Take photographs at the selected interval until the specified number of shots has been recorded. Select a release mode other than self-timer (E) when using the interval timer.
- Interval Timer Photography
- Pausing Interval Timer Photography
- Resuming Interval Timer Shooting
- Ending Interval Timer Shooting
- No Photograph
Interval Timer Photography
Before Shooting
Before beginning interval timer photography, take a test shot at current settings and view the results in the monitor. Once settings have been adjusted to your satisfaction, close the viewfinder eyepiece shutter to prevent light entering via the viewfinder interfering with photographs and exposure.
Before choosing a starting time, select Time zone and date in the setup menu and make sure that the camera clock is set to the correct time and date (0 Time Zone and Date).
We recommend using a tripod and disabling lens vibration reduction (VR). Mount the camera on a tripod before shooting begins. To ensure that shooting is not interrupted, be sure the camera battery is fully charged. If in doubt, charge the battery before use or use an AC adapter and power connector (available separately).
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Select Interval timer shooting.
Highlight Interval timer shooting in the photo shooting menu and press 2 to display interval timer settings.
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Adjust interval timer settings.
Choose a start day and time, interval, number of shots per interval, and exposure smoothing, silent photography, interval priority, and starting folder options.
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To choose a start day and time:
Highlight Choose start day/time and press 2.
Highlight an option and press J.
To start shooting immediately, select Now. To start shooting at a chosen date and time, select Choose day/time, then choose the date and time and press J.
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To choose the interval between shots:
Highlight Interval and press 2.
Choose an interval (hours, minutes, and seconds) and press J.
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To choose the number of shots per interval:
Highlight Intervals×shots/interval and press 2.
Choose the number of intervals and the number of shots per interval and press J.
In S (single frame) mode, the photographs for each interval will be taken at the rate chosen for Custom Setting d1 (CL mode shooting speed; 0 d1: CL Mode Shooting Speed).
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To enable or disable exposure smoothing:
Highlight Exposure smoothing and press 2.
Highlight an option and press J.
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To enable or disable silent photography:
Highlight Silent photography and press 2.
Highlight an option and press J.
If On is selected, the only time the sound of the shutter or mirror will be heard is when the mirror is raised or lowered at the start and end of shooting. Autofocus cannot be used.
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To choose an interval priority option:
Highlight Interval priority and press 2.
Highlight an option and press J.
If On is selected, interval timer photography will end if the camera cannot focus or the shutter release is otherwise disabled.
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Choosing start folder options:
Highlight Starting storage folder and press 2.
Highlight options and press 2 to select or deselect. Press J to proceed.
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Start shooting.
Highlight Start and press J. The first series of shots will be taken at the specified starting time, or after about 3 s if Now was selected for Choose start day/time in Step 2. Shooting will continue at the selected interval until all shots have been taken.
During Shooting
During interval timer photography, the Q icon will flash in the control panel. Immediately before the next shooting interval begins, the shutter speed display will show the number of intervals remaining, and the aperture display will show the number of shots remaining in the current interval. At other times, the number of intervals remaining and the number of shots in each interval can be viewed by pressing the shutter-release button halfway (once the button is released, the shutter speed and aperture will be displayed until the standby timer expires).
Settings can be adjusted, the menus used, and pictures played back while interval timer photography is in progress. The monitor will turn off automatically about four seconds before each interval. Note that changing camera settings while the interval timer is active may cause shooting to end.
Release Mode
Regardless of the release mode selected, the camera will take the specified number of shots at each interval.
Pausing Interval Timer Photography
Interval timer photography can be paused between intervals by pressing J or selecting Pause in the interval timer menu.
Resuming Interval Timer Shooting
To resume shooting immediately, select Restart.
Highlight Restart and press J.
To resume shooting at a specified time:
For Choose start day/time, highlight Choose day/time and press 2.
Choose a starting date and time and press J.
Highlight Restart and press J.
Ending Interval Timer Shooting
To end interval timer photography before all the photos are taken, select Off in the interval timer menu.
No Photograph
Photographs will not be taken at the selected interval if the current interval ends before the photograph or photographs for the previous interval have been taken, the memory card is full, or AF-S is selected and the camera is unable to focus (note that the camera focuses before each shot). In autofocus mode, the camera will either end interval timer photography (On selected Interval priority) or skip to the next interval (Off selected Interval priority) if no photograph is taken after eight seconds.
Out of Memory
If the memory card is full, the interval timer will remain active but no pictures will be taken. Resume shooting (0 Resuming Interval Timer Shooting) after deleting some pictures or turning the camera off and inserting another memory card.
Bracketing
Adjust bracketing settings before starting interval timer photography. If exposure, flash, or ADL bracketing is active while interval timer photography is in effect, the camera will take the number of shots in the bracketing program at each interval, regardless of the number of shots specified in the interval timer menu. If white balance bracketing is active while interval timer photography is in effect, the camera will take one shot at each interval and process it to create the number of copies specified in the bracketing program. Note that bracketing cannot be used during interval timer photography when On is selected for Interval priority.
Interval Timer Photography
Choose an interval longer than the time needed to take the selected number of shots and, if you are using a flash, the time needed for the flash to charge. If the interval is too short, the number of photos taken may be less than the total listed in Step 2 (the number of intervals multiplied by the number of shots per interval) or the flash may fire at less than the power needed for full exposure. Flash output may also fall below the desired level if more than one shot is taken per interval. Interval timer photography cannot be combined with some camera features, including live view, movie recording, time-lapse movies (0 Time-Lapse Movie), long-time exposures (bulb or time photography), and focus shift (0 Focus Shift Shooting). In addition, interval timer photography is not available when Record movies is selected for Custom Setting g1 (Custom control assignment) > Shutter-release button (0 g1: Custom Control Assignment). Note that because the shutter speed, frame rate, and time needed to record images may vary from one interval to the next, the time between the end of one interval and the beginning of the next may vary. If shooting cannot proceed at current settings (for example, if a shutter speed of A or % is currently selected in manual exposure mode, the interval is zero, or the start time is in less than a minute), a warning will be displayed in the monitor.
Interval timer shooting will pause when E (self-timer) is selected or if the camera is turned off and then on again (when the camera is off, batteries and memory cards can be replaced without ending interval timer photography). Pausing shooting does not affect interval timer settings.
Silent Photography
Selecting On for Silent photography disables some camera features, including:
- Autofocus
- ISO sensitivities of Hi 0.3 through Hi 2 (0 ISO Sensitivity Settings)
- Flash photography (0 Optional Flash Units)
- Exposure delay mode (0 d5: Exposure Delay Mode)
- Flicker reduction (0 Flicker Reduction)
- Bracketing (0 Auto Bracketing Set)
- Multiple exposure (0 Multiple Exposure)