NINA not playing well with my 500D (gets stuck at image 4-6 in sequence).

[Trippelforge]

I started using NINA a week ago after my Backyard EOS trial ran out. I like it a lot so far but have been running into a pretty big issue. When I set up the software to take a sequence of images it keeps locking up after 4-6 of them. The camera's counter starts blinking, and when I switch it off I get a moving wheel that says "downloading images" (or something). Which never stops, so I have to remove the battery.

Once I close NINA, and turn the camera back on everything works again. And if I manually snap images it works fine, I was able to do about 60 exposures last night without issue. 

Does anyone have any ideas on what is going on and how to fix it? My only thought is that the transferring can't keep up, but when I do them manually I am only waiting a few seconds between shots. 

Thanks for the help!

[ONIKKINEN]

Similar timing issues with my 550D, try this:

Put the camera in manual mode with the exposure set to bulb. Turn live view on, and only then connect to NINA. Make sure that all delay shooting modes/mirror lock things are turned off from the settings too so that these dont ruin NINAs frame timings.

When swapping batteries you need to disconnect the camera, shut down, and then replace and reconnect.

[Trippelforge]

8 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Similar timing issues with my 550D, try this:

Put the camera in manual mode with the exposure set to bulb. Turn live view on, and only then connect to NINA. Make sure that all delay shooting modes/mirror lock things are turned off from the settings too so that these dont ruin NINAs frame timings.

When swapping batteries you need to disconnect the camera, shut down, and then replace and reconnect.

Almost positive that it's already set in manual mode, with bulb (but going to re-check). Live view however is not on, just the settings screen. I have not really tweaked a lot of settings in NINA. Just made sure my ISO was correct. I will check the other options you mentioned tonight. So by what your saying there is some kind of conflict with NINA trying to also control mirror lock etc? That might explain why I didn't have problems with Backyard. 

Thanks for the help, I will mess with it. At the very least it's good to know that I am not the only person with issues. 

[ONIKKINEN]

2 hours ago, Trippelforge said:

Almost positive that it's already set in manual mode, with bulb (but going to re-check). Live view however is not on, just the settings screen. I have not really tweaked a lot of settings in NINA. Just made sure my ISO was correct. I will check the other options you mentioned tonight. So by what your saying there is some kind of conflict with NINA trying to also control mirror lock etc? That might explain why I didn't have problems with Backyard. 

Thanks for the help, I will mess with it. At the very least it's good to know that I am not the only person with issues. 

Pretty sure its that extra second or so that the mirror takes when flipping up or down at the beginning and ends of an exposure that ruins the timings. NINA will think the exposures go back to back without delay and after a few exposures your actual exposure schedule and what NINA thinks is happening dont match and you get timeout errors. In live view the mirror is kept out of the way so the timings match.

[spuduk]

I would try a new usb cable. I had issues similar which turned out to be a cheap cable.

[Trippelforge]

1 hour ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Pretty sure its that extra second or so that the mirror takes when flipping up or down at the beginning and ends of an exposure that ruins the timings. NINA will think the exposures go back to back without delay and after a few exposures your actual exposure schedule and what NINA thinks is happening dont match and you get timeout errors. In live view the mirror is kept out of the way so the timings match.

 

Do you think setting a delay between images might help? I am just concerned that live view always being on will run down my battery faster. If I have no choice I guess I will need to go ahead and buy a power adapter.  

 

12 minutes ago, spuduk said:

I would try a new usb cable. I had issues similar which turned out to be a cheap cable.

I know this cable is cheap, I found it randomly in my house. I actually kind of want a longer one so I guess it wouldn't hurt to buy a new quality one. Thanks for the suggestion!

[ONIKKINEN]

6 minutes ago, Trippelforge said:

 

Do you think setting a delay between images might help? I am just concerned that live view always being on will run down my battery faster. If I have no choice I guess I will need to go ahead and buy a power adapter.  

 

I know this cable is cheap, I found it randomly in my house. I actually kind of want a longer one so I guess it wouldn't hurt to buy a new quality one. Thanks for the suggestion!

Maybe a delay would help, but that could just delay the timing issues a bit longer. Didnt try that with mine.

The screen will turn off during exposures so will affect battery life only a little bit. There might have been a timer ticking on the screen, cant recall if that was the case now. The dummy battery 12v DC adapter would be the best option for that though.