As a child we learned "the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west," right? Not always. In fact that's true only two days a year -- the equinoxes (March and September).
The Motions of the Sun Simulator was used to show the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky on the June Solstice. Notice the Sun rises along the northeastern horizon and sets along the northwestern horizon. At Washington, D.C. (38.89° North latitude and 77.03° degrees West longitude) the Sun reaches a maximum altitude of 74.7° above the horizon, the highest maximum altitude all year.
"Motions of the Sun Simulator" set for 21 JUN at 38.8 N latitude.
The following animation shows the Sun's apparent path across the sky on the June Solstice, repeated several times.
Firsthand Observations
I used my iPad mini 6 running the "Theodolite" iOS app to take a time series of images during the evening on 21 June 2026, beginning at 8:00 PM and ending at 8:36 PM (sunset) with an interval of five minutes between shots. The camera was mounted on a tripod facing exactly west. Notice how far north of west the Sun sets.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:00 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:05 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:10 PM Facing west.
21 JUN 2026| 8:15 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:20 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:25 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:30 PM | Facing west.
21 JUN 2026 | 8:36 PM | Facing west.
The exact position of sunset was obscured by both clouds and the tree line to the west of my vantage point, but it's clear enough the Sun set near the trunk of the tallest tree along the horizon.
By the way, I have no idea what the white orb is that appears in the lower-right corner of most of the sunset images. I assume it's a feature of the "Theodolite" app, but I'm not sure.
Related Resource:Theodolite - a blog post by Walter Sanford
The following panoramic time lapse video shows the sky above Fairfax County, Virginia USA on 15 June 2026. The video was recorded using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on an inexpensive mechanical one-hour kitchen timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode at a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.
15 June 2026 | Fairfax County, Virginia USA
The following panoramic composite image was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode.
15 JUN 2026. 3:15 PM. Panoramic view. (16080 x 3900 pixels.)
Sometimes I like my "misfires" as much as the wider panoramic composite images such as the one shown above.
Theodolite is an award-winning app for Apple iOS that has many applications for my sky watching activities. Wait, what is a "theodolite?"
A surveyor's instrument for measuring horizontal and usually also vertical angles. Source credit: Merriam-Webster (dictionary).
Tracking cloud motion
I used the "Theodolite" app to determine the position of the four cardinal points for my location. That enables me to know the direction clouds are moving across the sky.
15 JUN 2026 | Facing north.
15 JUN 2026 | Facing east.
15 JUN 2026 | Facing south.
OK, I was a little off-center for the direction "south."
15 JUN 2026 | Facing west.
Tracking weather satellites
Radio signals from polar orbiting weather satellites can be received using free software and relatively inexpensive hardware including an RTL-SDR and V-dipole antenna. For best results the V-dipole antenna should be oriented north-south, with the open end of the "V" facing south. For more information, see the following article: Simple NOAA/Meteor Weather Satellite Antenna: A 137 MHz V-Dipole.
Oh by the way, of course I used the "Theodolite" app to determine the direction of north and south relative to the position of my portable rig for reception of weather satellite radio signals.
Tracking daily- and annual cycles in the Sun's apparent path across the sky
The Motions of the Sun Simulator can be used to explore the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky on the June Solstice. The following screenshot shows the simulator configured for 21 June at 12 noon. Be sure to set the "animation mode" for "continuous" and "loop day," as shown in the following graphic.
"Motions of the Sun Simulator" set for 21 JUN at 38.8 N latitude.
Notice the Sun rises along the northeastern horizon and sets along the northwestern horizon. At Washington, D.C. (38.89° North latitude and 77.03° degrees West longitude) the Sun reaches a maximum altitude of 74.7° above the horizon, the highest maximum altitude all year. "This maximum angle occurs precisely at local solar noon, which usually happens around 1:00 PM EDT due to the Earth's axial tilt of 23.5° and daylight saving time adjustments." Source Credit: Google AI.
Also notice the odd-looking figure eight that is shown in red on the preceding screenshot. It's called an analemma. The crest of the figure eight shows the Sun's maximum northern latitude on the June Solstice.
Many years ago I used the "Theodolite" app to show the direction of sunrise on the March Equinox. You might want to do something similar for either sunrise or sunset on the June Solstice.
