Timelapse Tests?

[Stokestack]

On my 10D it was quite obvious as the difference between each shot could vary from 2-3 seconds even though all the shots' exposure time was the same

Then something was very wrong. What were you using to control it?

I have a 20D and the TC-80N3 controller. This controller has an idiotic 99-shot limit in the total-number-of-shots mode, but you can work around that by setting a total duration for the session or just baby-sitting it and stopping it manually or letting the card fill up. With cheap 2- and 4-gig cards, you don't need to get the data off the camera via USB. I don't recall the remote app making it impossible to store on CF, but maybe the old one did. I wrote a custom app with their SDK with lots of options; I might be able to dig it up if anyone's interested.

Canon has really dropped the ball on time-lapse. Not having an intervalometer in every digital camera is just dumb. It's such a simple function. Nikon, by contrast, appears to have a complete intervalometer in the D300; no screwing around with external devices.

The advantages of an SLR for time-lapse:

1. Small, relatively inexpensive and unobtrusive camera.
2. No or low compression.
3. Use almost any tripod or even a clamp.
4. Unlimited exposure length.
5. Potentially higher resolution than Red (really high-end SLRs), which would let you do moves and zooms in post.
6. Low image noise.

Disadvantages:

1. Wear on expensive-to-replace shutter and mirror assembly.
2. May not match lens FOV exactly with motion-picture camera; might matter if you're mixing footage.
3. Requires post process to create moving footage.
4. Loud, obtrusive mirror slap while shooting. Unfortunately, Canon misses the boat again here with their multi-exposure mirror lockup: It only works in "live view" mode.

 

[Alexis Vanier]

Something was very lame in the software design. I was using Canon's Remote Capture on different macs. I couldn't find a third party software that could do it. (But I didn't look really hard.)

The huge variations were due to the irregularity of the transfer time when the camera was computer controlled. With the intervalometer I guess it's much better since you'd be shooting to flash, but I wouldn't trust it to be as timely as a cine camera.

A DSLR might be smaller, but you still need it to be just as attended as a cine camera. You wouldn't leave a 1,2k to 6k camera + glass somewhere unchecked.

Unless you're shooting on a system where media cost is an issue or need your main camera somewhere else to shoot your main program at the same time, you might just as well plot a meal or paperwork in your schedule and sit down next to the camera while it does its business. It would avoid having to deal with all the issues related to shooting DSLR... AND carrying the thing altogether! :huh:

 

[Thor Wixom]

Thats 999 frames per folder. You can set up to 9 folders at a time.
I have shot 3 x 900 frames or 2700 frames in one session.

Red Guy,

I'm currently doing a timelapse for a client with a Nikon D200, but I didn't see any options for setting up multiple folders in the menu.

Are you sure it can be done on this camera?

I'm changing out the 1 GB card each week, but I'd like to add more frames and do it once every two weeks.

Thanks for the info.

-Thor

 

[Michael Schrengohst]

Sorry Thor,
I was confused - The Alzheimers is kicking in.
You can set up your frames to take 9 shots in a row.
That is useful for bracketing if doing HDR.
But unless you are outside doing really fast exposures then
it does not really work.
Although you can get some interesting results at night.

 

[David W. Jones]

While I have no experience shooting time-lapse with the Red, I do have extensive experience shooting with a Canon EOS 10D DSLR. In my experience, shooting Raw time-lapse to a laptop is not an effective working method due to file size and transfer time. But shooting high quality jpeg to an 8GB or larger CF card, using an intervalometer has proven to be a highly effective method for capturing high quality time-lapse. As far as shooting time, I never shoot 4-8 FPS. The fastest I ever need to shoot is 1 FPS, but a lot of time it is much slower than that. Rather than trying to blend frames in post to get a smooth creamy look, I tend to control the Iris and shutter speed by selective use of ND filters.
Always trying to get great shots on a limited budget, I put together this dual-axis time-lapse motion controller based on a Meade telescope system.
It's not pretty, but it gets the job done!

 

[Tom Lowe]

I have a 20D and the TC-80N3 controller. This controller has an idiotic 99-shot limit in the total-number-of-shots mode, but you can work around that by setting a total duration for the session or just baby-sitting it and stopping it manually or letting the card fill up.

I have a TC-80N3 that I use with my 350D and it does not have a 99 shot limit. I do 500+ shots all the time.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Always trying to get great shots on a limited budget, I put together this dual-axis time-lapse motion controller based on a Meade telescope system.
It's not pretty, but it gets the job done!

David, is the motion of this thing controlled by an intervalometer so it's not moving while the shutter is open, but rather, between takes?