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DIY Idea of timelapse with illumination sensing and automatic settings - Printable Version

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DIY Idea of timelapse with illumination sensing and automatic settings - hhanswurster - 2018-04-25

Hey Guys,
i new to photography and have my first project in mind Smile
One year timelapse. All automated. I need help from the photographer point of view, technically its quiet easy.

Rasberry pi with light sensor, that automaticly changes my camera settings to a optimal exposure, captures a image and saves it at a hard drive connected to the pi.
First of all, is there something like that allready ? i dont want to reinvent the weel.


my setup hardware setup so far: (about 40€ cost, without camera/storage)
Rasberry Pi 3
ADAFRUIT TSL2561 connected via i2c
Sony A5100 16mm F2.8 connected via USB
3 TB USB harddrive for storing the images.

Software:
Rasbian light
gphoto2

Code:
gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download --filename "images/%Y_%m_%d_%H_%M_%S.arw"  # capture image rename it and store it...

# these 3 settings can be used to change the exposure :)

gphoto2 --set-config iso=X #values Choice: 2 100 to Choice: 14 1600

gphoto2 --set-config f-Number=X  #values 2.8 to 22

gphoto2 --set-config shutterspeed=X    #values  30s: 300/10  25s: 250/10 1/200s: 1/200 and so on

Pyhton script (thanks ryker1990) that i modified to output the mesured lux: (its possible to output 3 values, nir, visual, and both, what would you take?)

Code:
import smbus

import time



# Get I2C bus

bus = smbus.SMBus(1)



# TSL2561 address, 0x39(57)

# Select control register, 0x00(00) with command register, 0x80(128)

#       0x03(03)    Power ON mode

bus.write_byte_data(0x39, 0x00 | 0x80, 0x03)

# TSL2561 address, 0x39(57)

# Select timing register, 0x01(01) with command register, 0x80(128)

#       0x02(02)    Nominal integration time = 402ms

bus.write_byte_data(0x39, 0x01 | 0x80, 0x02)



time.sleep(0.5)



# Read data back from 0x0C(12) with command register, 0x80(128), 2 bytes

# ch0 LSB, ch0 MSB

data = bus.read_i2c_block_data(0x39, 0x0C | 0x80, 2)



# Read data back from 0x0E(14) with command register, 0x80(128), 2 bytes

# ch1 LSB, ch1 MSB

data1 = bus.read_i2c_block_data(0x39, 0x0E | 0x80, 2)



# Convert the data

ch0 = data[1] * 256 + data[0]

ch1 = data1[1] * 256 + data1[0]



# Output data to screen



print "%d lux" %(ch0 - ch1)



To do (what i think hahaha)

Make a "list" of all camera settings possible from dark to bright. (i hope for 0.33 stops resolution)
Measure several brightness levels and manualy adjust the camera settings to that brightness.
Extrapolate the rest?

than write a script:

every X minutes:
read lux measurement
look up the correct setting in the list
set the camera to that settings
(wait: needs some time)
capture image, rename it, save it on the harddrive
write a logfile that it worked
start again Big Grin



im a total noob, do you think its possible like that?
what would you do differently ?
any thoughts appreciated Smile

Hans