20 MAR 2011 | 7:12 a.m. | Facing east.
Tech Tips
The following settings were selected under "PREFS" (upper-left corner) / "Camera Options...": "Screenshot"; "Photo Size" <100%>; and "Also Save Regular Image" <Yes>.
The "Theodolite" app isn't available for devices running the Android OS. According to Google AI, the top-rated comparable app is "Sololocator - GPS Field Camera" ($0.99), available from Google Play.
Sunrise Positions in Washington, D.C. - a post from my old Web server, rescued from the Wayback Machine Internet Archive, featuring a time series of photos by Dr. Robert Weinbeck, American Meteorological Society
The following YouTube video includes three time lapse video clips that show the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA during the afternoon on 09 June 2026. Three photo sets were captured using a Fujifilm X-T3, 18-55mm kit lens, and Viltrox DC-A1 camera monitor. Each photo set was rendered to video using Apple "QuickTime Player"; each movie clip was edited using Apple "Photos." The final video was created using DaVinci Resolve.
09 June 2026 | Fairfax County, Virginia USA
The sky was overcast to mostly cloudy, covered by high level cirroform clouds at 25,000 feet. Notice the cirrocumulus clouds visible in all three video clips.
A "Viltrox DC-A1 2800 Nits 7-Inch Camera Monitor" enabled me to see the camera display clearly, even in direct afternoon sunlight. The monitor sells for $278.00 MSRP; I bought it on sale for $236.30 from B&H Photo. The DC-A1 comes with a snap-on/off Sun Hood, L-series/NP-F550 battery, HDMI Type-A cable, HDMI Type-A to Mini-HDMI cable, and USB-C power cable (USB-C to USB-A), among other accessories.
My Fujifilm X-T3 connects to the Viltrox DC-A1 via a micro-HDMI to full-size HDMI cable, not included with the monitor. (My Fujifilm X-T1 features a mini-HDMI connector, but HDMI Output works only during Playback.)
The Viltrox DC-A1 can be used to show the display of my Apple iPad mini 6 by connecting the iPad to a CalDigit SOHO Dock via a USB-C cable, then connecting the SOHO to the Viltrox DC-A1 via a full-size HDMI cable. Although the display size of the Apple iPad mini and Viltrox DC-A1 is similar, the DC-A1 is much brighter than the iPad (as shown below).
It's all about "nits."
"nits" is a quantitative measure of screen brightness. The following bulleted list shows the brightness (in nits) for many of the cameras and devices I own.
Viltrox DC-A1 Camera Monitor = 2800 nits
Apple iPad mini 6 = 500 nits
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ = 480 nits
Fujifilm X-T3 = estimated 300-400 nits
Fujifilm X-T1 = no official rating (seems to be dimmer than X-T3)
Panasonic DMC-FZ300 = estimated 400-500 nits
Canon EOS 5D Mark II = estimated 350-400 nits
GoPro HERO4 Black action camera = There is no viewfinder screen on the back of the HERO4 Black, only a small "Camera Status Screen" on the front of the camera. (GoPro "Quik" app runs on Apple iPad mini 6, therefore 500 nits.)
Skyflow (iOS app) = Runs on Apple iPad mini 6, therefore 500 nits.
In contrast with the Viltrox DC-A1, the highly rated Atomos Ninja 5.2" 4K HDMI Recording Monitor has a smaller screen, isn't as bright (1,000 nits), and sells for a higher price ($589.00 MSRP). Yes, the Atomos can record video, but so can my cameras.
The following YouTube video -- including two "all sky" time lapse videos and a panoramic composite image -- shows the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA during the afternoon of 01 June 2026. A Fujifilm X-T1 plus Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens was used to capture the two "all sky" time lapse video clips. The panoramic composite image was captured using the "Camera" app on an iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode.
The entire dome of the sky is shown in the 190° circular field of view in the "all sky" time lapse videos: the zenith is located in the center of circle; the horizon is located around the outer rim of the circle. The sky was covered by low level cumuliform clouds and high level cirroform clouds. Notice the wind shear between the lower- and upper level clouds: the cumiliform clouds are streaming from north to south; the cirroform clouds are streaming from west to east.
01 June 2016 | Fairfax County, Virginia USA
The tree on the left side of the panoramic composite image is the same one shown in the second time lapse video clip.
Tech Tips
DaVinci Resolve was used to create the YouTube video. Not bad for my second video created using DaVinci, if I do say so myself.
