Day to night time lapse settings

[olivermodern]

I want to do a time lapse that goes from day to night only thing is everytime I try and do this my camera stops taking pictures once it starts to get dark. Does anybody know what the best settings for this type of time lapse is? I'd appreciate it big time.

 

[KmH]

The auto focus system needs light to work.

In single focus mode, most digital cameras use shutter priority. Shutter priority means if the camera cannot auto focus, it won't release the shutter.
So, you can use auto focus to set the camera up, but once focused you need to put the camera in manual focus mode so it won't change focus and will release the shutter at each time lapse interval.

Another issue is going to be exposure.
You don't say what camera, but for both day and night Auto exposure with the flash unit turned off is likely your best bet.

 

[Josh66]

The auto focus system needs light to work.

In single focus mode, most digital cameras use shutter priority. Shutter priority means if the camera cannot auto focus, it won't release the shutter.
So, you can use auto focus to set the camera up, but once focused you need to put the camera in manual focus mode so it won't change focus and will release the shutter at each time lapse interval.

Another issue is going to be exposure.
You don't say what camera, but for both day and night Auto exposure with the flash unit turned off is likely your best bet.

Seems like manual focus and aperture priority is the way to go...

 

[Gavjenks]

In addition to manual focus and AP,

Auto ISO would also help. Otherwise your camera may not be able to adjust far enough on its own to compensate well enough.

Without that, any shot during the day will probably require a shutter speed too fast for your camera to handle, OR any shot at night will require minute-long exposures. No single setting of ISO and aperture will cover both problems.

If auto ISO is on, though, and you are willing to let it range from 100-1600, let's say, and your exposures can range from 1/4000th of a second to 1/50th of a second (let's say that's as slow as is acceptable for your purposes, like wanting to be able to see individual cars), then you have a range of 11 stops your camera can automatically slide between without going outside your needs, which should be sufficient for even a very bright day to a moonlit night in the countryside.