"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.com...
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 14:25:23 GMT, GBH wrote:

It takes 7 seconds from shutter close to shutter ready again. Once
the shutter release is pressed it runs down the 8 seconds and cannot
be aborted.

Can you abort the 7 second recycle so you can have the shutter open
for longer than 50% of the time.

I'll try this out the next time we get any sferics worth shooting.

I'd have a play before hand so you know how to set the camera up and
the best settings for the iris so you don't get seriously over exposed
frames. Note lighting photgraphs only really work when light levels
are really low like dusk and at night.

Its probably asking too much of the camera....

But worth a try, getting just one decent shot of a lighting bolt is
very rewarding.

Dave
I have been experimenting most of the afternoon ... setting an 8 second
exposure at f8 seems the best compromise between exposure time and exposure
level - so agree with your comment about dusk and night shots being the best
time. I can reduce the recycle time by reducing image quality and/or size -
taking it down to 640/480 gives a 5 second recycle. I cannot abort the cycle
once the shutter release has been pressed, so the timings are .. shutter
open ... 8 seconds ... shutter closes ... frame is copied to SD 8
seconds.....camera ready. So thats an 8 second exposure every 16 seconds. So
now I just need to wait for the next storm. Unfortunately all the current
action seems to be well north of Chigwell at the moment.

Dave I appreciate your time/comments in all this faffing around, much
appreciated!
Geoff