Time Lapse Camera

[redbaran]

Anyone have any advice for a time lapse camera? I purchased the "Wingscapes WSCT01-00114 TimelapseCam 8.0" from amazon and I'm not pleased with it at all. On paper, it meets me needs:

• Weatherproof
• Decent resolution
• Not expensive

Unfortunately, in practice, it has some serious flaws:

• Poor picture quality, mostly in the color balance
• Narrow FOV, I can't get the whole work area in the picture, it's equivalent to a 3x zoom on my point and shoot
• Limited time lapse adjustments... for short projects, I'd like to do quicker than every 10 seconds.

I did some googling but I can't find anything other than multi-thousand dollar "professional" grade stuff or people building their own.

Even as bad as this camera is, it's still neat to see your projects get built! I just wish it was better quality. I'm beginning to think there's a reason why people are building their own!

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[machine_punk]

one of the common digital camera makers (I think Canon) has a digital camera built for (or at least frequently used for) hacking. You can open it up, wire a remote trigger (which would certainly do your time lapse, I'm sure you can find or build a simple electronic timer/trigger), and it has easy access to it's software, etc. Sorry that I don't have any more detailed information...just something I remember reading about in the past few months.

M_P

 

[Tunger]

One of my point and shoot cameras has a recurring timed shutter on it, I cant remember if it's the cheapo Kodak or the Nikon. But I have used it several times when storms were passing near me to get some pretty cool shots. It has several settings from a few seconds to something like every 10 minutes. I'll look at them tonight when I get home and figure out which one it is.

 

[amolaver]

if you've got an SLR, i believe intervalometers like Canon's TC80N3 are widely available and easy to use. 3rd party ones are much cheaper and seem to work just as well; Canon $150, 3rd party $40.

ahm

 

[Givl Reggin]

Try the Canon G12 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041RSPRS/?tag=atomicindus08-20) with the firmware update from here... http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief

This combination will give you all the long exposures and time lapse options you will ever need - you have full control over all the options. I use one piggybacked on a telescope for astronomy. Best camera I have ever used!