Hi guys,

Can I get some help please. I’m a pro photographer, been shooting the odd time lapses for a few years now and recently upgraded this kit to what I was hoping was a ‘holy grail’ setup (pun intended!).

I can get the stage one + nmx + Sony A7Rii running fine.
I can get the Sony A7Rii + QDslrDashboard + LRTimalapse running fine.
But as soon I try combining both systems I run into problems.

I have QDSLRDASHBOARD and the NMX apps on both an iPad and iPhone running iOS 11.

I’ve setup the NMX in Slave mode and disconnect the usb cable connecting to the camera and added a pc sync cable from the NMX aux port to (possibly the issue) pocket wizard FlexxTT5 pc sync port (can test fire from the pocket wizard and I get the two green lights on the nmx but does do anything via QDslrDashboard). Tried using a Nissin Di700a Sony flash sync port which also sends a test pulse and work.  But from QDslrDashboard it only works when I have the flash in TTL mode and it then triggers the flash as well (not wanted). 

The second issue is if I have both the NMX app and QDslrDashboard running they pause if I switch apps !!!

So my questions are, firstly am I using the right setup for shooting ‘holy grail’ (I know for normal Tim lapse I don’t need the QDslrDashboard)?

Is there an issue with the apps on iOS 11?

I’m on a live shoot in Miami this next couple of weeks and have spent the last weeks trying to sort this out but not managed to. This forum seems pretty activate so I’m hoping someone can help me, please. 

Dominic

Why do you use the slave approach? Ich not absolutely necessary I'd not use qDDB for triggering the camera. It would be best to use the NMX controller to trigger the camera and have qDDB only adjusting the settings.
I'd try to connect the nmx via the release cable and the qDDB via WiFi since afaik the Sonys only offer one "USB multi port" for everything.

Ah ha! Never knew that. Okay makes sense, so on qDslrDashboard I only go to the lrtimelapse screen, select auto holy grail, sunset for example, and that’s it? Do I need to push start anything? I’ve not read this before, now you say it, it seems obvious.
Thank you.

Yes, exactly. Make sure to set the boundary settings (max iso/longest exp) on the LRT screen in qDDB before activating AHG.

I can confirm that Gunther's advice is correct: trigger the camera (and moco kit, of course) with the NMX and control exposure with qDDB via wifi.

I take it you already know how long you need to give the camera and qDDB to work together before the next shot? My A7II needs between 4 and 6 seconds to transmit the small jpeg for analysis, my friend with a A7RII says his takes a lot longer (up to 10 seconds, sometimes longer).

Yes I found out by trial and error. Thanks. 

I have another question if I may. I’m on location so can’t go buy more kit but I found the battery in my A7Rii lasted about 1.5 hours max. And I can’t plug in a usb battery pack as the usb is used by the NMX. Is there another way round this? Ie using slave mode with a Flash trigger for the NMX and the USB port for an external battery? Thanks. Appreciate the help.

Well that was a bit of a disaster! First off, I set everything up at my base, programmed the slider moves, the exposure settings and tested the sms. All good. Got on site for my sunrise holy grail, fired everything up. Connected qDslrDashboard via the remote app, and started the programme via the nmx, I had a ramp of 60 frames, and realized at 80 frames the slider had not moved. Paused the nmx app, went back to the first screen and it had lost the programmed moves! Re-programmed the moves, restarted the camera, and qDslrDashboard, started the program to run and off it goes, with movement, all good or so I thought, then as it starts to get lighter I can see qDslrDashboard is not changing the exposure settings, it’s only picking up an image every 5-6 shots the nmx is taking. And even when it does it is not changing the exposure. I had original got it at 10 seconds, f4, iso 100, with the nmx interval being around 15 seconds and it was still doing this when the sun started to break cover, with lots of over exposed images. Pulling my hair out, very frustrating wasting the whole shoot fiddling about trying to get everything to work. I don’t even know what was wrong so I can correct it to try again tomorrow am. :-(

Yes, it's a lot of stuff to consider and master and it takes some practice and experience with the own configuration. Make sure that you know which "minimum dark time" your setup need in order for the camera to safely transfer the preview to the tablet and qDDB be able to adjust the camera settings. Then make sure that longest exposure is always shorter then Interval minus minimum dark time. Practice at home with your setup to avoid such frustrating experiences.

This post was last modified: 2017-12-19, 17:50 by chasg.

Yes, it's frustrating that there is only one multi-use USB on the RII!

I use this on my Sonys (and my Nikons): 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro%C2%AE-76...ernal&th=1

Nice, big, battery, going through a dummy battery connector. This leaves the usb port open for triggers.

C