Two short video clips and one composite panoramic image were used to create the movie. In order to avoid losing frames of content, "jump cuts" were used between the three media segments. Simple "fade out/in" transitions (one second) were used for the title- and credits screens, respectively.
Two time series of photos were taken during the afternoon on 13 May 2026 using my Fujifilm X-T3 camera and a Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens. Apple "QuickTime Player" was used to render JPEG images from each photo set into a time lapse video. Both videos were edited using Apple "Photos."
The camera was mounted on a tripod with the lens facing the zenith. The entire dome of the sky is shown in the circular field of view; the horizon is located around the outer rim of the circle.
The "Scene 1" time lapse video was created from 398 photos: first image = 1:38 PM; last image = 1:58 PM. 20 minutes of actual recording time resulted in ~13 seconds of "raw" time lapse video, given the recording settings I used.
The "Scene 2" time lapse video was created from 424 photos: first image = 2:02 PM; last image = 2:23 PM. 21 minutes of actual recording time resulted in ~14 seconds of "raw" time lapse video.
Low-, middle- and high level clouds were moving across the sky from the south-southwest to north-northeast. A southerly wind was steady at ~15-20 mph, gusting to ~25-30 mph.
The following panoramic composite images were taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The iPad was mounted on a tripod located in the shade of the tree shown on the left side of the first panoramic image (below).
13 May 2026. 2:34 PM. Panoramic view. (16352 x 3900 pixels.)
13 May 2026. 2:39 PM. Panoramic view. (14762 x 3598 pixels.)
13 May 2026. 2:42 PM. Panoramic view. (11480 x 3824 pixels.)
Camera Settings
The camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. The Meike lens features a "clickless" aperture ring. The Aperture was set for the f/8 mark on the aperture ring. The manual focus ring was set near the 3 ft mark. The Shutter Speed was set for 1/2,500 s.
The camera was set to record FINE+RAW, in L 3:2 format (6240 x 4160 pixels). A three (3) second interval was used to allow sufficient time for the camera to save the photo files to a memory card.
Tech Tips
The Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens, mounted on a Fujifilm X-T3 camera with an APS-C sensor, produces an image that nearly fills a square with the dimensions of 4160 x 4160 pixels. I set the camera to record images using a 3:2 aspect ratio (6240 x 4160 pixels), so the entire field of view is recorded with black "bars" on both sides of the image.
Warning: 16:9 format (6240 x 3512 pixels) results in an image that is cropped at the top and bottom for this camera/lens combination. Since 4K video has an aspect ratio of 16:9 the top and bottom of the photos will be cropped so that the "all sky" field of view is lost, as shown in the following video.
"Fisheye on the Sky" (0:35) - a YouTube video by Walter Sanford
It's worth noting the two time lapse clips with a 3:2 aspect ratio look fine in the Apple "iMovie" timeline, but they are cropped when the project is exported in 4K.
You might be wondering "How is Apple "QuickTime Player" able to create videos with a 3:2 aspect ratio?" (like the two videos at the beginning of this blog post). "QuickTime" features an "Actual Size..." setting for Resolution (shown below) that enables the creation of time lapse videos with a 3:2 aspect ratio.
Resolution: Actual Size...
What's Next?
I need to learn how to create videos using a 3:2 aspect ratio so that I can add titles, transitions, credits, and a music track as easily as I can using Apple "iMovie." Advice from readers of my blog is invited and welcome. I look forward to seeing your suggestions.
Sky Arch - another one of my blog posts, documenting my failed attempt to use a GoPro HERO4 Black action camera to create an all sky video
How to make a timelapse with iMovie (7:17) - a YouTube video by Matthew Vandeputte [Note: Matthew demonstrates how to use Apple "QuickTime" to make a time lapse video, beginning at the ~4:50 s mark.]
The following photo was taken during the afternoon on 08 May 2026 using my Fujifilm X-T3 camera and a Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens. The camera was facing in a northerly direction. Low level cumuliform clouds were moving across the sky for most of the afternoon.
08 May 2026. 1:51 PM. Fisheye view. (4160 x 4160 pixels.)
This was my first field test of the Meike lens. I'm encouraged by the quality of the photos that I shot. Maybe next time I'll remember to set the camera to record RAW images. Fog of war. That being said, a sample size of one proves nothing. I look forward to testing the lens more thoroughly in the near future.
