Most economical camera for timelapse imagery

AgarwalB · Jul 13, 2016

I am trying to take photos at about every 30 secs - 2 mins (Timelapse imagery for a dataset). I was using a canon t3i for this but after a few weeks, my shutter gave up. This is an on-going process and I will need to continue taking the timelapse. I wanted to know the most economical camera to get more clicks for the price (lowest price per photo clicked). I also need the following features:

- Manual focus

- Multiple exposures for HDR

- Auto shutter speed

- Atleast 15 MP

I was wondering if it would be better to buy a high grade camera like 7D or 5D which give about 200k clicks or go with the rebel series which have about 100k clicks and replace the rebel series camera after it dies. Also someone suggested to look at Mirrorless cameras, are they any better? Is there a way I can just get the shutter (or other mechanical parts) replaced economically instead of replacing the camera.

Thanks for your help in advance

Peeb · Jul 13, 2016

Replace the shutter in your T3i.

beagle100 · Jul 15, 2016

AgarwalB said:
I am trying to take photos at about every 30 secs - 2 mins (Timelapse imagery for a dataset). I was using a canon t3i for this but after a few weeks, my shutter gave up. This is an on-going process and I will need to continue taking the timelapse. I wanted to know the most economical camera to get more clicks for the price (lowest price per photo clicked). I also need the following features:

- Manual focus

- Multiple exposures for HDR

- Auto shutter speed

- Atleast 15 MP

I was wondering if it would be better to buy a high grade camera like 7D or 5D which give about 200k clicks or go with the rebel series which have about 100k clicks and replace the rebel series camera after it dies. Also someone suggested to look at Mirrorless cameras, are they any better? Is there a way I can just get the shutter (or other mechanical parts) replaced economically instead of replacing the camera.

Thanks for your help in advance

some mirrorless cameras have electronic shutters that (theoretically) won't wear out - a useful feature for time-lapse photography

TCampbell · Jul 23, 2016

Most digital cameras have mechanical shutters. Even many mirrorless cameras which do not have a reflex mirror will often still have a mechanical shutter.

For most entry-level models, the shutter's mean lifetime is expected to be somewhere around 100,000 actuations.

There are 1440 minutes in a day. If you are taking a photo every 30 seconds (day and night) then that's 2880 actuations per day or 28,800 after a 10-day period (so you've already taken about 1/4 of the shutter life in just 10 days.)

Many cameras that have a mechanical shutter also have an option to use the shutter in a fully electronic mode ... but the electronic mode may only be possible by using "live view" which means the sensor is really active at all times (a huge drain on battery life... so you'll be trading out one problem for another.)

You didn't say why or what you're photographing so it's difficult to suggest a specific model. Would an advanced point & shoot model work (do you need interchangeable lenses?) Will AC power be available (would you be able to run the camera off an AC power adapter instead of a battery?)