Intervalometer / Time Lapse Looking for a device for time lapse photography

[rvalkass 5]

I've always been fascinated by time lapse photography, and it's something I've been wanting to try for a while now that I have a decent camera to try it with.

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

I have a Nikon D90 with a remote port, which allows for the connection of corded external accessories. It also has an infra-red trigger system, to allow triggering the shutter remotely without a cable tying you to the camera. So far, I've found three options for time lapse photography in general:

Buy an expensive official timer/intervalometer

Buy a cheap timer/intervalometer from eBay

Roll your own

The official (Nikon/Canon made) devices are obviously expensive, and don't seem to be that popular for some reason. I haven't been able to find out much information about official devices that would work with my camera to trigger the shutter once every x seconds/minutes/hours.

 

The cheap devices from eBay are all made by unknown companies in China and Hong Kong, so while the shipping is steep, the cost is lower. The problem, of course, is that they are a complete unknown. Has anyone bought one of these devices? What was your experience? Is the build quality any good, etc.? Basically, I don't want to shell out for one of these only to find out it doesn't work very well or falls to bits, and then have to buy an 'official' one anyway.

 

The final option is building my own device. The circuitry should be fairly simple - a small timer circuit connected to the switch and cable from a remote release. Simply trigger the switch whenever the timer circuit elapses. Being a geek and a physicist I should be able to make something fairly decent, but I doubt it would be anywhere near as polished as a manufactured device. The cost might also be a slight issue - components are obviously more expensive to me than a company buying in bulk. Has anyone had success making their own timer/intervalometer for time lapse photography? If so, would you recommend going down that route?

 

Any help, advice and suggestions are obviously appreciated

[anwiii 17]

hey- i didn't know you were in to photography. i always loved photography and the only thing i really haven't done which i always wanted to try was time lapse photography where i can put all my photos together and create a small clip.with digital photography now, it makes time lapse photography that much easier. i don't have a digital camera though. i am stick stuck with my nikon n70. i actually gave it to my mom a while back to get her in to photography, then about 6 months ago(after 5 years), she went ahead and bought a d90 or something. i was jealous :)anyway, i think for your first few clips, you want to play around with it without any auto triggering system. personally, the more hands on my photography is, the more proud i am of my work. it's just a hobby so i can do everything by hand for my first few projects i'm sure.i think the 2 most crucial aspects of time lapse photography would be how long you leave your shutter open for each picture, and how many frames per second you edit your final video to be. shooting the pictures are easy but can be time consuming if doing it without an intervalometer. if you do decide to go with an intervalometer, a decent one that would do the job would only cost $50 or so. not really something that will break you considering your digital camera and accessories you already have probably is worth over $1,000.i know that if i had a digital camera, i would have already tried my hand in time lapse photography. i would start off with a simple project like the sky and the clouds....then get in to shooting a full moon or something.....then get in to something more complex like moving cars at dusk or at night where i can play with the shutter speed a little more and get even more creativethe creativity wont stop at just taking the pictures, but with the final editing process. my mouth is watering just thinking about it. unfortunately i don't have the means or the time without a good digital camera. i do have a a cheap one, but i don't have a tripod which is almost a necessity for time lapse photography. i mean, i am used to shooting at night with the shutter open for a second or so when i prop the camera on a car hood or a tree limb, but it's not the same. any slight movement from the camera in the three hours or so you are shooting would ruin the final clip entirely.the only major problem i see with time lapse photography is having enough storage space for your pictures. you never want to run out so it's good to do all the math before you even start taking your first picture.if you already have your digital camera and a tripod, spend an hour or so to create your first group of pictures to run through editing software to create your first clip. upload it here so we can all see it :)doesn't have to be fancy and you don't need an intervalometer or however you spell that word....

[rvalkass 5]

I think the main thing is that I'm both lazy and forgetful If I trusted myself to push the trigger once every few seconds, I'd feel like it may as well be automated. Any longer and I know I'd forget a shot or two, leading to weird jumps in the final video.

