Trying to photography the elipse in USA

[kdconwell]

I am confused if I can use Backyard EOS as a live controller of the camera. m I want to be able to change the shutter speed on the fly as the eclipse happens, and I am unclear how this can be done. The camera information so up in the camera panel, but it doesn't seem to allow me to let the iso be set the iso to auto and set the shutter speed on the fly as the eclipse is happening.

Thanks

Kevin

[astroman133]

While the User Manual is a bit out of date, a lot of what it presents is still useful. To view it, either select it from the Windows Start menu, or click on the question mark near the right end of the title bar.

The Camera Information Center provides the values that are currently in the camera. These are, in my opinion, of limited usefulness. They are read-only, bur can change as new images are taken. The most useful values here are the sensor temperature which comes from last image downloaded, and the battery strength. Although the battery strength is only useful as a gross guide as to the battery life..

To do as you suggest and specify exposure changes on-the-fly, you only need to specify the next set of exposure values and click on Start Capture. In the Capture Plan Center you can change the Shutter, Duration, and ISO of the first row and trigger a new capture. However, that would be underusing the capabilities of BYE.

An alternative is to use a "hidden" field at the right end of each row in the Capture Plan.  By default the field is empty, but if you click on it, it shows a circle with an internal vertical bar. This causes a Pause to be specified before the execution of that row. The pause occurs before the row is executed. To end the Pause, click on the Resume link just above the Start Capture Button.

With the capture plan defined as follows:

The Capture Plan pauses before the first row is executed. When manually Resumed, 5 0.5 second image are captured at ISO 1600. After the fifth image is downloaded, the Capture Plan pauses again because of the Pause indicator at the right end or the 2nd row. When manually resumed, the 2nd row of 5 2 second images is executed.

If you want an additional delay between each exposure in a row, specify a non-zero value in the Pause column.

Finally, if you have a 30-day Trial license or a Premium license, you can create and save a capture plan in advance, without even being connected to your camera. Then at the right time you can load and execute that plan. This is not ideal for shooting an eclipse, but it is still pretty flexible for an app that was not specifically designed for eclipse photography.

I hope this is useful.

 

[astroman133]

Oh, I forgot to answer your other question about setting the ISO to Auto. I do not believe that BYE supports this capability. Most of the time astrophotography imaging is done in Manual mode with the user setting the exposure duration, f/stop, and ISO manually. BYE is optimized for this type of shooting. Under typical dark conditions, letting the camera's exposure circuitry choose an ISO could result in a noisy image. I believe that it is for this reason that there is no Auto option in the ISO dropdown in the Capture Plan Center.

[s3igell]

Notes: 

1. Before use during the Eclipse, make sure to setup your Exposure Plan and TEST IT!!  TEST IT IN ADVANCE.  You do NOT want to miss your chance at Imaging the Eclipse because of any assumptions or misinterpretations of BYE functionality.
2. 30-Day Trial License requires Internet Access for EVERY time the Application is Started.  If your Viewing Location is without actual WiFi, you will need to work out some Cellular Data Hotspot or Tethering.

[rbroberts]

I'm also setting up to photograph the eclipse, and as @s3igell says, test, test, test. I'm also this site  using https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html as a guide for photos during totality. I expect that when my timer tells me I have about 30 seconds, I'll start the plan I have, which is 8 exposures at different shutter speeds but one ISO setting that will loop continuously for the 4 minutes. I've already tested and those exposures take about 20 seconds to complete when I toggle the camera to live view (to avoid mirror slap). I actually think that using autoexposure is probably a bad idea. You might get decent exposures of the outer corona, since you're pointing at an almost night sky, autoexposure will likely go long for anything else.

What I have to do later this week is set up on a sunny day to take a series of images with the solar film in place to find what range of exposures I want there. I'm guessing, based on the above link and my configuration, that I'll want about 1/2000 second exposure, but I'll likely shoot in groups of 3 probably at 1/2000, 1/1000, and 1/500, but maybe lower, too. It's a question of whether or not I'll have to shoot through any haze, so I may end up making some changes based on the weather forecast the day before. Right now, it's not looking too good for where I am 😞