Timelpase equipment

[HyppoBard]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to get myself into Timelapse photography, and after some research, I more or less identified the main equipment I will require. However, as I can't seem to find precise answers for my never-ending doubts, I would like to ask some help in order to gain a clear vision for my future purchases.

1) Intervalometer

I have seen many options on the Internet regarding intervalometers, ranging from 20 up to 150 dollars. What is exactly the main difference between a cheap and an expensive one. Do they share the same options or some of them have more advantages? ( I was thinking about getting the Canon TC-8oNC)

Also, besides its main functions, does the intervalometer increase the minimum shutter speed? (always wondered that)
My canon has a minimum of 30 seconds, but I see photos with exposures longer than 10 minutes.

2) Shutter Speed
I don't quite grasp the function of the shutter speed in this case. Should I use a long exposure or short one? In which cases should I use a long one or short one?

3) ND Filters
I read that ND Filter is almost essential for timelapse photography, due to the long exposures.
How many stops reduction should I get if I were to focus on Landscape, or cars moving in during the day?
(I was thinking about a B+W 58mm ND 3.0, so 10 stops reduction, am I in the good direction)

I am aware these are a lot of questions, therefore I thank you in advance for your patience!

 

[table1349]

How to Use Bulb Mode for Long Exposure Photography

 

[beagle100]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to get myself into Timelapse photography, and after some research, I more or less identified the main equipment I will require. However, as I can't seem to find precise answers for my never-ending doubts, I would like to ask some help in order to gain a clear vision for my future purchases.

1) Intervalometer

I have seen many options on the Internet regarding intervalometers, ranging from 20 up to 150 dollars. What is exactly the main difference between a cheap and an expensive one. Do they share the same options or some of them have more advantages? ( I was thinking about getting the Canon TC-8oNC)

Also, besides its main functions, does the intervalometer increase the minimum shutter speed? (always wondered that)
My canon has a minimum of 30 seconds, but I see photos with exposures longer than 10 minutes.

2) Shutter Speed
I don't quite grasp the function of the shutter speed in this case. Should I use a long exposure or short one? In which cases should I use a long one or short one?

3) ND Filters
I read that ND Filter is almost essential for timelapse photography, due to the long exposures.
How many stops reduction should I get if I were to focus on Landscape, or cars moving in during the day?
(I was thinking about a B+W 58mm ND 3.0, so 10 stops reduction, am I in the good direction)

I am aware these are a lot of questions, therefore I thank you in advance for your patience!

Why not first try a free intervalometer

Hello everyone,

I am trying to get myself into Timelapse photography, and after some research, I more or less identified the main equipment I will require. However, as I can't seem to find precise answers for my never-ending doubts, I would like to ask some help in order to gain a clear vision for my future purchases.

1) Intervalometer

I have seen many options on the Internet regarding intervalometers, ranging from 20 up to 150 dollars. What is exactly the main difference between a cheap and an expensive one. Do they share the same options or some of them have more advantages? ( I was thinking about getting the Canon TC-8oNC)

Also, besides its main functions, does the intervalometer increase the minimum shutter speed? (always wondered that)
My canon has a minimum of 30 seconds, but I see photos with exposures longer than 10 minutes.

2) Shutter Speed
I don't quite grasp the function of the shutter speed in this case. Should I use a long exposure or short one? In which cases should I use a long one or short one?

3) ND Filters
I read that ND Filter is almost essential for timelapse photography, due to the long exposures.
How many stops reduction should I get if I were to focus on Landscape, or cars moving in during the day?
(I was thinking about a B+W 58mm ND 3.0, so 10 stops reduction, am I in the good direction)

I am aware these are a lot of questions, therefore I thank you in advance for your patience!

first try a free intervalometer in the camera menu
Magic Lantern | Home

 

[HyppoBard]

I heard it messes up your warranty or something like that?
Is it safe?

 

[astroNikon]

I think with most Canons you have to install "Lantern" software ==> Magic Lantern | Features

As mentioned, the camera goes down to 30 seconds but you usually have a "bulb" mode which lets you decide how long or short for an exposure. Some cheaper camera bodies do not have this bulb mode.

With the TL controllers .. OEM will cost more than a cheap alternative. So prices vary. Functions and features vary too between simple shutter control to timers, etc.

You may want to be a bit more detailed in EXACTLY what you plan on using TImelapse photography on for better replies.

