Canon 5D Mark IV - Bracketing while using Intervalometer

[Redshift48]

Can you simultaneously use exposure bracketing while using the intervalometer on the Canon 5D Mark IV?  I will be photographing the total solar eclipse next month.  I want to set up interval shots (every 2-3 minutes) and bracket the exposures on each one.

[BostonShooter · Accepted solution]

I don't have any experience shooting a TSE, but I've been practicing in anticipation of this month's eclipse.

Here are a couple of sites that offer great advice:

- Canon Digital Learning has a whole section on the eclipse that's really useful. Here's the specific page on camera settings: http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2017/solar-eclipse/photographic-exposure-solar-eclipse...

But be sure to look at all the pages -- very useful.

- Mr. Eclipse (Fred Espenak) is one of the most widely recognized authorities on solar eclipses. His site, mreclipse.com, is a fount of useful information. Here's a link to his "how to photograph" page: http://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html. It includes a table with specific camera settings. Be sure to read his whole site, though.

Here's what I've been doing ...

- Practicing photographing the sun on my driveway around midday. This really helps with several factors, the most perplexing of which is actually finding the sun in your viewfinder. Once you put the filter on, it's close to impossible to locate the sun. Here's what you need to do:

   - Affix solar filter to your lens

   - Mount camera on your tripod, point it in the general direction of the sun, and tilt it almost straight up (about 80 degrees)

   - Look at the shadow of your camera on the ground. You want to adjust the position of the camera on the tripod so that the shadow of the lens disappears entirely into the shadow of the camera body. That will tell you that the lens is aligned in a straight line between the camera and the sun.

   - At this point, the viewfinder will be pointed straight down, making it tricky to look through it (optical viewfinder) or at it (liveview). This is all exacerbated by the fact that when you do try to look (up) at it, you are staring in the direction of the sun. So you have several options:

      - Method 1: Sit on the ground, and look up through the viewfinder to see if you can find the sun's disk. Or try to find the sun's disk in the LiveView.

         - If you choose this method, you should get a stool or small chair to sit on; it'll be easier

         - Big tip here: take a towel -- bath towel size - and drape it around your camera. Secure it with a clothespin, so you're encased in a curtain surrounding your camera -- like an old-fashioned camera hood. Once you do this, you can reasonably comfortably look up into either the viewfinder or LiveView screen.

         - You will still have to reach your arms up to adjust your ballhead to find the sun disk, but this method works

         - I recommend turning on the 3x3 grid view on the LiveView screen to help you center the disk on the screen

      - Method 2: This one is kind of my favorite, but it does require some getting used to.

         - Download the Canon Camera Connect app to your iPhone

         - Connect your iPhone / Camera Connect to your 5D IV following the WiFi connect menus on the camera (the instructions are reasonably straightforward)

         - Turn on LiveView mode in the Canon Camera Connect app on your phone

         - Place the phone on the ground (in the shadow of the camera) or in the apron of your tripod.

         - You may now look DOWN onto your phone instead of UP into the sun to see what's in the viewfinder. In order for you to see your phone's screen, you have to shield the screen from the sun, hence placing it in a shadow.

         - While looking down at your phone, adjust the position of your camera on the tripod ballhead until the sun disk appears on the phone's LiveView screen. Tighten the ballhead constraints so you can make small movements to get the disk centered in the 3x3 grid.

         - When starting your practice, you'll find it easier to do the alignment with a shorter focal length. The disk will be smaller, but you'll have a better shot at finding it. Once you get better at locating it, you can extend your lens to full length.

         - Your phone may time out a few times while you're adjusting. You can either disable time-out, or you'll have to keep tapping the phone to wake it up.

      - Method 3: Use an angle viewfinder. I have Canon's Angle Finder C. I don't love this method, but I'm getting used to it. I'll probably go with Method 2 on Eclipse Day.

      - Method 4: Connect your phone to your laptop, and choose Remote Shooting in the EOS Utility. This will bring up a LiveView screen on your laptop, which you can use -- much like your iPhone -- to find the sun. Come to think of it, I may use this method on Eclipse Day.

