Gopro Hero 6 Night lapse shutter and interval setting issues

[bartman667]

My first gopro camera and message so Hi all!

I have been trying to figure out Night Lapse settings in Gopro Hero 6 over last couple of nights, after few tests and different settings I'm even more confused. 

Basically issue with understanding Shutter and interval settings. To make it short and easy to understand I have recorded 2 night lapse shots last night. 

1.

2 second shutter, Auto interval, 12MP wide, protune off. 

In theory, on interval set to Auto (continues recording) camera should have recorded 1 shot every 2 seconds (with 2 second shutter). So for every minute of recording I should get 30 frames/photos. 

I was recording exactly for 15 minutes. This should leave me with 450 photos/frames. 

Unfortunately gopro recorded only 290 photos / frames, which means approx 19 photos/minute. This only 60% anticipated footage!

2. 

5 second shutter, Auto interval, 12MP wide, protune off. 

In theory, in this case on interval set to Auto (continues recording) camera should have recorded 1 shot every 5 seconds (with 5 second shutter). So for every minute of recording I should get 12 frames/photos. 

I was recording exactly for 30 minutes this time. This should leave me with 360 photos/frames. 

Unfortunately gopro recorded only 120!! photos / frames, which means approx 4!!! photos/minute. This only 33% anticipated footage!

Is it me understanding this wrong, or is there something seriously messed up with time lapse settings? And if I'm understanding this wrong, where can I choose for continues shutter interval, so that the photos are being constantly made without any loss of recording. 

I will be recording night time construction project and wanted to make sure I've got everything zipped up before recording but looks it's not going to happen now... no sure if above is so confusing, should I choose timelapse video instead (also tried recording last night however image/picture doesn't look as good as night lapse). 

Would appreciate if anyone cleared it. 

Thsnks, Bart. 

[danielr15]

Welcome to the forum.

Using your camera, take one photo. You will notice there is a processing time after the photo is completed. Your thought process is correct but you are not accounting for this processing time between shots. In theory, 2 second shutter with auto interval should give you 30 shots a minute; however because the camera must process and save the data it just collected, there is a slight delay.

Try setting the interval timed (it must be equal to, or greater than the shutter) and see what your results are. While it shouldn't matter, I seem to remember getting closer to my anticipated number of shots when doing it this way (It's been awhile).

[josephr61]

You are confusing shutter speed with frames per second. A 2 second shutter does not mean it takes 1 picture every 2 seconds, it means that it takes one picture OVER 2 seconds. In other words, the shutter stays open for 2 seconds and takes one picture based off of the information it recieved during those 2 seconds. The interval is what dictates how many pictures the gopro will take over time. You have your interval set to auto, so the gopro will take 1 picture over 2 seconds and then take another whever it feels like it. 

[robert1326]

hi,

to stress what @josephr61 and @danielr15 wrote.

in timelapse it is about shutter speed which is less (strictly) than interval the pictures are taken

in the video is shutter speed which is less or equal to 1/frame per sec

I can have video at 60 frame per sec, an shutter speed at 1/1000sec because of high light..but not more than 1/60sec...

make it manual:

- put shutter 2sec. -> Interval can be Auto, 4sec, 5sec, and so on...

- put shutter 5sec. -> Interval can be Auto, 10s, 15sec, and so on ...

this "proofs" shutter can be less but not equal to the interval.

hope it helps,

robert

[robert1326]

I made two tests

1. 2sec shutter, interval Auto exactly 1min  --> 20 pictures (more than if II put manually the minimum permitted interval   4sec ->15 picture)

2. 5sec shutter, Interval Auto, exactly 1min -->  10 pictures (more than if I put manually the minimum permitted interval 10sec -> 6 picture) 

so yes, GoPro does his best, gathering as much picture as he can with the given shutter.

why don't you try Auto-Auto?

robert