Panorama Photos
The following panoramic composite images were taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The iPad was mounted on a tripod located in the shade of the tree shown at the top of the preceding fisheye photo.
08 May 2026. 1:32 PM. Panoramic view. (15711 x 3934 pixels.)
08 May 2026. 1:35 PM. Panoramic view. (15210 x 3688 pixels.)
The midday Sun in late spring is high in the sky, making it difficult to shoot photos of the sky that don't show the disc of the Sun, given the 190° field of view of the Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens. Direct sunlight can cause damage to the camera lens and sensor. Both the tree and a passing cloud blocked direct sunlight when the fisheye photo was taken.
Camera Settings
The camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. The Meike lens features a "clickless" aperture ring. The Aperture was set for the f/8 mark on the aperture ring. The manual focus ring was set near the infinity (∞) mark. The Shutter Speed was set for 1/1,600 s.
The camera was set to record JPEG only (L Fine), in L 1:1 format (4160 x 4160 pixels). I thought the square format might be better for photos that could be used to create time lapse videos.
In retrospect, it might have been better to record the images in 3:2 format (6240 x 4160 pixels) in order to allow more flexibilty for cropping and annotating images. Warning: 16:9 format (6240 x 3512 pixels) results in an image that is cropped at the top and bottom for this camera/lens combination.
Tech Tips
The Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens is a manual lens -- completely manual, as in there are no electronic contacts that enable the lens to communicate with the camera. In order to take photos using the lens you must set the camera to "SHOOT WITHOUT LENS," as shown in the following video.
There's one caveat: You can use the Fujifilm "XApp" to shoot photos without setting the camera to "SHOOT WITHOUT LENS." My recommendation? Set it and forget it. That way your camera will work with or without connecting to the "XApp."
The preceding "how to" video was recorded using HDMI Output from my Fujifilm X-T3 camera. A micro-HDMI cable was connected to the HDMI connector on the camera, and tethered to my Apple iPad mini 6 using a MavisLink Video Capture Card (HDMI to USB) and Apple USB-C to USB-A Adapter (also known as an OTG adapter). "Dongled," a free Apple iOS app, was used to display HDMI video from the camera; the iPad display was captured using screen recording.
The Backstory
I own a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (RPi). I bought it to use for capturing images from polar-orbiting weather satellites. Well, that was the plan but it never worked as well as I hoped.
I haven't used my RPi since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decommissioned all of its Automatic Picture Transmission polar-orbiting weather satellites. I've been thinking about repurposing the RPi as an "all sky camera" by adding a camera/lens and installing free open source software for controlling the camera.
As I was researching cameras and lenses that can be used with my RPi, I noticed some information and videos related to fisheye lenses that are used for capturing all sky imagery with APS-C cameras like my Fujifilm X Series cameras. I realized a wide angle "circular fisheye" lens is perfect for my needs.
I started shopping online and quickly discovered the Meike MK-6.5mm f/2 Circular Fisheye Lens for FUJIFILM X seemed to be one of the better lenses on the market, and its $130 price point made it very attractive. I bought the lens from B&H Photo on Wednesday, 29 March 2026; it was delivered on Friday, 01 May 2026.
The lens was supposed to come with a "lens pouch"; the pouch wasn't in the box. By the time I contacted B&H on Thursday, 07 May 2026 the lens had been "Discontinued" by B&H. I asked Marvin C., the B&H product specialist with whom I chatted, "How do we make this right?" Marvin suggested I contact Meike. Good luck with that, Marvin! Meike is a Chinese company whose "Contact Us" Web page doesn't include a link for resolving issues like mine.
I didn't buy the lens from Meike -- I bought the lens from B&H Photo therefore I think the missing lens pouch is a B&H problem. The old B&H Photo that I grew to know and love would have offered to provide a lens pouch for similar sized lenses, free of charge. But that didn't happen.
B&H Photo has been my go-to store for photography gear. Over many years I've purchased a lot of gear from B&H. As a result, I expect better customer service than I received. Are you listening B&H? This is how businesses lose loyal customers.
The following panoramic time lapse video shows the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA during the afternoon on 20 April 2026. The camera pans counterclockwise from east-northeast to south-southwest.
Two video segments were recorded using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on an inexpensive one-hour mechanical kitchen timer (available from Amazon): the first video segment is 14:11 seconds of "raw" video; the second segment is 36:19 seconds.
