IISAC Timelapse - Third Night Lucky

Phil Hart · #1 21-10-2010, 10:29 PM

After a few travels and travails since IISAC, here finally is what i managed to scrape out of the event by way of timelapse:

Smugmug: IISAC Timelapse - Third Night Lucky

Hint for new starters: when you're setting up a short tripod in long grass, look out for blades of grass in the field of view. It's better to clear it out of the way before you get back home and find it in your images

After IISAC, we spent a few nights with family south of Mudgee. Tried two nights in a row but these sequences are really more about weather and cloud than they are about astronomy! The clouds are interesting, but would have been nice to have caught more of the milky way setting in the west:

http://philhart.smugmug.com/Astronom...179_8JHQL-A-LB

For Houghy's benefit.. the panning head for my timelapse gear is just a BinTel (Chinese) SkyView Alt Az mount (minus the altitude arm at the moment) with an old stepper motor and controller from my original tracking platform bolted onto the worm gear to drive it round slowly in azimuth.

Phil

Grahame (Grahame) · #2 21-10-2010, 10:49 PM

Excellent work there Phil! Very calming to watch and extremely well framed.

Grahame.

h0ughy (David) · #3 21-10-2010, 11:07 PM

nice work Phil - very inspirational. I am toying with the idea of using the Astrotrac and tak teegull sky mount or the second astrotrac i have to get a two way pan motion? I will experiment and see how it will work

strongmanmike (Michael) · #4 21-10-2010, 11:16 PM

I really like the SCP behind the tree complete with waving grass blades

It looks a bit sharper than the other one..?

Mike

RobF (Rob) · #5 21-10-2010, 11:25 PM

Wow - really inspirational stuff Phil. I wondered how you had done the smooth panning - fantastic. My fav is the old gate with the sky and clouds above, although they're all amazing really!

Thanks for showing.

Octane (Humayun) · #6 22-10-2010, 12:45 AM

Just beautiful. Loved both of them.

That poor shutter.

H

alexch (Alex) · #7 22-10-2010, 02:24 AM

Beautiful work, Phil!

Bassnut (Fred) · #8 22-10-2010, 02:38 AM

Excellent Phil, smooth and dynamic.

Doomsayer · #9 22-10-2010, 08:55 AM

Well done Phil!
Thanks again for your IISAC presentation on your workflow for these timelapses.

guy

deanm (Dean) · #10 22-10-2010, 09:53 AM

Absolutely stunning!

Could you provide some technical specs on how you achieve these (lens used, exposure settings etc.) for us open-mouthed newbies?!

Cheers!

Dean

RobF (Rob) · #11 22-10-2010, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

Just beautiful. Loved both of them.

That poor shutter.

H

Yes - would be interesting to hear how many shutter actuations you run up in a few sessions like this Phil....?

h0ughy (David) · #12 22-10-2010, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobF

Yes - would be interesting to hear how many shutter actuations you run up in a few sessions like this Phil....?

for the sequences of time lapse images i took this year at qld astrofest over the 5 nights i took 3200 images - which was from sunset to astronomical twighlight on a few occasions. it adds up and i would say Phil would be close to that number for a few sessions

Phil Hart · #13 22-10-2010, 12:44 PM

yeah.. with the fast lens i typically run 3000+ images in one night, but i don't do it all that often.

once my first shutter assembly fails i'll start worrying about it, until then i figure it's better to use your gear rather than have it sit on a shelf cause you're too precious about it. shutter replacement costs a bit but can be repaired for a lot less than a new camera.

i have a suspicion (unproven) that timelapse with very slow shutter speeds is not as harsh as say continuous sports shooting at 1/2000 sec. as i say.. will start worrying about it when the first one goes.. till then blissful ignorance!

mswhin63 (Malcolm) · #14 22-10-2010, 12:45 PM

Beatiful and great detail love it

Phil Hart · #15 22-10-2010, 01:05 PM

there's a fair bit of chat about shutter counts on the web.. this site suggests average of 500,000 out of 5DmkII (with a lot of variability). that's a lot of timelapse! cropped sensor cameras have lower shutter ratings but are also cheaper to repair. i'm still not worried about it

iceman (Mike) · #16 22-10-2010, 01:07 PM

That's a beauty, Phil. I was looking forward to seeing yours. Top shelf!

I was hoping to see a glimpse of you in your timelapse - running to get your camera out of the rain on Sunday morning

iceman (Mike) · #17 22-10-2010, 01:08 PM

Oh also I think I walked past your camera a few times on the Saturday night. It was only a little bit tempting to kick the tripod

Phil Hart · #18 22-10-2010, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deanm

Absolutely stunning!

Could you provide some technical specs on how you achieve these (lens used, exposure settings etc.) for us open-mouthed newbies?!

Cheers!

Dean

Shot with Canon 5DmkII at ISO3200, continuous shooting.

24mm f1.4 with 8 sec exposures
14mm f2.8 with 30 sec exposures

Some sequences pre-processed with Lightroom, but mostly composed in Sony Vegas and some file conversion with (free) StreamClip.

Phil

Phil Hart · #19 22-10-2010, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman

Oh also I think I walked past your camera a few times on the Saturday night. It was only a little bit tempting to kick the tripod

aye, but the evidence would have been on camera

honestly though, there are a lot of hobbies where you wouldn't leave a few grand of equipment lying around for 12 hours. have never worried about it at star parties which says a lot about the people in this hobby.

i have some cheap rain guards which leave the front of the lens clear but cover everything else very well. should have had those on but didn't think rain was likely (Fred predicted it though). the 5DmkII would take a bit of rain ok i think but my stepper motor controller is not so robust!

Octane (Humayun) · #20 22-10-2010, 01:32 PM

Phil, you're absolutely right -- the equipment is designed and supposed to be used. I just feel sorry for the shutter, that's all. : P

Also, the 5D Mark II can handle a bit of water. I've taken mine out under several waterfalls where I've gotten drenched, the camera has got wet, and it has been fine. Yes, it's not weather-sealed to the extent of a 1Ds/1D body, but, it's served me well thus far.

Cheers.

H