plugs an AC-DC adapter (the AC-E2).


Seems the plug is particular to Canon only :
http://www.camerahacker.com/Canon_Ac...0_pinout.shtml.

Is anyone using a DR400 connected pretty much directly to 12VDC adapter ? What 12VDC adapter is it ?
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