The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode at a resolution of 4K and an interval of one (1) second. This is the first time I've used a one (1) second interval for "sky lapses." I think the resulting video looks a little "smoother" than my go-to interval setting of two (2) seconds.
There is no viewfinder screen on the back of the HERO4 Black, only a small "Camera Status Screen" on the front of the camera. Although it’s possible to operate the HERO4 Black manually using only the small screen on the front of the camera, it’s less than ideal for navigating menus and making settings.
In my opinion, it’s much easier to pair the camera with either a smart phone or tablet running the GoPro “Quik” app and use one of those devices to control the camera remotely. In this case I used the GoPro "Quik" app [Version 13.20.2 (18532)] -- running on an Apple iPad mini 6 -- to compose the scene.
You go, GoPro!
The GoPro HERO4 Black is easy to use for creating time lapse videos and works well. Under ideal conditions (primarily good light) the GoPro works as well or better than more expensive photography gear I own. For example, compare/contrast the GoPro time lapse video (shown above) with the time lapse video output from my Fujifilm X-T3, shot a little earlier the same day.
And it's worth mentioning the mechanical one-hour kitchen timer works as well as sliders that cost hundreds of dollars. That's why I refer to it fondly as "the little kitchen timer that could."
Related Resources
"CommerciaLapse" is a blog post by Walter Sanford that provides detailed information about how the kitchen timer can be mounted on a tripod.
[Gotta get] Back In Time - another blog post by Walter Sanford that features time lapse video from 20 April 2026 created using my Fujifilm X-T3 camera.
Post update: If you look closely at the second video clip, then you will see slight camera "jitter" that's noticeable when looking at the top of the concrete wall shown in the foreground. Don't blame the one-hour kitchen timer -- the "jitter" was caused by my failure to lock in position all of the adjustment knobs on my tripod/ball head. That isn't a problem when the wind is calm. Problem is I wasn't expecting the 30 mph wind gusts that began after I started the time lapse. From now on my new mantra is "Hope for the best; prepare for the worst."
"Wind (mph)," "Weather" and "Sky Cond." are highlighted by red rectangles in the following excerpt from a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 20 April 2026 nearest the time when I recorded the time lapse video. Wind was ~15 mph, gusting 25-30 mph as a cold front passed.
My last blog post describes field testing my Fujifilm X-T3 for making time lapse videos, when two sets of photos were taken: the first set was used to create the following "Sky Lapse" time lapse video; next I shot the set used to create the "Road Lapse" featured in my last post.
The camera was facing east toward the sky from the 6th floor of a seven-story parking garage. A time series of 302 JPG photos was shot from 12:06 pm to 12:21 pm using a three (3) second interval. 15 minutes of actual recording time resulted in approximately 10 seconds of time lapse video, given the recording settings I used.
31 March 2026. Facing east.
A few thin, wispy cirroform clouds were the only clouds in the sky.
Panorama Photo
The following panoramic composite image was taken from the top of the same parking garage using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The camera panned nearly 360° from west-northwest to south-southeast.
31 March 2026 at 12:42 pm. Panoramic view. (16350 x 3790 pixels.)
Wind (mph), Weather and Sky Condition
"Wind (mph)," "Weather" and "Sky Cond." are highlighted by red rectangles in the following excerpt from a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 31 March 2026 nearest the times when I recorded the photos used to create the time lapse video, and the panoramic composite image.
A few clouds were reported at 25,000 feet. At that altitude, the cloud types were high level cirroform clouds.
Tech Tips
My Fujifilm X-T3 camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. Aperture was set for f/11. Shutter Speed was 1/500 second. ISO was set for 160. White Balance was set for "Daylight." The focal length of the 18-55mm kit lens was set for 18mm (27mm, 35mm equivalent). Aspect Ratio was set for 16:9 (6240 x 3512 pixels). Image Quality was set for FINE+RAW (Fine JPEG plus RAF).
The ELECTRONIC LEVEL was turned on. The manual focus DEPTH-OF-FIELD SCALE was set for "FILM FORMAT BASIS."
I selected a three (3) second interval to be sure there was enough time for the camera to write the FINE+RAW files to a memory card. Each Fine JPG is 8.1 MB; each RAW (RAF) is 56.1 MB. In retrospect, my usual two (2) second interval probably would have worked.
