DMK41 questions

[allcart]

I have shot a few avi's today and it has raised a few questions.

Why, when I have set it to capture all the images, do I have hundreds of black frames?

Why, when I have set to capture at 1/1000sec does it only capture at 2 or 3 frames a sec instead of lots more?

Why, does it say poor quality.100% at the bottom of the pic, when I can see detail in it.?

Is there anyway to manually delete bad frames from an AVI before aligning and stacking?

Why, after aligning, do I get a black screen with no pic?

All help, insights and wisdom appreciated..

[Merlin66]

Allan,

Which capture software are you using?

ICC 2.2 allows you to set the type of AVI (Y800 ) the gain (around 250) and the exposure say 1/000 as well as the frame rate 60/ sec etc.

Do you see an image on the screen before capture?

Registax will allow you to manually delete frames before stacking.

[allcart]

Yes, I'm using ICC software that came with the DMK. I keep an eye on the frame rate when I capture and stop after 2 or 3 minutes. The frame rate sometimes ticks by at as little as 1 per second. In bright sunshine I expected more.

Strangely, when I checked the AVI's in Registax 6, some of the files have 2000+ frames, but the majority of them are black.

I have been focusing the best I can with the exposure and gain set so that I can see a decent pic, but then I turn them down again to get the capture. I have been keeping a low gain and exposures of around 1/1000 but i cannot adjust the frame rate. I think the DMK41 will only do 15fps.

I can see the image on screen as I capture and I have been keeping the histogram at around halfway.

I am finding focusing to be a very frustrating experience. I am not used to looking at fuzzy pics on a laptop. I like to see detail, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I will try some more today.

[Merlin66]

Allan,

Yes the max rate for the DMK41 is 15 frames/ sec.

I don't know why you're getting the black frames...

Why do you change the settings after viewing the image on the screen? I just get the "best" focus I can with as bright an image as I can on the screen and then hit the record button.

[riklaunim]

Dropped/black frames may come from underpowered USB port or from to slow port (some laptops do weird things if on battery only or always under-power USB ports to save power).

[allcart]

I have been turning down the exposure a bit so as not to overexpose the images. I try to keep the peek of the histogram at around the 127 (halfway) mark. Maybe I need a bit more.

The laptop is powered from the mains adapter, and the camera is the only thing plugged into it.

I will keep testing as and when the sun comes out to play.