# Best Camera for Timelapsing



## Hector1970 (May 5, 2015)

Hi All,
I was looking for a bit of advice.
I was wondering if anyone could let me know what is the best type of camera to use for timelapsing.

I have done some of this with my 5D Mark III and a GoPro.
With the 5D Mark III the results are good but I'm a bit worried about burning out the shutter mechanism.

Is electronic shutter more suited to timelapsing?
Has anyone got a recommended camera?
Is there a well known one that timelapsers use.
I have a timelapse controller so the camera itself doesn't necessarily need an intervalometer.

So I am looking for that combination of image quality and robustness.
Canon or any other brand would be considered.
Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Hector1970 (May 8, 2015)

Any timelapsers with advice?
Is it just use a 5D III and to hell with the shutter count - mirror systems can be replaced?
or is there a camera with an electronic shutter that could last longer and be less impacted.

I've found you don't need the camera at it's highest quality to get a good timelapse that if you set it say at L or a lower quality you'd end up with a similar result. Maybe this isn't actually very true.


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## [email protected] (May 8, 2015)

5D3 is about optimal, in my opinion. For landscape-oriented time lapse. I'm doing (right now, actually) some wildlife time lapse, with a 7D2 trained on a broad-winged hawk nest. The crop factor is very useful there, as I don't want to disturb the birds. 

I do recommend getting a third party intervalometer, rather than using the built-in one featured in the 7D2. It's fine, but it doesn't allow for delay or for more complicated timing (like until sundown and then again starting up in the a.m.) I gotta tell you, though, it was a real life saver yesterday, when I found myself out in the woods having forgotten my intervalometer. At the last second, before heading back home, I remembered the 7D2 had the feature, and I tried it for the first time. Can't complain. 

I am a little interested in testing it out some more, though, because I would up getting pretty poor battery performance on that set of pictures (1750 pictures running 2 LP-E6's in a battery grip). I think I might have mistakenly put on picture view. Will test some more. I have the camera in the woods now with the screen turned off (double checked this time), and I hope to get 3,000.

The camera I use most for time lapse: my little backup SL1. Pretty good image quality, and I can leave it outside for most of a day and not miss it, letting me take pictures with my main bodies while the time lapse churns. I think once you get up to the level of a decent crop sensor, the incremental benefit of a full frame sensor doesn't get you much more in the video, barring low light conditions. 

I'm very fond of the TriggerTrap, but I do find it limiting to need an iPad or iPhone, as I find that they sometimes drain their batteries quite quickly when running the app. 

My wife gave me for xmas a couple years ago one of those dedicated Brinno timelapse cameras, and I love it. The image quality is pretty poor, but I use it to scout locations for interesting animals, etc. It makes it easy to quickly move around and review the best opportunities to set up the real camera and have much better odds of capturing something interesting. If you're shooting landscapes/environment shots, this won't help you much.


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## tron (May 12, 2015)

Make sure your 5DIII runs 1.2.3 and download and install Magic Lantern (the latest from nightly builds).

Please read instructions carefully.

It is mentioned that the latest added module (silent full res pictures) takes pictures without using the shutter.

It uses a limited shutter range though.

ML also supports timelapse photography without hardware addons...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 12, 2015)

Battery capacity may be the most important factor, unless you are in a position to use AC power. Many cameras do not have large batteries and they run down quickly. 

If running on battery, check out just how long you can go on a charge. I assume you will want a battery grip with double the life.

A appropriately sized card is a help also. Determine how large of a card you will need, if battery life is limiting you, get one that will last until the battery dies.

There may be external battery packs, people have made their own for cases where long term timelapses were required.


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## meywd (May 13, 2015)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Battery capacity may be the most important factor, unless you are in a position to use AC power. Many cameras do not have large batteries and they run down quickly.
> 
> If running on battery, check out just how long you can go on a charge. I assume you will want a battery grip with double the life.
> 
> ...



Yeah battery grips and extra batteries are a must, and if the camera need to shoot for a long time then a power pack is also a must, as for cards it depends on how many photos, but when shooting timelapse raw is rarely needed, and so the file size shrinks considerably.


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