I set the camera to use the Fujifilm "Velvia/VIVID" "Film Simulation" in the hope it would add a little "pop" to the clouds in the sky. In this case, the film simulation didn't help with the thin, wispy clouds. I haven't edited the RAW files I recorded -- maybe I can tweak them to look better than the JPEGs that were processed in-camera.
You know, there's more than one way to make a time lapse video and I'm a man on a mission to field test all of the gear I own that can create time lapses.
I decided to test the "Interval Timer Shooting" feature of my Fujifilm X-T3 camera. The camera has a built-in intervalometer; it doesn't do in-camera rendering of photos to video.
My camera was facing east from the 6th floor of a seven-story parking garage. A time series of 311 JPG photos was shot from 12:24 pm to 12:29 pm using a one (1) second interval. Five (5) minutes of actual recording time resulted in approximately 10 seconds of time lapse video, given the recording settings I used.
All trees "flower," some more noticeably than others, like the ones with purple- or white flowers shown in the video. At the time when this video was recorded many trees were almost in full leaf. In my experience, that's two weeks earlier than usual despite record-setting cold during this past winter.
Panorama Photo
The following panoramic composite image was taken from the 6th floor of the parking garage using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The camera was facing east. No, the black metal safety railing isn't actually curved.
31 March 2026. Facing east.
Tech Tips
My Fujifilm X-T3 camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. Aperture was set for f/11. Shutter Speed was 1/500 second. ISO was set for 160. White Balance was set for "Daylight." The focal length of the 18-55mm kit lens was set for 18mm (27mm, 35mm equivalent). Aspect Ratio was set for 16:9 (6240 x 3512 pixels). Image Quality was set for Fine JPEG.
The ELECTRONIC LEVEL (green line) was turned on. The manual focus DEPTH-OF-FIELD SCALE (blue bar), set for "FILM FORMAT BASIS," indicated everything from slightly more than three (3) feet to infinity was acceptably in focus, as shown in the following HDMI screenshot of the X-T3 LCD.
Fujifilm "Film Simulations" are "recipes" for recording JPG files in-camera. ("Film Simulations" aren't applied to RAW files.) I set the camera to use the "Velvia/VIVID" "Film Simulation." ("Vibrant reproduction, ideal for landscape and nature." Source Credit: Fujifilm.)
Apple "QuickTime" was used to render the video; the output was edited using Apple "Photos." Titles, credits, and a music bed were added using Apple "iMovie."
Editorial Commentary: Both "pal2tech" and "Grandads Reviews" are correct in their explanation of how the Fujifilm "Depth-of-Field Scale" works but I chose to follow "Grandads Reviews" recommendation to set the scale for "Film Format Basis" when doing landscape photography.
I think the Fujifilm "Depth-of-Field Scale" set for "Film Format Basis" looks like and works similarly to the manual focus scale (yellow bar) featured in my Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ150, shown below.
My Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ300 superzoom bridge camera was facing east-southeast from the 6th floor of a seven-story parking garage. A time series of 250 JPG photos was shot from 1:24 pm to 1:36 pm using a three (3) second interval. 12.5 minutes of actual recording time resulted in approximately eight seconds of time lapse video, given the recording settings I used.
A short time lapse video segment was created in-camera using the FZ300. The in-camera video creation process features an option to change the duration of the output -- I selected the option to double the duration of the video segment from eight (8) seconds to 17 seconds. The output was edited using Apple "Photos."
20 March 2026. Facing east. (0:17 s)
The next time lapse video was created using Apple "QuickTime" to render the same 250 JPG photos. The output was edited using Apple "Photos."
20 March 2026. Facing east. (0:08 s)
Both videos show high level cirroform clouds moving across the sky from west-northwest to east-southeast.
Panorama Photos
The following panoramic composite images were taken from the top of the same parking garage using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The camera panned nearly 360° from west-northwest to south-southeast.
2:12 pm. Wider panoramic view. (15394 x 3678 pixels.)
2:17 pm. Wider panoramic view. (15905 x 3640 pixels.)
Wind (mph), Weather and Sky Condition
"Wind (mph)," "Weather" and "Sky Cond." are highlighted by red rectangles in the following excerpt from a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 20 March 2026 nearest the times when I recorded the photos used to create the time lapse videos, and the panoramic composite images.
"Sky Condition" was reported as FEW, SCT, and BKN -- the cloud level was 25,000 feet at all times. The sky was filled with a mix of high level cirroform clouds, as mentioned previously in this blog post.