You can use Timelapse for a variety of things which will give you different answers for best equipment to use.
Plus be specific on what equipment (camera, lenses, etc) that you currently have.
Timelapse may also require you to have a very sturdy tripod (read: not cheap) and learn many techniques to keep the camera from shaking even one tiny bit.

 

[HyppoBard]

Thank you!

Canon 6D, 50mm 1/4 lense

I really just want to achieve a "house of card" kind of intro in the city, which means people and cars moving fast, and so on.
This is why I wanted to be sure on which equipment would better suit my need ( I really don't know how many stops reduction I should get for the ND Filter)

 

[astroNikon]

You'll have to first experiment and determine what depth of field do you want. ie, you may be in aperture f/11 or more. f/1.4 is only useful for very specific purposes. Then you'll want to determine what shutter speed to use as you may want the ppl walking slightly blurry, and fast moving cars really blurry, or you may want them both crisp in each photo, at which depending upon the lighting you may want to use a specific ND filter to obtain that specific aperture and shutter that you want.

So your equipment is driven by the purpose, environment and exactly how you want to capture each image.

to be really specific, you need to be really specific. Many you should plan it out on paper, map it, run individual test shots of various apertures and shutter speeds to see how you want each individual photo to be.

 

[TCampbell]

There are a lot of options here... I have (and sometimes use) the Canon TC-80N3.

The intervalometer lets you set:

(1) delay before taking a shot... in other words if you want to use it as a self-timer, but want more flexibility than the camera's 2 second or 10 second delay times, you can set any arbitrary delay you want.

(2) the number of frames you want the camera to take.

(3) the amount of time to wait between frames.

(4) if using "bulb" mode, you can set the duration of each exposure (in whole seconds -- not appropriate to use this mode for sub-second exposures.)

With that aside... if you tether the camera to a computer, you can use the computer as your intervalometer.
You can also get an interface for using a mobile device as your intervalometer.

As for the wired intervalometers... the port on the side of your camera has 3 pins... it's a very simple implementation. One pin is the common ground pin. One pin closes a circuit to ground to indicate the camera should behave as if the shutter button is half-pressed. The other pin closes a circuit to ground to indicate the camera should behave as if the shutter button is fully-pressed. That's it. So a remote intervalometer is using a timer ... but it simply closes the circuit to indicate the shutter button is being pressed.

One other thing... if you plan to hold the shutter open for extended periods... you might need something called a "neutral density" filter (ND). These are basically tinted glass to fit onto the front of your lens. It's just is to reduce how much light comes through without actually changing the color tint of the light (hence "neutral"). They come in various strengths (the "densities") depending on what percentage of light gets to pass (e.g. 1/2 the light... 1/4 of the light, 1/8th of the light, etc.) But these are often described as a density value instead of a percentage. Each "0.1" worth of density represents one third of a stop (e.g. 0.3 is a 1 full stop filter meaning half the light can pass through the filter. A "0.9" filter means it's 3 full stops (1/8th of the light can pass through.) A 10-stop ND filter (ND 3.0) only allows about 1/1000th of the light through. It is so dark that you can't actually see to focus or frame the shot (you focus with the filter removed, then switch the lens to manual focus and attach the filter to take the shot.)

The reason I bring those up is because for long exposures, the ability to reduce aperture size can only cut light to a point...and often if you're planning to take a multi-second exposure during the daytime, the longest shutter speed possible is still fairly short and not long enough to get the effect you want (because if you left the shutter open longer, you'd just get an over-exposed "white" frame.) So these filters let you cut the light even further to allow for a longer exposure than would otherwise be possible.

 

[Dao]

For the time lapse photography, another option is tether the Canon camera with the Android Phone/Tablet with DSLR Controller app.
DSLR Controller :: About

 

[beagle100]

I heard it messes up your warranty or something like that?
Is it safe?

yes, it's safe the program resides on the SD memory card
Magic Lantern | Home

 

[jsecordphoto]

I would invest in a 10 stop for sure, I use mine all the time while running lapse. I don't know anyone doing 10 minute exposures for timelapse though, it would seriously take sooo long just to get 10 seconds of footage even at 30 frames per second when rendering the video. when shooting Milky Way timelapse the longest I'll go is 30 seconds and that means it takes over 3 hours of shooting just for a 10 second timelapse. During the day you'd have crazy changes in light and it would be a total pain work with in post.

I'd suggest just doing some google searches on timelapse photography and the basics, and download LRTimelapse.