When selecting Timelapse and put the camera in Auto, you can select Timelapse intervals starting from 0.5 seconds (eg 0.5s, 1s, 2s, 3s, etc).

However, I noticed if you put the camera in manual mode and select a shutter speed greater than 1/30 (eg 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, etc) the minimum selectable Timelapse interval jumps to 2 seconds.

Now, I understand that if you were to select, say, a 1 second shutter, you obviously cannot have a 1 second interval with it. That's reasonable to understand.

But, if I select a 1/10 shutter speed, that is only 0.1 seconds, I should be able to select a 0.5 second interval (...since the 1/10 shutter is one fifth of the half second interval). Would like to know why it's not possible? Is there some scientific reasoning behind this?

=== the story behind it...

I was playing around with my ND filters (specifically ND64) and wanted to create a Timelapse with plenty of motion blur. But when I wanted a 1/15 shutter there was only a minimum 2 second interval available, which was way too fast for what I wanted to do. A 0.5 second interval could easily accommodate a 1/15 shutter (so it would seem), but it's not available. Now, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the 180 rule as such, because the Timelapse will be played back at 30fps so normally that would need a 1/60 shutter, but you can still select a 1/30 shutter and have a 0.5 second interval. But as soon as you go below the 1/30 shutter (for 30fps), the minimum interval will be set to 2 seconds. Even the 1 second option is not available. What gives?

Thanks.

A golden rule is to let camera wait for atleast 1 second to empty buffer/write to card.
Could explain why.

johansenfoto Posted at 1-6 09:59
A golden rule is to let camera wait for atleast 1 second to empty buffer/write to card.
Could explain why.

Ok, but how do you wait 1 second when the interval is set to 0.5? Not to mention, when you doing a 4k timelapse (or even 2.7k) where you write Video+RAW, that takes even way longer than just doing 1080p (...and I was doing 1080p timelapses), and the camera can still manage just fine in those circumstances.

agree with Johan. I  feel the camera does not offer enough internal memory   and that can be the issue, excellent discoy, does a gopro do that, it has maybe more internal memory, not the sd card cameras internal memory

Fishycomics Posted at 1-6 11:14
agree with Johan. I  feel the camera does not offer enough internal memory   and that can be the issue, excellent discoy, does a gopro do that, it has maybe more internal memory, not the sd card cameras internal memory

Well, if that's the case then it doesn't make sense to me. Think about it...

1/30 second shutter is 0.03 seconds. If you need about 1 second of "clear buffer/write card" time, then the next available timelapse interval for a 1/30 shutter would be 0.03 + 1 = 1.03 seconds (or 2 seconds to round it up). Yet, at 1/30 second shutter both 0.5s and 1s intervals are available, so you do not need 1 second "clear buffer/write card" time if the camera actually can process a 1/30 shutter under 0.5 seconds.

Timelapse is just like video. Taking a series of pictures. If you can have a video frame rate of 240fps at 1080p (which means you are processing 240 images per second), then how the camera could not handle a single frame at a measly 1/25 shutter and a 0.5 second interval (or even at 1 second)...?

At least this is my interpretation - which could be completely wrong, but still...

Or look at it this way. If the shutter is open for 0.03 seconds (1/30) then you can process it under 0.5 seconds, but if the shutter is open for 0.04 seconds (1/25), then all of a sudden you need 2 seconds to process it??? Why?

osmonauta Posted at 1-6 12:01
Well, if that's the case then it doesn't make sense to me. Think about it...

1/30 second shutter is 0.03 seconds. If you need about 1 second of "clear buffer/write card" time, then the next available timelapse interval for a 1/30 shutter would be 0.03 + 1 = 1.03 seconds (or 2 seconds to round it up). Yet, at 1/30 second shutter both 0.5s and 1s intervals are available, so you do not need 1 second "clear buffer/write card" time if the camera actually can process a 1/30 shutter under 0.5 seconds.

I respect your answer and   technical side, I wonder if video differs with photo and video timelapses.  , if DJI can tell us why that be even better, maybe they feel the camera  has less issues wit that set up, not sure and not sure why?

osmonauta Posted at 1-6 10:11
Ok, but how do you wait 1 second when the interval is set to 0.5? Not to mention, when you doing a 4k timelapse (or even 2.7k) where you write Video+RAW, that takes even way longer than just doing 1080p (...and I was doing 1080p timelapses), and the camera can still manage just fine in those circumstances.

Not sure about that. I have actually not tested that much timelapse with mine yet

osmonauta Posted at 1-6 12:01
Well, if that's the case then it doesn't make sense to me. Think about it...

1/30 second shutter is 0.03 seconds. If you need about 1 second of "clear buffer/write card" time, then the next available timelapse interval for a 1/30 shutter would be 0.03 + 1 = 1.03 seconds (or 2 seconds to round it up). Yet, at 1/30 second shutter both 0.5s and 1s intervals are available, so you do not need 1 second "clear buffer/write card" time if the camera actually can process a 1/30 shutter under 0.5 seconds.

Difference between writing ONE video file vs 1xx images is while recording a video-file, the camera have to create the file-open-write- and close when you click stop.
With images it have to create-write-close and repeat that for all images that takes longer time overall.

Not sure if I explained it easily

johansenfoto Posted at 1-6 13:10
Difference between writing ONE video file vs 1xx images is while recording a video-file, the camera have to create the file-open-write- and close when you click stop.
With images it have to create-write-close and repeat that for all images that takes longer time overall.

Yes, I understand what you mean. But you may have noticed that when you start a Timelapse, it will do a countdown before start. I assume that's when it is doing some buffer allocation and reserving space on the card, etc based on the length specified and other factors.

I'm curious if DJI has an answer.