This week we have an update on the Radian linear adaptor, a beautiful time lapse from the Dolomites, and a tech tip on taking a bulb ramp using your camera's automatic settings.
Radian and Michron are now sold on Amazon with Prime! Also be sure to watch the holiday timelapse of hundreds of Santas roaming San Francisco.
In this week's post we've got a BBC time lapse, our Thanksgiving Holiday Sale, and some new info on International Shipping.
This week we’ve got a new tutorial, tech tip, and a pretty impactful Crowdfunding campaign! You also may notice that we have a new website-we think it’s a big improvement, especially for reading text!
In this week’s post, we’ve got an update on our linear slider project, a Michron Pro Tip, and an exciting new Kickststarter Project that we recently got to meet in person.
This week we release the free Radian Software Upgrade and showcase a new National Park time lapse video shot with Radian.
This week Steve geeks out on some Michron and Radian tech, Greg explains how to assemble a time lapse in Picasa, and we have a beautiful time lapse video from the French Alps.
This week we've got a time lapse competition (we're giving away Radians and Michrons!), a Michron Bulb Ramping Tutorial, and a Tech Tip on the exact timing of Radian's motions.
Time Lapse Competition -
Win a Free Radian, L-Bracket or Michron!
We want to give you some new gear and see what all of you are creating out there! So, we are going to have a competition that anyone can take part in; all you have to do is post your time lapses on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter, and tag Alpine Labs and Michron or Radian. We’d love to see your best work whether its brand new or even something you have posted in the past.
Categories:
1. Most Creative Use of Michron/Radian
2. Best Single Time Lapse
3. Best Video Featuring Time Lapse (2 min+)
One winner from each category will receive a Radian + L-Bracket and the runner up will receive a Michron.
We will also give away one Radian as part of a raffle- just enter a video to join in! The competition will run until Oct 11th and posts that receive more "Likes", Retweets, and +1's will be more strongly considered. Have fun out there!
Facebook @AlpineLabs - Google+ @AlpineLabs - Twitter #AlpineLabs
Michron time lapse shot by Mike Hitchner:
Radian and Michron Feedback
If you haven't already taken it, we would love to get your feedback on Radian and Michron with this 1-2 minute survey. Plus if you complete it, we'll give you a 15% off coupon for anything in the Alpine store!
Michron Bulb Ramping Tutorial
Click here for the full Michron Bulb Ramping Tutorial, with text
Tech Tip #3
How Exactly Does Radian Decide On The Timing Of It’s Motions?
Radian is a Move-Shoot-Move device, meaning that it does not move while your camera is taking a photo, to ensure crisp footage. This is in contrast to something like an egg timer, which is always rotating. To ensure that Radian has fully stopped moving before it triggers your camera to take a photo, there is a delay between when Radian stops moving, and when it tells your camera to start taking a photo. The details of this timing are shown in the below graphic.
In addition to the timing during regular time lapses, there are a few other bits of timing that are relevant :
- Upon startup, there is a 3 second delay before Radian does anything - this delay is so that Radian can check if it is connected to a computer, which is necessary to ensure that firmware updates can be loaded to Radian
- 6 seconds after startup, Radian will begin it’s preload motion
- 13 seconds after startup, Radian will take the first picture
- After this Radian will execute it’s motions according to the above routine.
- If you are performing a Queue, Radian will pause for 6 seconds between the end of the one time lapse, and the start of the next.
Hey There!
We have some cool news for Sony owners as well as folks hoping to attach their Radians directly to their tripods. We also have a new Tech Tip, and an awesome video made by James Lewis (one of our Kickstarter Backers) with his Michron!
Video of the Week - Shot with Michron:
Shot by James Lewis of The Nature Photography Co - www.tnpc.co.uk
Also check out this still that Greg took with his Michron last week while climbing in Southern Yosemite. We’ll be doing a Tutorial and Tech Tip in the future on some useful non-time lapse uses of Michron and Radian such as this one (self portraits!)
Checkout our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to see more time lapse footage!
New Sony Camera Compatibility!
We just got the new Sony S2 cables in stock. These will allow Radian and Michron to work with the following Sony cameras: 6000, A7, A77 II , A7R, A7S, HX50V, NEX 3N, A58, RX100 II, RX100 III, HX300 and 5000L. We are also testing other Sony cameras as well.
Tripod Thread Adaptor:
For those of you looking to put your Radian directly onto a tripod with a ⅜” stud, we have found and tested a handy ⅜” to ¼” thread adaptor that will allow you to attach your Radian directly to your tripod. We are working on getting them in stock on our site and we will let you know once they are in stock. In the meantime though, you can purchase it here: http://www.amazon.com/Tripod-Reducer-Diameter-Mount-Adapter/dp/B0081KP9PW/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_0_0
What’s New In The Latest Michron And Radian App Releases?