Big Caveat: If you use the Canon Camera Connect app, AFTER you've found the sun, you MUST disable WiFi (and thereby disconnect your phone). The built-in interval timer will not work with either WiFi or LiveView enabled.

Now that you've found the sun, you either have to have your camera mounted on an equatorial mount (which you would have done prior to locating the sun), or continually adjust the placement of your camera as the eclipse progresses. I'm putting my 5D on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount so I don't have to keep repositioning it.

By now, you should already have your solar filters. Apart from the brand you choose, there are a couple of different varieties: white light, and film. The choice of filter will affect the color of the sun disk (either white or yellow/orange). The color is a matter of personal choice.

You should download the Solar Eclipse Timer app from Gordon Telepun. It's truly amazing, and also has a pre-eclipse simulation mode so you can practice prior to Eclipse Day. It will give you actual voice prompts (with countdown timers) telling you when to remove your filters (and glasses), and when to replace them.

I'm setting up C-1 for the partial phases, and C-2 for totality. I'll be doing 7-exposure brackets for totality. In addition to my 5D, I'll have a 1Dx with a 500mm F/4 on a separate mount. I'll have the intervalometer set on the 5D to automatically bracket roughly every 5 seconds (I haven't yet done the math), and I'll be manually squeezing a remote switch on the 1Dx -- essentially a dead-man's switch -- to take advantage of the 14 fps on that camera to get as many brackets as possible during totality.

Right now, I'm hoping to be in the Nashville area, but will be making a go/no-go decision based on weather a couple of days in advance. I'm praying for good weather in Tennessee, because other destinations are a lot less convenient to get to.

[kvbarkley]

Why bracket? You can get exact exposure values ahead of time.

[Redshift48]

Most experienced eclipse photographers recommend bracketing since the exposure is changing frofm first contact to totality. 

[kvbarkley]

I think you will have to buy one and try it. Since it seems to be simply a relay that closes the shutter contact, it should do whatever happens when you press the shutter button.

Here is where a cheap chinese copy might do better than the Canon version.

[Redshift48]

I actually have a TC-80N3 but I have not tried it with the 5D Mk IV yet.

[kvbarkley]

Try and report back, you can add something useful to the internet that google cannot find yet! 8^)

[Redshift48]

Will do - thanks!

[BostonShooter]

Here's how to do it ...

There are three settings that matter:

- Interval timer: I'm planning to shoot a bracket once per minute during the partial phases, so I'm setting the interval at 00:01:00, and the number of shots at 00 (unlimited).

- AEB: during the partial phase, I think I'll go with only three shots per bracket, spaced two stops apart.

- Self-Timer: this is the key. Instead of setting the drive to, say, high-speed continuous, you must set drive mode to 2-second self-timer.

I'm saving all my partial settings in C-1 (total eclipse settings are going into C-2).

The self-timer acts as an automatic trigger to start the bracket sequence. You will hear the self-timer warning beeps for two seconds, then the bracket will fire. This process will repeat every [interval].

Good luck. And good weather on Eclipse Day.

[Redshift48]

Thanks.  I will try that.  I have had limited success using a cheap knock-off remote interval timer but it sometimes doesn't work right.  I will try your suggestion and report back.

[Redshift48]

BostonShooter,

Thank you very much.  I tried using the 2 sec self-timer and was able to take all 7 bracketed shots at each interval trigger.  That did the trick.  I am also using the Custom settings.  If you are experienced in this sort of thing (eclipses), would you mind sharing your exposure settings for the Custom modes (C1, C2, C3)?  I plan to use all three Custom modes with one being for pre and post totality (Contact 1 to Contact 2 and Contact 3 to Contact 4), one being for totality, including Bailey's Beads and Diamond Ring (Contact 2 to Contact 3), and one being for the corona (Contact 2 to Contact 3).  I would be very interested in what you would recommend for apeture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, etc.  Thanks again!