Nizo 801 Time Lapse Shutter Speeds

[Gentry]

:?: Hi my name is Warren Gentry and I just purchased a Nizo 801 macro mainly to do time lapse. I've searched around and found some answers to my questions but not all. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment. Here are the questions.

Starting from the right side on the timer dial the speed seems to be 6fps. Using the normal 150 degree shutter opening I calulated that exposure would be 1/14th of asec. Is that correct?

Would the remainder timer settings be 1/43rd sec. exposure since they are 1 fps or less and the other speed knob is set to 18fps?

If I pulled the lever back to lock the shutter open all the time would the exposure at 6FPS be 1/10 and at 1 FPS be 1sec. and at 1fr every 6 secs the exposure would be 6 secs. etc.

Thanks for the answers or suggestions.

[Steve P.]

Hello.

This feature is described in the user manual, which can be downloaded from this site, for free. Click on the link “MANUALS”, at the top of this webpage.

Good luck.

[Gentry]

Thanks Steve,

I did download the manual and have read that part of it, I am just trying to verify that my understanding of it is correct and that my math is right also.

Thanks,
Warren G

[matt5791]

Starting from the right side on the timer dial the speed seems to be 6fps. Using the normal 150 degree shutter opening I calulated that exposure would be 1/14th of asec. Is that correct?

Someone may correct me if I'm wrong, but this is NOT the case!

The Nizo has, in your case, three shutter speeds only:

18fps: 1/43 second
25fps: 1/57 second
54fps: 1/129 second

When you are using single frame, or the timer, the speed of the shutter is determined by the fps knob. Thus if you set the timer to 6fps and the fps knob is set to 25 fps, the shutter speed will be 1/57 second. Likewise if it is on 18 fps or 54 fps the shutter speed will be 1/43 or 1/129 respectively.

Test it with no film. Set the camera to any of the timer or single frame setting and press the trigger. You will be able to hear a difference in the sound of the shutter depending on whether the camera is set to 18, 25 or 54 fps.

Matt

[Gentry]

Thanks Matt,

Did the test and did hear the difference.

Warren Gentry

[Steve P.]

Matt, I agree that the “sound” of the transport cycle is different in single frame mode depending on whether you have the camera set for 18 or 24/25 or 54 fps, but I don’t see that sound difference necessarily means the curtain is closed for a different duration. Maybe. I don’t know.

Warren, with the lever pulled back and the shutter locked open, the shutter only closes between frames -- when the camera advances a new, unexposed frame in and the old, exposed one out. The shutter is otherwise open. If you set the camera to 6 fps in this case, the exposure duration would be about 10 seconds per frame. If you set the camera to 1 frame per minute, the exposure duration would be 1 minute. The only time the shutter is closed is during the transition of film frames. It’s why the auto.B function is so versatile/useful: the camera is able to make up for low-light by choosing its own exposure duration.

[Steve P.]

I’m sorry: In my example, of course, there is a typo. At 6 frames per minute, again, PER MINUTE, the exposure duration is about ten seconds per frame. I typed 6 “fps”.

At 6 FPS, the manual lists an exposure duration of one-eighth of a second.

The feature is described on the fourteenth or fifteenth page of the brochure in this site’s archive: “Increased exposure times”.

[matt5791]

Matt, I agree that the “sound” of the transport cycle is different in single frame mode depending on whether you have the camera set for 18 or 24/25 or 54 fps, but I don’t see that sound difference necessarily means the curtain is closed for a different duration. Maybe. I don’t know.

Sorry, what I meant was the different sound of the shutter indicates that there isa difference per se. What I am not saying is that a slower or faster shutter speed can always be determined by the sound of the shutter.

However with the case of the nizo 801, the shutter speed is determined as above, unless, as you say, you use the autom.b. function and set the variable shutter to open.

Matt

[Steve P.]

What you say is logical, and, indeed, that’s the way the Beaulieu 4008 works, for example. In single-frame mode, you have access to different shutter speeds through the fps selector.

But in some other camera I’ve had, and frustratingly cannot remember!, for single frame, you were instructed to select 18 fps: It had multiple running speeds, but only one single-frame shutter speed.

In the German version of the 481/561/801 manual, there is (I think!) the suggestion that the fps selector is defeated. That page is, unfortunately, omitted in the English scan we have. Also:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&l ... com&rnum=4

Seriously, Matt, I don’t conclusively know. But my best guess is that these Nizos have two single-frame shutter speeds: 1/43 and 1/86.

[matt5791]

I really do think that they have three shutter speeds, as I had to work this out conclusively on Saturday before shooting my timelapse with my Nizo Professional. I am pretty certain that the professional is the same as the 801 in this respect.

However the link you have provided seems very conclusive - so I don't know. The manual does not explain either, but there is definitely a change in the sound of the shutter , which would suggest that there are three different shutter speeds, but I just don't know for certain now .

Matt

[Steve P.]

This point scarcely seems worth making, but I really would like to know the answer to this (and have for a long time). I suppose I’ll just make it, FWIW. Maybe I have it wrong!

Two things happen (at least) when the trigger is depressed: 1. The old frame is advanced out, and the new frame advanced in; 2. The curtain opens to expose the old frame, closes to shield process 1 from exposure.

Suppose you disconnected the drive motor/transport mechanism, and listened to the slap of the shutter. Even if that sound changed when you changed fps in single-frame mode, you couldn’t know, conclusively, that the shutter was open for a different (effective) duration for exposure. We’re left guessing about clicks and clacks.

My point is, I don’t think you can “hear the difference". That is, you can certainly hear a difference, but I doubt it is possible to hear enough information to able to conclude there is a difference in shutter speeds.

There is one data point we absolutely do know, though: In single-frame mode, if you set your camera to 18 fps, the shutter speed is 1/43 (1/86 with the adjustment).

FWIW, I think a better experiment would be to single-frame moving objects, and see if you can induce subject blur by reducing fps.