As of August 25 there are new releases of the Michron and Radian app (Radian Android app has some delays and will be released next month). The main change made to both apps was that we did a little bit of behind-the-scenes work to make the packet transmissions more robust, and we altered the way in which the “hold” setting is set by the app.
In the new version of the app, the app automatically selects the longest hold time possible (up to 1 second) to reduce the likelihood of your camera missing the trigger signal sent by your Radian/Michron. If you’re curious about how exactly the hold settings works, please check out these tutorials : How Radian Works, How Michron Works. Also if you wondering where the latest Radian Android update is, it is currently being delayed by the Google Play submission process. We have a solution for this and will be releasing the Android update next month.
Tech Tip #2 : How Radian and Michron Work
This week’s tech tip is going to geek out a bit on some of the under the hood magic that goes into both Michron and Radian. This is also meant to supplement the How Radian Works, and How Michron Works tutorials, since we feel that the better you understand your gear, the more you can do with it.
How Radian/Michron Tell Your Camera To Take A Photo
Radian/Michron sends an electrical signal to your camera via the shutter release cable. This signal is based on standard protocols that were established long ago, and the signal is essentially the equivalent of holding your finger on the shutter button of your camera. The length of time for which this signal is sent (ie how long it thinks your finger is holding the shutter button) is called the "hold time" and can be controlled in the App.
One issue that can come up when taking a time lapse with Radian/Michron is that your camera may not always take a photo when it is told to. You may have noticed that sometimes you may need to hold your finger on the shutter button for a while (even up to 1 second) to take a photo with your camera. This is generally due to the time needed for your camera to autofocus, and adjust to its surroundings. Unlike you, Radian/Michron does not know if your camera has taken a photo or not, so if your camera is still adjusting while the trigger pulse comes and goes, you will simply miss that photo in your final footage. And this will result in your final footage appearing choppy or unsmooth.
The newest versions of the Radian and Michron Apps take steps to reduce this issue by increasing the default trigger pulse time to .5 and 1 second respectively. However, if you are using a short interval (under 2 seconds), or you are using interval ramping with Michron, this default time will be reduced to .25 seconds and .5 seconds, respectively. Michron’s pulse goes as low as .1 second for very fast intervals - If this is the case, you will need to make sure that your camera is in fully manual mode (especially the focus!).
This is our first Alpine Labs blog post. We plan on releasing a post every other week and would like these to become a resource for Radian and Michron users as well as time lapse enthusiasts in general. This week we have:
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Time Lapse Of The Week
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Labor Day Sale (Free Shipping!)
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4 New Video Tutorials
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Tech Tip #1 : Taking Better Time Lapses
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Vivo Labs and Alpine Labs Joining Forces
Video of the Week
Sometimes the best way to expand your own abilities is to watch some sweet footage and we don’t know that we’ve ever seen anything as creative and mesmerizing as this video from last year’s Burning Man.
Labor Day Sale
To celebrate Labor Day and close out the summer, we are offering Free Worldwide Shipping on all Alpine Labs orders of $50 and up! And if you buy 2 Radians, we’ll even ship it Express, free of charge. The sale will run from this Saturday through Monday (Pacific Standard Time)
New Tutorials
Not only do we have 4 new video tutorials up on the site, but we’ve also cleaned up the text tutorials and added a couple of support videos as well. Click here to see the new tutorials.
New Tutorials Include:
- How Michron Works
- Michron Troubleshooting
- How Radian Works
- Radian Troubleshooting
Tech Tip #1 : Taking Better Time Lapses
To start off our Tech Tip Series, we’re going to give some advice on how to take better time lapses! We will cover the following topics in this article :
- Framing and planning your time lapse
- Choosing your duration and interval
- Selecting camera settings
- Utilizing rotation
- Editing and compiling your time lapse
And if you get all the way to the bottom (or just skip ahead), we will even have a cheat sheet with recommended settings for some common scenarios.
Click Here to see the full Tech Tip #1
Vivo Labs and Alpine Labs Merger Announcement
Radian and Michron are now under the same roof of Alpine Labs! For those who aren’t familiar with Michron, it is a stationary time lapse intervalometer that shares the same smartphone interface as Radian and fits in your pocket.
Now that we have a bigger, more experienced team, we will be able to provide more tutorials, more app updates, and just better support the time lapse community overall. We are also really excited about our increased ability to focus on making time lapse and motion time lapse more accessible to photographers.