 

I've always tried to be as hands on as possible with my photography, but I believe time lapse is an area where this could be tricky. For example, if the time interval is only a few seconds, there simply isn't time to adjust the aperture and shutter speed of each shot manually. If that's the case then there's not really a lot to do except open the shutter at set intervals, which is something a piece of electronics would do far better than I would manage!

 

I picked up a used tripod from eBay a while ago (a decent, sturdy Manfrotto for only £14) to use for all sorts of photography. It's a very stable one, so should be good for keeping the shot steady during time lapse. Like you say, any movement would be really obvious in time lapse, and become a lot jerkier when sped up into a video.

 

As for memory card space, I have an 8GB high-speed card which stores about 350 images at full resolution. If I know the images are going to be used for a video, I don't strictly need anything bigger than HD video resolution, which should allow me to increase the number of images I can fit on a card. Of course, if the interval is long enough, I can swap cards during the process to increase the storage capacity and let me continue shooting for longer.

 

I think to try it out I could set the camera up behind me and take photos once per second using the remote release cable I have. Once per second is the slowest I can set the continuous shooting mode, so it's a sort of poor man's time lapse at the moment We'll see how it turns out!

 

Later...

 

OK, turns out the continuous shooting mode does 100 exposures before stopping. So, armed with 100 images, I produced the following video with the awe-inspiring duration of 4 seconds Welcome to the world of me moving at very high speed!

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

It does at least prove the process works, and I know how to compile the video in software correctly. I spent the sum total of zero time cleaning up the photos or the video, so ignore the various flaws. The greatest problem is the 100 exposure limit on continuous shooting mode if I'm in the video. If not, I can stop and restart the continuous exposure every 100 seconds. This does limit me to a rate of one photo per second, however - there is no way to take photos slower than that.

[anwiii 17]

see, that was cool and that was just using the continuous picture taking feature. i know it has disadvantages, but you can learn a lot about time lapse photography just by tweaking what you already did and it could help with brainstorming bigger projects when your ready to.for instance, i would be curious to know what the same clip would look like if you set the shutter speed to 1/10 of a second or so to create a little blur and to make it look more like a time lapse and not just a video on fast forward. or you can do it the other way and set the time interval just a little longer. set the aperture accordingly so the film doesn't get too over exposed if you adjust the shutter speed though. you have a lot of light already in your room there.anyway, personally, i would be screwing around with what i have now just like what you just did with what you have. i totally forgot about the continuous shooting mode on most decent cameras. i thought your first video was pretty cool man! i am getting really jealous now since this is something i always wanted to mess around with. make another one :)oh. i just realized that you can use the continuous mode for 1 second at a time max. is this the setting you used? i suggested increasing that, not really knowing what you had it set to for this example. if so, the adjusting the shutter speed should create a more interesting affect.the reason why i said "hands on" is because this is a good idea at first once you warm up to the idea of bigger projects. that one second max feature for continuous pictures is also all you probably need to shoot one of those time lapse video examples in your first post with cars passing by. in the video you created, maybe 1 second isn't enough time since you are walking slower than a car travels. but you get my point. these 5 second videos is all you need right now to get started until you decide to buy or make something more automatic. also, you could always save your set of 100 pictures, reshoot the same scene etc...and combine all the sets together in the editing process for a longer clip. you can still do it with you in the scene. you would just have to illiminate the pictures/frames where you are seen walking back in to the scene/frame.

Edited January 23, 2011 by anwiii (see edit history)

[rvalkass 5]

I did that one entirely on auto, as I had absolutely no idea how it would turn out. Next time I will tweak the settings to get something a little better (hopefully!). I think the problem with screwing around with what I have is that the continuous shooting mode is limited to a slowest rate of 1 photo per second, and a maximum of 100 exposures. Obviously that gives a maximum duration in real time of 100 seconds, which isn't much for a time lapse considering you need 25 images to make one second of video. The alternative is to ignore the continuous shooting mode altogether and take the shots myself. That requires a far more interesting subject than the back of my head, but I'm sure I can find something. That way, I can take a photo every 5 seconds (for example) with a longer shutter speed. I can also go up to 4,100 images on one card at 1920x1080 resolution (HD video), so the final video can be much longer and more interesting!

