topic No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

Bazsl — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 21:34:03 GMT

It appears that I can not use the time lapse feature of my 5DsR in conjunction with the Bulb timer feature. This means that I cannot take time lapse exposures with an exposure time > 30 seconds without using an external controller. Is this correct or am I missing something? Thanks.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

Waddizzle — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 11:03:28 GMT

The following is from the promotional literature ....

Built-In Intervalometer and Bulb Timer

The EOS 5DS R offers time-lapse fixed-point shooting and long exposures without the need for a remote control. The interval timer takes from 1 to 99 shots at pre-selected intervals (from 1 second to 99 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds, or unlimited), ideal for shooting flowers as they bloom or clouds drifting through the sky. Captured exposures can even be collected and saved as an HD movie. Its built-in bulb timer keeps the shutter open for a designated amount of time, perfect for night photography, to capture the flow of traffic on a street corner, or any other situation where long exposure photography is warranted.

...which amost sounds like the camera is capable of doing what you wish, but only in Bulb mode. According to the specifications, the available shutter speeds range from 1/8000 to 30 sec. There is no specification listed for the range of settings that are available to use with the "built-in bulb timer", though.

Just to be clear, you need to separately set an exposure time in the Bulb mode, and an interval time between exposures.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

Bazsl — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 20:32:59 GMT

If my camera is in Bulb mode the intervalometer is disabled in the menu and if the camera is not in Bulb mode the Bulb timer is disabled in the menu. I did not realize the intervalometer is limited to 99 photos. If so, it is almost useless. Time lapse sequences in excess of 500 images are common for night sky scenes.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

kvbarkley — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 21:21:16 GMT

A time lapse in bulb mode does not make much sense. Bulb has a manual exposure time that you control. For a time lapse, how would the camera know how long to make the exposure?

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

Bazsl — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 21:27:43 GMT

I want a one minute exposure every two minutes for four hours. I can easily do that with my cheap remote from China but it seems to be beyond Canon's ability to implement the same capability.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

TTMartin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 12:33:07 GMT

@Bazsl wrote:
I want a one minute exposure every two minutes for four hours. I can easily do that with my cheap remote from China but it seems to be beyond Canon's ability to implement the same capability.

No it is not beyond Canon's capabilities. It is just Canon doesn't and shouldn't design a camera for every possible scenario that one out of tens of thousands of their users might want to do. You already know one work around.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

Bazsl — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:50:27 GMT

Canon's design is better than I realized. If you set the number of exposures to 00 the camera will keep shooting until it is turned off or the battery fails. So the only limitation is the 30 second exposure length and that is very minor.

Re: No time lapse exposure > 30 seconds on 5DsR?

kvbarkley — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 14:47:54 GMT

You might dive into the menus and custom functions, the specs say:

"1/8000 to 30 sec., bulb (Total shutter speed range. Available range varies by shooting mode.)
* Shutter speed's control range can be set with a Custom Function. "