# TimeLapse



## degies (Apr 20, 2015)

I am just wondering what others are using to do Timelapse. I had a Velo remote shutter that had some Timelapse capabilities, but really just used it for remote shutter in long exposure and low light stuff. It has since gone up in smoke so I need to find something. I am thinking to try my hand at some timelapse

Any advise on a new intervalometer for timelapse ?


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## tolusina (Apr 20, 2015)

DSLR Controller on android can do that.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.dslrcontroller&hl=en
To use, you'll need a compatible Canon which includes most recent models, a compatible android that supports USB Host functions and a USB Host (also known as OTG for 'On The Go") cable. OTG adapters got for as little as USD $3 om amazon, genuine Samsung runs around USD $17 at Best Buy.
If your camera does WiFi, DSLR Controller can also use that but I've found DSLR Controller over WiFi a less than gratifying experience.

The compatibility list is rather incomplete. I have several unlisted devices that run it just fine. 
If you connect a mouse, keyboard or thumb drive to an android via OTG and it works, the android should run DSLR Controller just fine.


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## Tinky (Apr 21, 2015)

I've had frustrating experiences with cheapo clones (the only kind available for my 60D and previous rebels) and I've found the canon one erratic, especially with my older DSLRs (I tend to buy clean older DSLRs for timelapse, I have a 20D which cost me £60, which has plenty of resolution for timelapse)

I do occassionally shoot on my newer cameras and if yours is supported (you don't say which model you are using) then magic lantern is free and has a very useful intervalometer as part of it's controls.

May I offer another bit of advice...

Adapt an old manual lens or get a samyang for timelapse. Aperture stepping can create inconsistent luma and wears out the lens.


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## meywd (Apr 21, 2015)

Magic Lantern has an intervalometer feature


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## East Wind Photography (Apr 21, 2015)

meywd said:


> Magic Lantern has an intervalometer feature



It also lets you shoot time lapse directly to video with shutter speed override. While the result is just full HD, it's easier to deal with in post rather than assembling individual images into a video stream. Also saves a lot of memory cards.

I'm not sure what the maximum exposure is and there is a limit. The traditional time lapse with an intervalometer would allow you to take very long exposures in sequence. The other benefit of ML intervalometer is that it also allows you to do exposure ramping so your transitions between night and day can be seemless.


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## gsealy (Apr 21, 2015)

I have been using:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008FBMQQC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's inexpensive and it works. Be sure to use completely manual settings in the camera. Otherwise the camera will continue to change its settings, which ruins the effect of the timelapse. 

Usually I go for 8 seconds of video. I shoot 240 shots at 15 second intervals. I then import the entire sequence into Lightroom. I modify the first one and then use the 'synch' feature to automatically do the same change to the remaining 239 shots. I then import the entire sequence into the video editor with an import setting of 1/30 seconds for each. This workflow works very well.


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## rpt (Apr 21, 2015)

gsealy said:


> I have been using:
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008FBMQQC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> It's inexpensive and it works. Be sure to use completely manual settings in the camera. Otherwise the camera will continue to change its settings, which ruins the effect of the timelapse.
> ...


The ML option East Wind Photography was talking about does not eat away your shutter clicks as it is handled in video.


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## StoneColdCoffee (Apr 21, 2015)

Ive been using Satechi, they've worked just fine.and now they even have Bluetooth versions. Canons cost but are good. 
you can up your game and go to a android/ipad tablet and use Zoltans Qdslr dashboard.http://dslrdashboard.info/

or you can really spend lots and go to the Elysia Visuals ramper Pro. 

plenty of good ones out there.Good luck.


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## Tinky (Apr 21, 2015)

East Wind Photography said:


> meywd said:
> 
> 
> > Magic Lantern has an intervalometer feature
> ...



Going down the stills route gives you the opportunity to shoot RAW (brilliant for post correction) and at a higher bit depth, useful at the edit stage even if ultimately compressing to 8-bit.

The biggest benefit of shooting stills instead of cranked video is the resolution. You can effect great zooms and pans within a static 18 or 24mp frame when outputting to 1080, which can really add interest.

It isn't that hard to do, quicktime pro makes it a doddle.


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## degies (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks for the great replies. It is good to know what works for others. If you ask the Google it will tell you everything, but if you ask the people you get to the real world workings much faster
I have a 5Diii and mainly do stills but as this hobby goes trying new things like timelapse and video is all part of the learning. I hear the new 7Dii has it build in so maybe firmware for the 5Diii will add it. 

Thanks for the advise thus far


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## aj1575 (May 4, 2015)

Triggertrap http://www.triggertrap.com/ can do this stuff. It is a bit more expensive than other solutions mentioned, but it works great.


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## degies (May 17, 2015)

So I have been trying to edit some time-lapse scenes mostly from what I found from Serge Ramseli's helpful site , but tonight I went out and captured my first set. I will post results of them if I am happy with my first attempt. My $24 cheapie intervalometer did just fine. However I found this hobby just keep on being expensive. So the next step is to build a dolly/slider/ track. That is the easy part. Then to really make it good you need to add some motion. Do-able and I even learned and got to grips with bulb ramping , but then you need to stop motion for astro photography to get the shots sharp. Then you need to add rotation to the motion and that's where my mechanical expertise failed me. Looks like I have to buy some stuff again. 
I have already build my own dolly and track opting for wheels in a groove as I can use the dolly on flat surfaces as well. However the motor part is not so easy especially as it needs to be able to stop and start if I plan to do astro time-lapses later. I disassembled my RC truck (temporarily) and build a basic motor and pulley from one of the servo's to just pull the dolly, but for sunsets you need to be ale to stop the dolly before the shot is captured. I am a bit pedantic about noise so mirror lockup and low ISO is a must for me when it comes to some stuff. So I am looking for some gadgets

So here is what I found
Genie https://syrp.co.nz/products/genie expensive but awesome reviews
Promote control - http://www.promote-control.com/bulb_ramping Awesome controller , but no motor
Astro http://orderastro.com/ but it looks like you need min two units and the mount so the Genie works better

There is some stuff from something called Adruino , but looks like I never did that electrical engineering course 

Any other suggestions are welcome


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## Tinky (May 17, 2015)

the skywatcher goto mount is a cheap way of adding motion. Once set up, if you have the inclination, it will actually track the movement of the sky.

You sound like agave a go kind of guy, it's also very hackable...a wee google a trip to radio shack, a wee bit of soldering....


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## wyldeguy (May 17, 2015)

degies said:


> There is some stuff from something called Adruino , but looks like I never did that electrical engineering course



Arduino is a micro control architecture. Very popular. It's obviously the most popular and you can find almost anything you could want already coded in arduino which is nice if you don't want to spend hours troubleshooting code.


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