[deadmad7 4]

Haha! The video of you using the computer made me laugh... why do you look around so much, its like you broke into the computer and looking for something and checking if no is around.... dun dun dun. Anyways, the only photography im into is the one i take on my phone of the door and walls that cool and stuff like that. Or like a friend standing on snow in b/w... phweet... photography is easy! I don't really see the point in making a 100 pics when you could have just sped up some video. Seems easier. The only way time lapse should be used is in projects like the ice receding over YEARS of period cause you can't take a video for that long (ok, maybe you can but its easier to take pics in this case). Anyways, try to get something on time lapse that no one has ever seen before... and not stuff like dawn and dusk and stuff like that for your "first" time lapse!

[anwiii 17]

deadmad- it's true that it looked more like a fast forwarded video. but see, it was a pretty good job actually. especially for the first or second time. photography is an art, bud....and for most people like me it's a hobby. it takes a lot of practice and an eye for detail or at least a vision. sorta like when you create your sigs. just because you don't see the point doesn't mean there isn't one.rvalkass- actually, the back of your head with your computer in front of you can make for a very interesting shot for time lapse photography because you are in total control of your movements and what is shown on the computer screen. this can create a special effect in and of itself that cannot be accomplished when shooting an image you have no control over. like i said before the simple technique you used for a 5 second clip can be used to inspire more creativity. just just with the shutter speed/continuous mode from the camera itself

[rvalkass 5]

Haha! The video of you using the computer made me laugh... why do you look around so much, its like you broke into the computer and looking for something and checking if no is around.... dun dun dun.

Because the noise of the shutter was so distracting! I'm also checking for ninjas. Everyone does that, right? Right...?

rvalkass- actually, the back of your head with your computer in front of you can make for a very interesting shot for time lapse photography because you are in total control of your movements and what is shown on the computer screen. this can create a special effect in and of itself that cannot be accomplished when shooting an image you have no control over. like i said before the simple technique you used for a 5 second clip can be used to inspire more creativity. just just with the shutter speed/continuous mode from the camera itself

My first thought when I watched it back was actually "Ooh, I could put a whole load of hats on my head using the monitor!" But then again I am a strange sort of guy...

[web_designer 7]

wow, it was so charming work, i really liked it. i always enjoying these kind of movies. they always makes me think deeply in the time we waste in our day, without noticing that, it is like seeing your whole life passing by your own eyes, and all that really makes you feel so small and useless. i don't know if anyone here thinks like me or it is only me but anyway, i liked your work, especially the sunset one. i always love watching the sky especially when the clouds move so fast. waiting more from you.by the way, the one you created about you was fun, it shows you like a human with a suer hero powers you were moving so fast . and i liked the music in your other video too. good choice.

[anwiii 17]

wd- the two examples in his original post were done by someone else. the last one was his first attempt at time lapse photography. pay attention :)glad to see you posting again though while you have time...

[web_designer 7]

wd- the two examples in his original post were done by someone else. the last one was his first attempt at time lapse photography. pay attention :)glad to see you posting again though while you have time...

oh god, this post was the last one i posted here before signing out . and you know reading everything after not being here for a while is tiring, especially with my sensitive condition you know ( i wonder how sheepdog do that all the time!!!)

any way, seems i didn't get things fully in here, well i remember i was reading a line and skipping the other sorry rvalkass i will pay more attention next time. but still, your work is similar to the above examples but needs some music to be added .

[anwiii 17]

haha, well being away is no excuse. i agree though. adding music would create a better effect to the time lapse. i was going to suggest that along with other things, but there is just too many things to suggest all at once where did this lazy guy go? i wanna see more videos!