Author Topic: Budget and compact device to do 1080HD timelapse videos? (Read 19618 times)

kenwood · « **on:** February 12, 2016, 15:15 »

Is there any budget action camera or device that can do 1080hd timelapse video, similar to the GoPro hero 4 black? I m looking for one for a personal/non commercial project, and prefer not to spend $500USD+ on something will only be used a few times. Looking for something easy to use that I can mount somewhere, set it and forget it.

ACS · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2016, 16:41 »

Gopro Hero?

http://shop.gopro.com/EMEA/compare?category=cameras

(Time interval is limited to 0.5 sec though)

Zero Talent · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2016, 16:48 »

Quote from: kenwood on February 12, 2016, 15:15

Is there any budget action camera or device that can do 1080hd timelapse video, similar to the GoPro hero 4 black? I m looking for one for a personal/non commercial project, and prefer not to spend $500USD+ on something will only be used a few times. Looking for something easy to use that I can mount somewhere, set it and forget it.

Why don't you start by using an old smartphone. A timelapse app is only a few bucks.

fritz · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2016, 19:28 »

Buy Canon 400D-450D....for less than 250$,smartphones are not the solution and Gopro has no zoom

Zero Talent · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2016, 20:43 »

Quote from: fritz on February 12, 2016, 19:28

Buy Canon 400D-450D....for less than 250$,smartphones are not the solution and Gopro has no zoom

I'm sorry, I have to disagree. I have a few HD "smartphone made" time-lapses accepted by all agencies (except iStock, of course). I'm not sure if for the purpose wished by the OP, but smartphones are, generally speaking, a perfectly viable solution. When you downsize from 8, 10, 12Mpx to HD, all imperfections are gone.

However, it is true that most of my time-lapses are made with an old 500D, indeed.

mojaric · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2016, 11:30 »

i'm "prolific" timelapser and i've to say reflex are a very good option (better than phones and gopro) for the simple fact that for the reflexes you have lot of standard useful gear that help and make your work faster and better...while finding good tools for phones and gopros is not that easy

here you can see one of my timelapses

spike · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2016, 11:55 »

Quote from: mojaric on February 13, 2016, 11:30

i'm "prolific" timelapser and i've to say reflex are a very good option (better than phones and gopro) for the simple fact that for the reflexes you have lot of standard useful gear that help and make your work faster and better...while finding good tools for phones and gopros is not that easy

here you can see one of my timelapses

That's quite nice. You do have wind (I assume) moving the frame a bit, but you can fix this in like 5 clicks with the warp stabilizer. Also some scenes suffer from flicker and some show nasty sensor spots. All those things you can solve very easily and will make your clips look more professional.

Which dolly do you use?

kenwood · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2016, 10:27 »

Quote from: mojaric on February 13, 2016, 11:30

i'm "prolific" timelapser and i've to say reflex are a very good option (better than phones and gopro) for the simple fact that for the reflexes you have lot of standard useful gear that help and make your work faster and better...while finding good tools for phones and gopros is not that easy

here you can see one of my timelapses

Sorry what is 'relfex'? I tried to google for it but found nothing related to video camera.

kenwood · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2016, 10:29 »

Quote from: fritz on February 12, 2016, 19:28

Buy Canon 400D-450D....for less than 250$,smartphones are not the solution and Gopro has no zoom

Yes but its not compact. Looking for action cam level compactness.

kenwood · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2016, 10:30 »

Quote from: ACS on February 12, 2016, 16:41

Gopro Hero?

http://shop.gopro.com/EMEA/compare?category=cameras

(Time interval is limited to 0.5 sec though)

The gopro hero session at $199usd is on my list. I just want to see if there are more budget options.

kenwood · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2016, 10:34 »

Quote from: Zero Talent on February 12, 2016, 16:48

Quote from: kenwood on February 12, 2016, 15:15
Is there any budget action camera or device that can do 1080hd timelapse video, similar to the GoPro hero 4 black? I m looking for one for a personal/non commercial project, and prefer not to spend $500USD+ on something will only be used a few times. Looking for something easy to use that I can mount somewhere, set it and forget it.

Why don't you start by using an old smartphone. A timelapse app is only a few bucks.

Yes my iphone6 has a built in timelapse feature and will be a backup solution if I cant find the right action cam.

Yay Images Billionaire · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2016, 21:31 »

The SJcam 3000 is cheap and does timelapse. The quality is mediocre, but I've had the only two timelapses I did with it accepted at all agencies.

mojaric · « **Reply #12 on:** February 15, 2016, 04:03 »

Quote from: spike on February 13, 2016, 11:55

Quote from: mojaric on February 13, 2016, 11:30
i'm "prolific" timelapser and i've to say reflex are a very good option (better than phones and gopro) for the simple fact that for the reflexes you have lot of standard useful gear that help and make your work faster and better...while finding good tools for phones and gopros is not that easy

here you can see one of my timelapses

That's quite nice. You do have wind (I assume) moving the frame a bit, but you can fix this in like 5 clicks with the warp stabilizer. Also some scenes suffer from flicker and some show nasty sensor spots. All those things you can solve very easily and will make your clips look more professional.

Which dolly do you use?

Konova K5

for the warp stabilizer, yep i've used that almost in all the sequences but i forgot to put on one or two (wind)....and for the flickering i've discovered a tool just after i released the footage...

thx for the review anyway

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2016, 07:05 »

Quote from: kenwood on February 14, 2016, 10:27

Sorry what is 'relfex'? I tried to google for it but found nothing related to video camera.

It's reflex, and by that he means a DSLR.

You won't get perfectly smooth results with the GoPro because it can't shoot in fully manual mode. This will result in ugly flicker almost every time. Any small light change will give you flicker that's a pain to remove, and it will almost never be perfect.

If you're not looking for perfectly smooth, then anything will do. Just remember that anything set to "Auto", whether it's white balance, shutter speed, aperture, etc. will make the time-lapse look quite unprofessional.

The only thing that will give you smooth, nice, time-lapses is a real camera, like a DSLR or mirrorless that can shoot in full manual mode. There are many small ones these days and it doesn't have to be a very expensive one.

If there's an app for your smartphone that lets you do a time-lapse with FULL control over every setting (and lets you LOCK it), that could work really well. So far, I have always found something that ruins it though, but haven't checked all the apps in a while...

Given the choice between an action cam and a smartphone I would pick a smartphone and try to find a good app. Still pictures from the GoPros aren't that great, and a good app might let you have the control you need over a smartphone.

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Author Topic: Budget and compact device to do 1080HD timelapse videos? (Read 19618 times)

kenwood

ACS

Zero Talent

fritz

Zero Talent

mojaric

spike

kenwood

kenwood

kenwood

kenwood

Yay Images Billionaire

mojaric

increasingdifficulty

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