Unleashed does not trigger timelapse in bulb mode [solved with FW C3.3.1]

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pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 1st, 2024, 9:31 pm

Hello,

I have encountered a new problem. My Unleashed now works perfectly in photo mode, including for long exposures. And it appears to work perfectly in Timelapse mode with short exposures (<BULB).

But in bulb, the app does not appear to trigger a sequence of pictures when in timelapse mode. My use case is the camera on a star tracker, using the unleashed like an intervalometer. Let's say that I want to take 3 exposures of 1 minute and 4 seconds each. I have no problem taking one such exposure in photo mode.

But I want to trigger the whole sequence of three exposures. So I go to Timelapse mode. I pick an interval of 1:06 and choose 3 shots. Time registers at 3:00m, which seems close enough (why isn't it 3:12 or 3:18?) Nothing is red, so the app appears to understand these settings are valid. I then press to shutter release on the app. The countdown starts on the app. But nothing happens in the camera.

Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?
I include a screenshot of the app, via dropbox link.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/k48egdt6 ... dfsnv&dl=0

On top of that, when things have ended (3 minutes+ later) and I go back to photo mode, the app believes the camera is still shooting (even though in timelapse mode it appears to know it's over). My only option to try to regain control of the app is to force stop it and restart. Frustrating!

I would appreciate some help...

Regards,

Pierre
pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 1st, 2024, 9:41 pm

I should have added: Sony A7IV, Android version of the app (3.1.0, the latest I believe), firmware up to date (A 3.2.1 B 3.2.1 C 3.1.0).
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

February 2nd, 2024, 1:45 am

Hmm, that's odd! Thanks for the report, we'll check out what's wrong there!
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 11th, 2024, 1:03 pm

Hi Oliver, the above is still relevant as an issue. But I went out shooting last night and I discovered that even in photo mode, with long exposures, the app does not really understand when it is done shooting. It will trigger the first exposure, stop when it's supposed to, but when I try to take a second shot, the app tells me the camera is still shooting. The only solution is to (1) force quit the app, and (2) reboot the unleashed. Not ideal!

This seems to be only in BULB mode, with long (but not unreasonably long) exposures, like 1 minute.

Hope you can help, I so much want it to work but so far it's been frustrating.

Pierre
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

February 12th, 2024, 12:21 pm

This is really odd, as we cannot reproduce the issue, even with the exact same camera!. Could you check if you have Long Exposure noise reduction enabled in your camera? that would block the camera for another 1 minute after the shutter has closed again, and might cause all sorts of issues if the Unleashed tries to trigger a second shot.
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 12th, 2024, 1:10 pm

Hi Oliver, I am almost positive it is not the case, but will check tonight to make sure. I'd love it if it were something as simple as that! But the exposures took the right amount of time, so I don't think so. I brought up two separate issues. Can you not reproduce either of them?
pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 13th, 2024, 8:21 pm

Oliver: long exposure noise reduction is definitely not on. So I am stuck. My A7IV is astro-modded but I don't see why that should make a difference.
pazoulay
Posts: 41
Joined: November 19th, 2023, 2:42 am

February 13th, 2024, 9:01 pm

In frustration I reset everything to factory settings, etc....and now I cannot reconnect with the unleashed! Yes I have followed all the instructions in the getting started guide.
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

February 14th, 2024, 11:50 am

From a clean reset of your camera, all you need to change is the USB Connection mode, and disabling USB power.
Could you give us more details about it "not connecting"? Is Bluetooth not connecting from App to Unleashed (red dot at the top of the app, Unleashed LED off or yellow/orange slow pulsing), or USB not connecting from Unleashed to the camera (LED and dot turquoise, settings in app greyed out)?

The Astro mod should not be relevant.

My colleague found the cause of what you were seeing with the long exposures, so we'll issue a firmware update, probably some time this week that contains this fix.
We normally "end a shot" when we get certain information from the camera, where the number of photos in RAM increases, or the number of photos remaining for a memory card decreases, then increases again. This has been reliable in our testing, but maybe in your case (large/fast memory card maybe?) there's a chance the Unleashed missed such info. With the new Firmware update, we won't only rely on this, but other info as well. Especially in the long exposure case, where the Unleashed actually actively ends the shot, we can also set the end of the shot manually, so this issue will definitely be fixed.
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

February 14th, 2024, 11:52 am

If your camera's USB mode is set to "Automatic on connect", then the Unleashed can't detect that it is not set correctly, and the app won't be able to show the popup with the instructions. You'd see the camera screen blink, shortly show the menu for USB modes to choose from, but probably before you can tap on one, it will disappear, then reappear. If this is the case, simply disconnect the Unleashed from the magnetic connection, make the change in the camera menu, then reconnect the Unleashed.
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
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