Looking Down
The following images were captured from Meteor M2-4 -- one of two Russian polar orbiting weather satellites -- during the afternoon on 20 March 2026 by Luis Acosta, my good friend and amateur radio guru.
Luis's ground station is located in New Jersey (USA) but as you can see the view shown in the satellite images includes my location in Northern Virginia (USA). Although the time of the satellite pass (4:22 p.m. EDT) isn't perfectly synchronous with the times of my time lapse video and panoramas it's close enough.
Meteor M2-4. Image used with permission from Luis Acosta.
Meteor M2-4. Image used with permission from Luis Acosta.
Zoom in on the mid-Atlantic region (USA). Notice Luis's weather satellite images (above) show the same mix of cirroform clouds as is shown in my time lapse videos and panoramic images.
The following video was created by Luis Acosta. Video used with permission from Luis.
Tech Tips
My Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ300 camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. Aperture was set for f/7.1. Shutter Speed was 1/500 second. ISO was set for 100. White Balance was set for "Daylight." The focal length was 4.5mm (25mm, 35mm equivalent). Aspect Ratio was set for 16:9 (4000 x 2248 pixels). [Picture] Quality was set for Fine JPG; each Fine JPG is 2.7 MB.
Luis's weather satellite receiving ground station includes the following hardware and software: Raspberry Pi 4 running the RaspiNOAA V2 image; RTL-SDR V4; generic wideband low noise amplifier (LNA); and DIY Quadrifilar Helix (QFH) antenna.
The "zoom in" video (shown above) was created by Luis using the "ActionDirector" Android app running on his Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra smartphone.
Halo - another blog post by Walter Sanford [Note: See the section entitled "Tech Tips" for information about how to capture very wide panoramic views of the sky.]
The following brief time lapse video segments were captured and created using "Skyflow," an Apple iOS app running on my Apple iPad mini 6. My goal was simple: Capture a time lapse using the "RAW+JPEG" photo setting that could be used for testing purposes. In particular, I wanted to experiment with in-app editing of RAW files.
Here's the JPEG version of the time lapse video exported "as is" from "Skyflow."
27 February 2026. Video created using JPEG files.
Here's the JPEG version of the time lapse video exported from "Skyflow" and edited using Apple "Photos."
27 February 2026. Video created using JPEG files, edited using Apple "Photos."
And here's the version created using RAW files (negatives/DNGs) post-processed using the "Skyflow" in-app editor. My objective was to make the RAW version look as good or better than the JPEG version edited using Apple "Photos."
27 February 2026. Video created using RAW files.
Looking at the JPEG and RAW versions of the same video side-by-side, I think the JPEG version looks slightly better, and the JPEG version edited with "Photos" looks the best of all three. That tells me my "recipe" for in-app editing of RAW files probably needs to be tweaked for better results.
The following photo shows the first frame of the RAW files before it was edited. Notice the RAW image looks "flat" and washed out. The RAW files have much more dynamic range than the JPEGs shot at the same time, so it should be possible to edit them to look better than the JPEGs.
HEIC image saved from RAW video before editing.
Finally, here's the "recipe" I used to edit the RAW files using the in-app editor.
Brightness = +/-0
Contrast = +14
Gamma = +/-0
Shadows = +14
Highlights = -14
Black Point = +/-0
Saturation = +26
Vibrancy = +14
Noise Reduction + 0
Sharpness = 8
Vignette = 0
Please comment on this blog post if you have suggestions for improving my "recipe." Thanks!
Tech Tips
The Apple "Camera" app on iPad mini 6 IS NOT CAPABLE of shooting RAW files (negatives/DNGs). Yet "Skyflow" can, and it uses the iPad camera. What's wrong with this picture? Hey Apple -- are you listening? This problem needs to be fixed STAT!
Among many nice features in "Skyflow," lots of useful information is available by tapping on a recording to open in "project view" (my name for the screen) and tapping the "i" button shown in the upper-left corner. In this case, I am reminded the app was set for Focus = Locked, Exposure = Auto, and White Balance = Locked.
"Skyflow" (i)nfo.
Nothing But Blue Skies ... well, almost
In my last blog post, I described how to interpret the "Sky Cond." shown in a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 27 February 2026 nearest the time when I recorded the time lapse video (shown above). The low level clouds shown in the video are fair weather cumulus (Cu).
