Continuous shooting for time lapses?

[Sfari]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this should go in the Digital Q&A, but whatever.

I've been trying to find a camera that has continuous shooting capabilities (3 FPS is plenty) for things like time lapses. However, the only cameras I could find that do that are $600+ SLRs.

My question is, can only SLRs shoot continuously? Are cameras that have that feature usually in that $600+ price range?

Picture quality isn't as big of a deal for me as is that shooting feature. So any help is appreciated. =]

 

[thenikonguy]

you dont need a continous shooting camera to do a time lapse... you can get software, where you can plug your camera in, and tell the program that you want to shoot every X seconds, or x mins.. then set it on a tripod, and your good to go..

 

[robbie_vlad]

I think he means he wants a camera that shoots ~3FPS so he can capture something in each step as it happens (sports for example).

The only cameras I know of that shoot at least 3FPS are SLR's...

 

[thenikonguy]

I wasnt sure, because he used the time lapse term. so I was thinking he wanted something like this:


he wanting something like this:
http://forums.steves-digicams.com/a...oard-sequence-multi-portrait-reduced-size.jpg

its called a "sequence" and yes, as far as I've seen, SLR's are the only cameras that shoot this, because they dont have any lag

 

[Sfari]

I'm sorry, I should have been clearer.

That video that thenikonguy posted is exactly what I'm trying to do.

And you mentioned that some cameras let you load up programs for that kind of thing?

 

[thenikonguy]

i dont know if point and shoots do.. but I have nikon camera control which lets me plug my camera (d50) into my mac (USB) and set a time interval for shooting automatically..

 

[Phranquey]

I'm sorry, I should have been clearer.

That video that thenikonguy posted is exactly what I'm trying to do.

And you mentioned that some cameras let you load up programs for that kind of thing?

If you are trying to do something like that, over a long period of time, 3fps is going to give you WAY more frames than you will need.....unless you are going for a really long movie. At roughly 30 frames/sec for video, 3fps of capture is going to give you 6 minutes of video for every hour you shoot. This would be fine if you are time lapsing something that happens quickly.

I did some searching into the construction schedule of that building, and based on an average video frame rate of 30 frames/sec, that time lapse was taken at approximately 1 frame per hour over a 2 1/2 year period.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Many of Canon's P&S cameras have CDHK "firmware" wich allow this funstion you are looking for, plus many other wonderful things the company never thought people would appreciate, such as a functioning battery meter. :er:

CHDK Wiki

This CDHK "Firmware" does not replace the cameras firmware, instead, it loads off your memory card either automatically, or when you want it to. Once you take that memory card out, the "firmware" is gone. It great stuff. Youo have a lot of reading to do though. It was easy to install, and operate the new functions. I use it on my PowerShot SD750 (?) I think that's the numbers.