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Time-lapse Photography on the Quick & Dirty [tech]

_How many seconds of time-lapse video can be produced in two hours?
_How do you set up your camera for time lapse?
_What kind of gear do you need?
_What kind of results can you get with a $200 camera vs a $5,000 camera?

I sat at the top of Signal Hill in Capetown, South Africa a few weeks ago to shoot some timelapse for a video project I’m working on. In the process, I thought we’d bust out a video to demonstrate the possibilities. I explain in the video above. We shot a Nikon D3s, a Nikon D7000 and two GoProHero2’s to create four different angles. Enjoy!

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22 replies on:
Time-lapse Photography on the Quick & Dirty [tech]

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  1. Wolf says:
    September 4, 2012 at 10:47 am

    I think the GoPro timelapse parts look better because the scenes shot were more interesting and had more tonal variety.

    1. Anonymous says:
      September 4, 2012 at 2:36 pm

      wider shot, in this case = tonal variety.

      but i do love the go pros for sure. that’s part of what makes a time lapse cool… variety, movement, etc. perfect in this case for lots of cameras, but the go pros rocked it.

  2. Kristopher Michael says:
    September 4, 2012 at 10:42 am

    I disagree, I thought the tone and clarity on the D7000 took the cake. The GoPro’s were awesome, but there’s something about a D7000 timelapse that just looks better when done right.

  3. Timo says:
    September 4, 2012 at 10:22 am

    I agree. It’s not due to the cameras though. The scenery as chosen just doesn’t work for long focal lengths. A DSLR with a wide angle lens shooting the same angle the GoPros did would most likely give you footage with more headroom in the highlights.
    Still a nice result for the GoPros though!

    1. Anonymous says:
      September 4, 2012 at 2:35 pm

      no question there’s a better sensor in the bigger cameras – room in the exposure / files.

      that said, the “scenery chosen” was actually more dramatic in real life than thru the long lens due to the density of some of the clouds moving in front of the peak and the 10 second intervals we chose. had we chose a shorter interval you would not have been making this comment… the small clouds were rallying off that peak like crazy!

  4. WillG says:
    September 4, 2012 at 10:13 am

    Were the Nikon’s set on Manual or Aperture Priority? The GoPro2’s were obviously on auto.
    Hope y’all got a burger at Royal of Long St. Best burger and milkshakes on the continent.

    1. Timo says:
      September 4, 2012 at 10:23 am

      I suppose at least the D3s was on manual. Lots of underexposed footage there..

    2. Anonymous says:
      September 4, 2012 at 2:32 pm

      both were on manual. picking an exposure has the upside of “feeling” when it gets dark” and the downside of not knowing how dark it can get…

      auto is simple – great for go pro. since we had 4 cameras we were able to throw caution to the wind on non-auto exposure cameras, which we did.

  5. Jingcheng says:
    September 4, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Strangely enough, the GoPros were the best ones, IMHO.

    1. Harry Guinness says:
      September 4, 2012 at 10:04 am

      I totally agree. The D7000 is nice too but the D3s is blown away by the GoPros!

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