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Re: HELP, How to take good time elapsed photographs?

Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson" <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Drew,

I've always had best pics with an old Canon 35mm film camera. Obviously, use a tripod. I personally like to use the cable trigger so that I can physically hold the camera shutter open manually for whatever duration I feel is good. Typically, I'll count in my head 4 seconds and release the trigger. My best pics are just following dusk (mostly dark). If you hold the shutter open too long, night will turn to day as you have probably already experienced and colors will be something other than what you expected. I have never had good luck with my digital (at least in comparison to good ol role film).

How they are developed plays a role. When I lived in Minnesota 5 years ago, I use to go to Ritz Camera to develop my film. Excellent pics. But now in California, I haven't had a great deal of luck with film development. Always make sure they print even the assumed "blank" photos.

Regarding the strike rail streamer question:
Field control. Many things affect it. I've found a nice smooth and large toroid certainly helps. Breakrate and tuning are also players. I don't use a strike rail (but this isn't necessarily a good idea). The consensus back in the last discussion on this subject is that it is safer to components to use a strike rail. I chance it since their my components. I just don't like the idea of a ground point near the primary or in vicinity of the strikes. I've had more strikes to the primary with strike rails than without. It is a risk that I'm willing to take. I don't really advocate to do away with strike rails, but I do like to point out my results from time to time and how I run my coils.

I've stuffed away the SRSG and replaced it with a 3-phase motor driven by a VFD. Just a fancy way of varying the motor speed (old parts from work, so no cost to me). A DC motor would do the same. It allows me to rotate a small potentiometer and find that nice breakrate which helps produce single streamers. It's nice watching a single streamer stroll along the toroid. I ran my 8.5" diam. coil on the 4th of July for all the neighbors. I just let it RIP for about a 4 to 5 minute stretch. Just amazing to watch that single streamer float around the toroid at high power (well, until the ballast started smoking!). My power cabinet is PLC controlled these days, thus the VFD will shut down the coil should it have a problem (among other misc. checks and balances). This is mainly why I use the VFD (safety protocols). But again, the breakrate is significant to this affect. All this affects field control, which is a "cute" term. "Spark" control is actually better wording.

Take care,
Bart



Tesla list wrote:

Original poster: Teslamad@xxxxxxx
HELP!

The first time I took time elapsed photos of my old old old coil 5 or 6 years ago they came out superb!!! Recently though... well thats a different story. I have gone through many rolls of film trying to capture the power of "BAMF" Its just not easy to photograph 12ft streamers with a camera that doesn't zoom LOL

So heres the results so far...

I get grained, lite, and kinda greenish backgrounds and the arcs just dont seem very powerful! They are very skinny!

I've tried 400 and 800 speed film
I've tried 3, 6, 9, 12, and 20 second exposures
I've tried taking the pictures at dusk, and night, and with/without ample lighting

Any suggestions?

Also, any ideas of how to get the streamers away from the strike rail WITHOUT redesigning topload or adding capacitance?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!!

Thanks guys

Regards,
~Drew